Too Cold?

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I have a sulcata. her name is Olivia. She is about 7 years old and has lived outside for the last 3 years. she burrowed about 2 years ago and normally when it starts getting cold out I block her burrow so that she has to sleep in her house which has a heating pad and a heat lamp to provide warmth for her. My question is this, it's cooling off at night maybe in the high 60's and back up to the 80's in the daytime, but she has not been out of her burrow for a little over a week now. I have crawled down into her burrow to make sure she was there and she is and normally she tends to be less active in the winter, sleeping more, eating less but she has never stayed in her burrow for that long of a period with out coming out to at least eat? Do you think there is something wrong with her or is it possible that she just wants to sleep because it is cooler out now? Should I be worried and try to dig her out or just leave her down there until she comes out on her own? Thank you for any input you might have about this. Tina

 

[Big Charlie]

Where are you located, Tina? I think Olivia is staying in her burrow because she isn't warming up. It stays a fairly even temperature down there, not warm enough for her to digest her food, so she isn't motivated to come up. Some people can get their tortoises out of their burrows by heating up the entrance with a hairdryer. Then once she is out, you can block off the burrow and make sure she uses her heated night box.

 

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Where are you located, Tina? I think Olivia is staying in her burrow because she isn't warming up. It stays a fairly even temperature down there, not warm enough for her to digest her food, so she isn't motivated to come up. Some people can get their tortoises out of their burrows by heating up the entrance with a hairdryer. Then once she is out, you can block off the burrow and make sure she uses her heated night box.

I'm in Tempe, Arizona

 

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I will try that, her heated house is all ready for her just been waiting for her to come out. We've had some pretty warm days and thought for sure she would come out to eat? Thank you

 

[Big Charlie]

I will try that, her heated house is all ready for her just been waiting for her to come out. We've had some pretty warm days and thought for sure she would come out to eat? Thank you

You're welcome. They aren't very smart. My sulcata will sometimes make the wrong decision about where to spend the night, and then I have a hard time getting him to move. If he spends a cool night outside of his night box, he may not have the energy to move into the sun to bask, and so never warms up enough.

 

[Hugo's Home]

I have a sulcata. her name is Olivia. She is about 7 years old and has lived outside for the last 3 years. she burrowed about 2 years ago and normally when it starts getting cold out I block her burrow so that she has to sleep in her house which has a heating pad and a heat lamp to provide warmth for her. My question is this, it's cooling off at night maybe in the high 60's and back up to the 80's in the daytime, but she has not been out of her burrow for a little over a week now. I have crawled down into her burrow to make sure she was there and she is and normally she tends to be less active in the winter, sleeping more, eating less but she has never stayed in her burrow for that long of a period with out coming out to at least eat? Do you think there is something wrong with her or is it possible that she just wants to sleep because it is cooler out now? Should I be worried and try to dig her out or just leave her down there until she comes out on her own? Thank you for any input you might have about this. Tina

Before I closed my burrow a few weeks ago, I was seeing those temps down here in sierra vista, AZ. Hugo didn't come out for 2 days! I was worried.. so I crawled down there and it seemed he dug his burrow deeper without making his entrance bigger.. He couldn't get out on his own and he was stuck! I thought he could get out so I ended up having to dig out his entrance where he piled up dirt. It was maybe only 2-3 inches too short for him to get out..so maybe that could be a possibility for you? The burrow was about 68 degrees and he was about the same when I put the temp gun on him.. he was cold..he felt cold too.. once he warmed up he's back to normal! Thought I should share!
Here's a pic where he couldn't get out..

 

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Before I closed my burrow a few weeks ago, I was seeing those temps down here in sierra vista, AZ. Hugo didn't come out for 2 days! I was worried.. so I crawled down there and it seemed he dug his burrow deeper without making his entrance bigger.. He couldn't get out on his own and he was stuck! I thought he could get out so I ended up having to dig out his entrance where he piled up dirt. It was maybe only 2-3 inches too short for him to get out..so maybe that could be a possibility for you? The burrow was about 68 degrees and he was about the same when I put the temp gun on him.. he was cold..he felt cold too.. once he warmed up he's back to normal! Thought I should share!
Here's a pic where he couldn't get out..
View attachment 223802

I have crawled down there once to make sure she is there and the opening is big enough for her to get out. Thank you

 

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I'm trying to heat up her burrow with a space heater and the blow dryer to blow the heat down into her burrow. I've had the heater on for about an hour but haven't seen any sign of her yet? Her burrow is at least 6' deep. I'm wondering how long she can go without food, she has been down there for more then a week and I'm really starting to panic that she is in danger being down there much longer! Last year I had this problem but only for a few days and I attempted to dig her out from the other end and after two days of digging I still didn't break through to where she was at? She finally emerged by using the space heater, but her burrow was only half the size of what it is now.

 

[Yvonne G]

My sulcata has a shed, and has never tried to dig a burrow, thank goodness. But I DO have desert tortoises. Way back when they had a burrow, I would wait for a day in the fall when they were all out of the burrow (I didn't want them to be able to hibernate down there), then I would block off the entrance so they couldn't go back down there. So maybe next year when the nights are starting to get cool, and the days shorter, think about blocking off the entrance to the burrow so you don't lose her again. Next year it will be even deeper/longer!

 

[Alaskamike]

My 20 lb Sulcata dug a beautiful burrow over this last year. I tried to gauge its depth without success as it makes a rather shape turn to the left about 2’ down. Suppose I could do it with a rotor router cable.

I did get him out last year with the hair dryer method. So far this year I’ve let him stay. I would like to be able to push a cable down in there with a temp probe and see what temp is at end in the morning after a 60f night. Would be educational.

Sulcata and their burrows present a bit of a dilemma sometimes. I know mine have stayed in theirs for days at a time making me worry too.

I suppose the best system is to close it up way before it gets too cold , but I’m always behind the 8 ball with that.

Keep watching. They will come out when they get hungry. The hair dryer trick usually works. But I do know that once their body temps get down in the 60s they might just estivate till it warms. They can go a long time without eating or drinking. Amazing creatures.

What is very important , is that the not be cold & wet at same time.

 

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My sulcata has a shed, and has never tried to dig a burrow, thank goodness. But I DO have desert tortoises. Way back when they had a burrow, I would wait for a day in the fall when they were all out of the burrow (I didn't want them to be able to hibernate down there), then I would block off the entrance so they couldn't go back down there. So maybe next year when the nights are starting to get cool, and the days shorter, think about blocking off the entrance to the burrow so you don't lose her again. Next year it will be even deeper/longer!

Thank you for the advice, that was definitely the plan to begin with.

 

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My 20 lb Sulcata dug a beautiful burrow over this last year. I tried to gauge its depth without success as it makes a rather shape turn to the left about 2’ down. Suppose I could do it with a rotor router cable.

I did get him out last year with the hair dryer method. So far this year I’ve let him stay. I would like to be able to push a cable down in there with a temp probe and see what temp is at end in the morning after a 60f night. Would be educational.

Sulcata and their burrows present a bit of a dilemma sometimes. I know mine have stayed in theirs for days at a time making me worry too.

I suppose the best system is to close it up way before it gets too cold , but I’m always behind the 8 ball with that.

Keep watching. They will come out when they get hungry. The hair dryer trick usually works. But I do know that once their body temps get down in the 60s they might just estivate till it warms. They can go a long time without eating or drinking. Amazing creatures.

What is very important , is that the not be cold & wet at same time.

Thank you for that info, I don't feel so stressed to get her out of there thinking she is in danger or worse if she's still alive down there? I will still try to keep warming her up with the heater though. Thanks again.

 

[Yvonne G]

A little off topic, but maybe helpful:

Our winter nights here where I live almost always reach 32 degrees, with some nights even getting down into the 20s. A sulcata owner I was acquainted with, with three almost full grown sulcatas kept his tortoises outside 24/7/365. They had a burrow that went to China (he knew this because he sent his young son down there to check). He took one of those BIG apartment-sized garbage dumpster - the round ones with an attached lid, cut it in half around the middle, then positioned the top half over the burrow entrance. Inside he had one of those electric oil-filled radiators. He also cut a sulcata door to the outside world for the tortoises to be able to come out and graze. The top portion of the dumpster was about 8 or 10 feet diameter.

I've since lost touch with this guy, but I knew him and his tortoises for about four years and the tortoises made it just fine through the winters living that way. They came out daily to graze.