I have now had Gretta for roughly a 1 year now and she is beginning to do something that she has never done before. She is constantly digging. She moves all of bedding out of a corner in her habitat and then climbs into the hole that she makes. And no matter what I do, she will not leave her hole, not even for food. This may be nothing but she is on her 5th day of not eating and I am beginning to get concerned. There have not been any changes in her surroundings either. Any ideas?
What is she doing?
- Thread starter grettas mom
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For starters, how large or how old is Gretta? Is she an adult?
If so, this sounds like she wants to nest but cannot find a suitable location.
If she is an adult, wants to nest and is not happy with her immediate surroundings you might want to add more soil for her to nest in. They seem to like at least a foot or so.
You also want to make sure that Gretta has easy access to plenty of water.
If so, this sounds like she wants to nest but cannot find a suitable location.
If she is an adult, wants to nest and is not happy with her immediate surroundings you might want to add more soil for her to nest in. They seem to like at least a foot or so.
You also want to make sure that Gretta has easy access to plenty of water.
Gretta is 6.5 inches long so I know she is not full grown yet but is she considered an adult? She has a water dish that is 1.5 inches deep and I change it multiple times per day (since it gets dirty fast) I have tried giving her a deeper dish but then she has struggles to get out of it. She has roughly 5 inches of substrate in her habitat right now which I realize is not enough, however, I cannot add any more to her enclosure, otherwise she can get out of it. I know she is not in an appropriate size set up right now, she is only in a 40 breeder aquarium. My dad is in the middle of building her a 4x6 ft enclosure but since my mom just had her entire knee replaced, he has not had time to work on Gretta's enclosure lately. However, I do take Gretta out for at least 3-4 hours per day so she can explore.
cdmay said:
Sounds too small (young) to be nesting. She might be stressed or tired from the handling or the going in and out.
Try just leaving her alone for a day or two.
Hope your mom heals OK...knee replacements are a drag.
Try just leaving her alone for a day or two.
Hope your mom heals OK...knee replacements are a drag.
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Digging with the rear legs is nesting, digging with the front legs is resting. If she is digging in with her front legs, similar to a burrowing action she is building a resting area. It could be for one of several reasons or multiple reasons such as: lack of a suitable dark, moist resting area (hide box); her overall environment being too dry; temperatures being too cold for activity or in the case of Redfoots, lights being too bright.
What are the day/night temperatures? Humidity level/amount of substrate & ambient air humidity? Hide box? Amount of light and type of lighting? Any recent changes made in her enclosure or environment?
Incidently, when nesting a tortoise digs with it's rear legs, usually with the upper half of it's body at ground level or at least the front third of it's body out of the nest hole. The substrate would have to be 6-12" deep for nesting. Females will sometimes nest and lay infertile eggs even though never having been with a male. In most cases though infertile eggs are simply strewn on top of the substrate, but not always.
What are the day/night temperatures? Humidity level/amount of substrate & ambient air humidity? Hide box? Amount of light and type of lighting? Any recent changes made in her enclosure or environment?
Incidently, when nesting a tortoise digs with it's rear legs, usually with the upper half of it's body at ground level or at least the front third of it's body out of the nest hole. The substrate would have to be 6-12" deep for nesting. Females will sometimes nest and lay infertile eggs even though never having been with a male. In most cases though infertile eggs are simply strewn on top of the substrate, but not always.
Gretta's habitat temp is around 82 degrees. i am using a hear emitter on her habitat because the light from a basking bulb seemed to bother her eyes. She was squinting a lot when I was using the basking bulb. I also have a 5.0 tropical uvb bulb that is on from 9am-9pm every day (its on a timer.) The humidity level is fairly stable around 80 percent. I am using a humidifier that is connected to a fish tank siphon, it works very well 
The substrate is cypress and it is only roughly 5 inches deep, I know it is not deep enough but I cant make it deeper because she is only in a 40 gallon fish tank righ now. I feel horrible but she does not have a hide either at this point. My dad actually made her one, it is 2ft x 1 ft but since she is only in an aquarium, I cant give it to her at this point. So I guess it does make sence that she is burrowing, trying to get away from the light. She must be burrowing because she only uses her front legs when she is digging.
The substrate is cypress and it is only roughly 5 inches deep, I know it is not deep enough but I cant make it deeper because she is only in a 40 gallon fish tank righ now. I feel horrible but she does not have a hide either at this point. My dad actually made her one, it is 2ft x 1 ft but since she is only in an aquarium, I cant give it to her at this point. So I guess it does make sence that she is burrowing, trying to get away from the light. She must be burrowing because she only uses her front legs when she is digging.GBtortoises said:
And Gretta has hides already, right?
No, unfortunately, she does not have a hide at this point. There simply isnt enough space in her habitat for a hide.
Stephanie Logan said:
Gretta's mom said no hide at this point. What about putting in a tupperware, cardboard box, fake plant, etc?
I assume she is going through a funk with the hiding thing. My tort will do that. If it goes on for more than 2 days without coming out to eat and bask (he is a Russian but I'm using him as an example), I dig him out and place him under his plant near his basking spot, in sight of his food. Then, I watch to make sure he basks and eats. If he goes back to hide, I will dig him out once more, then if he does it again, I leave him be until the next day when I repeat the process again. Usually by the second day of being dug out he'll give in and bask and eat. For you, you would just want to worry about the food bit, not the basking. I'd place a hide next to the food and place her in the hide so she can see the food. Anything would be better than nothing as far as hides until you can get the enclosure set up correctly.
I would also double check your temperature to make sure it is not too warm or cold (you may need to adjust your bulbs every couple days as the room temperature changes a bit, even with your thermostat set to the same temp, due to humidity changes and slight variations). A nice warm soak or misting can also help.
Where do you let her explore for 3-4 hours each day? When you take her back to the enclosure, does she go straight to the burrow again?
I would place her in front of the food when you get a chance. Entice her with favorite foods. As long as she is healthy, it is normal for a tort to go through a funk like this every once in awhile. How long have you had this set up? Could it be too bright for her, even taking away the basking bulb you used to have? How much ambient light is there? You may want to put paper over the sides of the tank to make it darker if it is the room light that could be bothering her, as I wouldn't want to cover the top of a tank because it needs all the air flow it can get.
Fake plants don't take up any floor space. Go to Michael's and for $10 you could probably buy 2 of them. You can find coupons in the Sunday newspaper sometimes, or sign up for their online e-mail list for a 40% off one item coupon.
I assume she is going through a funk with the hiding thing. My tort will do that. If it goes on for more than 2 days without coming out to eat and bask (he is a Russian but I'm using him as an example), I dig him out and place him under his plant near his basking spot, in sight of his food. Then, I watch to make sure he basks and eats. If he goes back to hide, I will dig him out once more, then if he does it again, I leave him be until the next day when I repeat the process again. Usually by the second day of being dug out he'll give in and bask and eat.
For you, you would just want to worry about the food bit, not the basking. I'd place a hide next to the food and place her in the hide so she can see the food. Anything would be better than nothing as far as hides until you can get the enclosure set up correctly.I would also double check your temperature to make sure it is not too warm or cold (you may need to adjust your bulbs every couple days as the room temperature changes a bit, even with your thermostat set to the same temp, due to humidity changes and slight variations). A nice warm soak or misting can also help.
Where do you let her explore for 3-4 hours each day? When you take her back to the enclosure, does she go straight to the burrow again?
I would place her in front of the food when you get a chance. Entice her with favorite foods. As long as she is healthy, it is normal for a tort to go through a funk like this every once in awhile. How long have you had this set up? Could it be too bright for her, even taking away the basking bulb you used to have? How much ambient light is there? You may want to put paper over the sides of the tank to make it darker if it is the room light that could be bothering her, as I wouldn't want to cover the top of a tank because it needs all the air flow it can get.
Fake plants don't take up any floor space. Go to Michael's and for $10 you could probably buy 2 of them. You can find coupons in the Sunday newspaper sometimes, or sign up for their online e-mail list for a 40% off one item coupon.
[Well, she does actually have a fake plant in her habitat that she likes to hide under. I thought about putting a cardboard box in with her but I am afraid that it would over-heat and cause a fire or something like that.
When I let Gretta explore for 3-4 hours per day, she is outside in a small animal play pen in the grass. I also throw in some veggies for her to eat as well. However, she cant always go outside because I live in beautifully, unpredicatable wisconsin weather so it still tends to be too cold for her right now to stay outside if Im not around, monitoring the temp. So if she cant go outside, I put her in our bathroom with veggies to walk around because at least that is much larger than her cage.
When I put her back in her cage after shes done getting her "exercise," she does not burrow right away. It is usually after a few hours of being back in her cage that she burrows.
Good news though, I finally got her to eat a some-what usual amount of food today. I guess I cheated though because I cut up everything nice and small and topped her salad off with her dehydrated fruit mix that she likes (her occassional treat) as well as cherry tomatoes (which are her favorite.) She didnt eat as much as she usually eats but she finally ate today
quote='tortoisenerd' pid='135618' dateline='1274559569']
Gretta's mom said no hide at this point. What about putting in a tupperware, cardboard box, fake plant, etc?
I assume she is going through a funk with the hiding thing. My tort will do that. If it goes on for more than 2 days without coming out to eat and bask (he is a Russian but I'm using him as an example), I dig him out and place him under his plant near his basking spot, in sight of his food. Then, I watch to make sure he basks and eats. If he goes back to hide, I will dig him out once more, then if he does it again, I leave him be until the next day when I repeat the process again. Usually by the second day of being dug out he'll give in and bask and eat. For you, you would just want to worry about the food bit, not the basking. I'd place a hide next to the food and place her in the hide so she can see the food. Anything would be better than nothing as far as hides until you can get the enclosure set up correctly.
I would also double check your temperature to make sure it is not too warm or cold (you may need to adjust your bulbs every couple days as the room temperature changes a bit, even with your thermostat set to the same temp, due to humidity changes and slight variations). A nice warm soak or misting can also help.
Where do you let her explore for 3-4 hours each day? When you take her back to the enclosure, does she go straight to the burrow again?
I would place her in front of the food when you get a chance. Entice her with favorite foods. As long as she is healthy, it is normal for a tort to go through a funk like this every once in awhile. How long have you had this set up? Could it be too bright for her, even taking away the basking bulb you used to have? How much ambient light is there? You may want to put paper over the sides of the tank to make it darker if it is the room light that could be bothering her, as I wouldn't want to cover the top of a tank because it needs all the air flow it can get.
Fake plants don't take up any floor space. Go to Michael's and for $10 you could probably buy 2 of them. You can find coupons in the Sunday newspaper sometimes, or sign up for their online e-mail list for a 40% off one item coupon.
[/quote]
When I let Gretta explore for 3-4 hours per day, she is outside in a small animal play pen in the grass. I also throw in some veggies for her to eat as well. However, she cant always go outside because I live in beautifully, unpredicatable wisconsin weather so it still tends to be too cold for her right now to stay outside if Im not around, monitoring the temp. So if she cant go outside, I put her in our bathroom with veggies to walk around because at least that is much larger than her cage.
When I put her back in her cage after shes done getting her "exercise," she does not burrow right away. It is usually after a few hours of being back in her cage that she burrows.
Good news though, I finally got her to eat a some-what usual amount of food today. I guess I cheated though because I cut up everything nice and small and topped her salad off with her dehydrated fruit mix that she likes (her occassional treat) as well as cherry tomatoes (which are her favorite.) She didnt eat as much as she usually eats but she finally ate today
quote='tortoisenerd' pid='135618' dateline='1274559569']
Gretta's mom said no hide at this point. What about putting in a tupperware, cardboard box, fake plant, etc?
I assume she is going through a funk with the hiding thing. My tort will do that. If it goes on for more than 2 days without coming out to eat and bask (he is a Russian but I'm using him as an example), I dig him out and place him under his plant near his basking spot, in sight of his food. Then, I watch to make sure he basks and eats. If he goes back to hide, I will dig him out once more, then if he does it again, I leave him be until the next day when I repeat the process again. Usually by the second day of being dug out he'll give in and bask and eat.
For you, you would just want to worry about the food bit, not the basking. I'd place a hide next to the food and place her in the hide so she can see the food. Anything would be better than nothing as far as hides until you can get the enclosure set up correctly.I would also double check your temperature to make sure it is not too warm or cold (you may need to adjust your bulbs every couple days as the room temperature changes a bit, even with your thermostat set to the same temp, due to humidity changes and slight variations). A nice warm soak or misting can also help.
Where do you let her explore for 3-4 hours each day? When you take her back to the enclosure, does she go straight to the burrow again?
I would place her in front of the food when you get a chance. Entice her with favorite foods. As long as she is healthy, it is normal for a tort to go through a funk like this every once in awhile. How long have you had this set up? Could it be too bright for her, even taking away the basking bulb you used to have? How much ambient light is there? You may want to put paper over the sides of the tank to make it darker if it is the room light that could be bothering her, as I wouldn't want to cover the top of a tank because it needs all the air flow it can get.
Fake plants don't take up any floor space. Go to Michael's and for $10 you could probably buy 2 of them. You can find coupons in the Sunday newspaper sometimes, or sign up for their online e-mail list for a 40% off one item coupon.
[/quote]
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