Why does my Russian keep digging..upwards..?

[CharlesDarwin2.0]

Hi family,

My russian Darwin is doing great. He eats hydrates and sleeps well. We upgraded him to a ~ 4.5' to 2' indoor enclosure a few months ago with basking temps around 93° F.

He's a little weird sometimes though

When we had him in his smaller ~3' tub, he was just peachy and burrowed often just for fun. However, he's not been burrowing at all really since he's been in this bigger tub. I don't mind that, he can do him. He doesn't claw against corners or anything (well, not for more than a few seconds). However, he will always claw upwards against the inside of his wooden hut, as if he's trying to dig through the top. He does this for extended duration of time.

Is this normal behavior? The hut is plenty big for him to just crawl around and stuff. He's got two hides and good temps. I've attached a picture of the little dude in action. I don't mind that he does that, but he does it so much I feel like he doesn't like it or something? I don't want him to break a nail or anything either.

This is the hut he always goes back into at night to sleep in. Only, when he sleeps, he tries to burrow but instead just scratches at the corner until he falls asleep. The blue tape is just to round off a corner so he doesn't get stuck in it.

 

[Rue]

...I really shouldn't laugh...but that's too cute.

However, cute as it is, I hope you can figure it out...doesn't look very safe.

 

[lne927]

Wow, Ive never seen that one before haha, Mine digs and sleeps at really steep angles sometimes, but thats crazy.

I would definitely watch out for this one because I heard they have a hard time breathing on their backs

 

[TortoiseWarrior]

Hi. We!come

 

[CharlesDarwin2.0]

bumping this thread bc hes not stopping at all i even replaced the inside of his hut with fresh eco earth and he just nudges himself into the highest corner and claws into the ceiling of his hut.

 

[JoesMum]

Thinking about a problem that @Gillian Moore had with Oli, what colour is it under there?

She had to get rid of something orange. It looks like what you have may be yellow

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Could it maybe be because he feels the top is too low? Or would like a small opening?

 

[Yvonne G]

I think he's trying to reach the top to climb out.

 

[CharlesDarwin2.0]

The height of the hut is about 9-10 inches. Regardless of how much or how little substrate i put in, he'll stand as high as he can and claw

The top of the hut is sealed and unless he digs through the wood there's no way to climb out :/

@JoesMum That's an interesting theory! It's sort of a yellowish cream color.

 

[JoesMum]

@JoesMum That's an interesting theory! It's sort of a yellowish cream color.

I would seriously try substituting something of a different (Not attractive to torts) colour. Avoid anything that could be construed as berry or food!

Grey and brown are good!

 

[GingerLove]

I've never seen that before! When my tort wouldn't stop digging against a wall (not a ceiling, however) I switched the colors and put a poster on the back of the cage. It changed everything! I agree with JoesMum, might as well give it a try. I hope it works!

 

[CharlesDarwin2.0]

Thanks to both of you! I'll change the coloring asap