Hey guys!
I have a 3-4 pound sulcata tortoise that now lives permanently outdoors in our north central florida home.
He has always been outdoors his whole life except when its cold, raining hard, and at night. But now its full term. He's also always dug holes but if I knew it was going to rain hard I would take him inside. Now however he has two holes that he constantly re-digs, no matter how many times I fill it in. One of the spots is underneath the big ladder that he has. I used to let him dig under here as much as he wanted until i couldn't reach him anymore or when i thought the ladder would fall soon (also why I put the wood there). Even though he digs under here and it gets flooded the most, he never really hangs out in here so Im more worried about the other one.
He also digs underneath the ramp to his house and hangs out under here more than anywhere else, even at night (he doesn't sleep in his house unless I put him in there, even then he usually walks out unless i shut the door). He will re-dig this hole within hours after I cover it back up. It rains almost daily here right now and this will flood and he won't get out, I'm thinking he might even crawl in there even when its already flooded. A few days ago I knew a big rainstorm was starting before I left the house for a few hours so I put him in his house, which he would usually stay in if I put him in there while its already raining, so I felt fine about it. A few hours later I checked on him when I got home and he was trying to sleep in his hole but it was so full of water that he couldn't tuck into his shell and sleep like he usually does, he had to stretch out and try to keep his head above water. Why he would do this when he knows he can get out, I have no idea. But I don't know what to do.
Its not at the bottom of a slope or anything, he just keeps digging! Even after I fill it in, he goes right back to it. I even tried putting a sheet of wood down and he digs it out. As much as I wish I could always be home to check on him while its raining, I can't. And sometimes when I am going to be gone for hours I don't want to lock him in his box because he still flips himself. I know some of you out there had to have had this problem and have a good solution. Any help would be so appreciated!!
I have a 3-4 pound sulcata tortoise that now lives permanently outdoors in our north central florida home.
He has always been outdoors his whole life except when its cold, raining hard, and at night. But now its full term. He's also always dug holes but if I knew it was going to rain hard I would take him inside. Now however he has two holes that he constantly re-digs, no matter how many times I fill it in. One of the spots is underneath the big ladder that he has. I used to let him dig under here as much as he wanted until i couldn't reach him anymore or when i thought the ladder would fall soon (also why I put the wood there). Even though he digs under here and it gets flooded the most, he never really hangs out in here so Im more worried about the other one.
He also digs underneath the ramp to his house and hangs out under here more than anywhere else, even at night (he doesn't sleep in his house unless I put him in there, even then he usually walks out unless i shut the door). He will re-dig this hole within hours after I cover it back up. It rains almost daily here right now and this will flood and he won't get out, I'm thinking he might even crawl in there even when its already flooded. A few days ago I knew a big rainstorm was starting before I left the house for a few hours so I put him in his house, which he would usually stay in if I put him in there while its already raining, so I felt fine about it. A few hours later I checked on him when I got home and he was trying to sleep in his hole but it was so full of water that he couldn't tuck into his shell and sleep like he usually does, he had to stretch out and try to keep his head above water. Why he would do this when he knows he can get out, I have no idea. But I don't know what to do.
Its not at the bottom of a slope or anything, he just keeps digging! Even after I fill it in, he goes right back to it. I even tried putting a sheet of wood down and he digs it out. As much as I wish I could always be home to check on him while its raining, I can't. And sometimes when I am going to be gone for hours I don't want to lock him in his box because he still flips himself. I know some of you out there had to have had this problem and have a good solution. Any help would be so appreciated!!
I'm not worried about her popping up elsewhere, because 
