Warning for young sulcata owners

[yazzy1012]

Hello,
Just thought I would give an example of how sulcatas can do a number on your yard when they are adults. Here's my very large male, Henry, and he always digs huge holes in the summer. This one tops it all. This is just some of the dirt from outside his house. Hole is about 2.5 feet deep and maybe 4ft x 4ft wide.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh heck...that's nothing. Read this thread:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-20957.html

 

[luvpetz27]

Wow!! Thanx for sharing Yazzy 1012!!
Big hole!! I am sure its not "nothing" to you!!

 

[yazzy1012]

Yvonne thanks for sharing. That is crazy because my Henry is about 120 pounds. I hope he is not getting into a digging mood because he has never dug much more then a little hole. Interesting to think of why they dig. I've always assumed that it was to cool off since Henry only does it in the summer, but maybe they do it for fun. What you think?

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Yvonne thanks for sharing. That is crazy because my Henry is about 120 pounds. I hope he is not getting into a digging mood because he has never dug much more then a little hole. Interesting to think of why they dig. I've always assumed that it was to cool off since Henry only does it in the summer, but maybe they do it for fun. What you think?

He has a house outside, right? The only reason I am making sure is because my sully digs near his house when I have it closed off.

 

[yazzy1012]

Yes that structure against the fence with the bricks and the wood on top is his house. I never have his house blocked off though. This morning I fixed it all up for him and covered it even more to make the area where his hole is a lot darker.

 

[Yvonne G]

My Dudley (110lbs male sulcata) doesn't dig either. He has a nice little shed that keeps him cool in the summer (its in shade) and warm in the winter. He also has a very large shrub that he spends a lot of time under. It has long been my opinion that if they are provided with what they need to cool down and heat up, they won't dig a burrow.

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

oh wow! Thats crazy

 

[yazzy1012]

Yvonne I'm sure you are correct on that opinion of yours. Henry does not dig at all during the winter and hasn't really much in the past in the summer. This summer has been extra hot for the past three weeks there hasn't been much moisture at all, so sure this could be a major part to why he's digging that much too.

 

[mary t]

Im lucky that willie has not started digging yet. to avoid this I followed some very wise advise from a member and I put several bags of organic dirt in his shed. He will move it around inside and make a bowl out of it to sit in. I will sometimes mist it with water or I try to add more dirt about every other week since he tracks a lot out when he goes into the yard. I also lucked out and he gets in under some grape vines I have in his area. I made a make shift lean for the vine but its so big it broke. Anyway he tunnels himself in there and I try on really hot day to run the hose on mist over it while we are out back. He loves it! Willie is almost 8 about 30 pounds. Been in my care for 2 years now and been outside in his own house for 90% of that time. I have told him more than once if he digs out of his area that I would return him to live in the tank he came from, I wouldn't but he doesn't know that, wink wink!

 

[Lannen]

Master has a couple inches of sand on the floor of his condo which he digs and moves back and forth before settling in for the night. This seems to satisfy his digging desires as he no longer digs up the yard.

 

[yazzy1012]

For the past two years that is all that Henry would do as well. He would shift dirt around just to be slightly under the normal level. Or once last summer he dug a hole outside of his house under my grill since there was shade there, but he did not dig as deep as he is this year. Yesterday I fixed up his house some and added some of my floor mats to part of his opening to make the side where his hole is even darker and he hasn't dug much since. His hole is a few feet deep, but he seems satisfied with it now. I also usually spray the dirt down every once and a while since it is so hot here.

 

[Jlant85]

Such amazing animals.

 

[Vickie]

Oh heck...that's nothing. Read this thread:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-20957.html

Oh heck I need to hire them every time I have to turn over the soil for a new garden! Anyone live near me with one?

 

[Tom]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-50846.html

Here's another one...

---

They reason they dig is because they are sulcatas and that's what sulcatas do. Some captive raised ones have less of a tendency to do it, but any of them can be induced into it. Hot weather is one of those inducements. In the wild, they literally do not come above ground for 8 or 9 months a year. My friend from Senegal was surprised to see all the American sulcatas above ground just walking around out in the open.

 

[yazzy1012]

So in the wild most of them do hibernate? I thought that they were non-hibernating tortoises. My way Henry is out all year long. Just for less hours in the winter and summer.

 

[Yvonne G]

No, when a tortoise stays underground because of hot weather it is called aestivate, not hibernate. You still have to keep them warm in the winter.

 

[Millerlite]

They naturally burrow, and its believed to actually create homes for other desert animals, snakes, small mammals, so in a way they are construction workers making new neighborhoods in the wild. Lol

 

[yazzy1012]

Oh okay, so they do not hibernate. That's what I thought too. They are definitely an extremely interesting breed of tortoise.

 

[Tom]

So in the wild most of them do hibernate? I thought that they were non-hibernating tortoises. My way Henry is out all year long. Just for less hours in the winter and summer.

They do not hibernate. There are two seasons in African sulcata territory, according to my Senegalese friend: "Hot, and hotter." I've been watching the weather in this part of the world for about two years now, and the "coldest" day I've seen was an unseasonable cold rainy winter day. It only climbed to 88 that day. Most days are around 100, rain or not.

They also do not aestivate. Aestivation indicates a period of torpor due to excessive heat. They remain quite active during the hot dry season. They just do it underground where its cooler. They apparently eat food that they drag into the burrows themselves toward the end of the rainy season. According to the "Crying Tortoise" book, their burrows are complexes that can be up to 30 meters deep and 90 meters long. My sulcatas mirror this too. They are not so active during the middle of a 100+ degree day, but they are definitely active first thing in the morning and in the evening as the sun goes down. They are very active and eat like little piggies, and show no sign of aestivation.