phil shelson
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2016
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My tortoise rams the side of his tank during the day, like he is trying to climb out of the tank. Why does he do this and how do i get him to stop? I'm worried that he will hurt himself.
Tortoise ramming his cage
- Thread starter phil shelson
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2016
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- 161
How large is the enclosure? Is the tortoise in an actual "tank"? Are the walls transparent? Tortoises don't understand glass. If they can see through it, they will generally try to walk through it and often injure themselves in the process. If you use glass, then you will need to tape or paint the outside of the lower portion of the enclosure so the tortoise can no longer see through. Moreover, if the enclosure is too small, they will spend a lot of time and energy tying to escape. Glass tanks are not large enough to house tortoises (because floor space is what matters to them), and it is difficult to control temps in glass enclosures. Tortoises need a lot of room to roam. What size/species of tortoise are you keeping?
Please post a picture of your enclosure. It will help people here to help your tortoise!
Please post a picture of your enclosure. It will help people here to help your tortoise!
You've given us so little to work with.
What species of tortoise?
What kind of enclosure?
How big is the enclosure?
What is your substrate?
What kind of lights/heat?
????????
What species of tortoise?
What kind of enclosure?
How big is the enclosure?
What is your substrate?
What kind of lights/heat?
????????
The fact you used the word tank suggests to me ypur tort is kept in an enclosure that is glass or at least has a glass side. Although my tort has never had problems with the glass i've see from other members that torts don't understand glass very well and may be trying to ram the glass to get out to something they can see through the glass. A solution to this would be to cover the bottom section of the glass with something to prevent the tort from seeing out. Some people have used tape to block the glass.
The size if the enclosure might be the problem. If the tort doesn't have enough space it may be trying to get out. This would depebd on the size of the enclosure abd the size if the tort. A solution to this problem would be to enlarge the enclosure or if it is a decent size put in sight barriers and plants so the tort thinks the space is larger than it is and more interesting to the tort.
Ive also read here where the colour of an enclosre has unsettled the tort. Bright colours reds, oranges, yellows, pinks etc seem to cause problems with torts trying to ram or climb to reach something brightly coloured which the probably think is edible.
Here are just three possibilities. Im sure there are many more but the size of enclosure, size of tort, type of tort, set up, temps etc would also be helpful to know.
The size if the enclosure might be the problem. If the tort doesn't have enough space it may be trying to get out. This would depebd on the size of the enclosure abd the size if the tort. A solution to this problem would be to enlarge the enclosure or if it is a decent size put in sight barriers and plants so the tort thinks the space is larger than it is and more interesting to the tort.
Ive also read here where the colour of an enclosre has unsettled the tort. Bright colours reds, oranges, yellows, pinks etc seem to cause problems with torts trying to ram or climb to reach something brightly coloured which the probably think is edible.
Here are just three possibilities. Im sure there are many more but the size of enclosure, size of tort, type of tort, set up, temps etc would also be helpful to know.
