Why is my tortoise climbing her cage walls?

CharlieS2020

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Hi everyone I was hoping you could help me out with a problem I am having with my tortoise Charlie. Charlie is a one year old Estern Hermann tortoise. Mostly every day I find charlie climbing her cage walls. Her cage is 4 feet by 21 inches in with. It is plenty big for her, she also has a climbing rock, food dish, water dish and a built in hide. Can you please tell me if the climbing her walls is a bad thing. Also I take her out to let her walk around on my floor around 2 to 3 times a day. Thank you so much for advice! Charlie.
 

yay14

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Hi everyone I was hoping you could help me out with a problem I am having with my tortoise Charlie. Charlie is a one year old Estern Hermann tortoise. Mostly every day I find charlie climbing her cage walls. Her cage is 4 feet by 21 inches in with. It is plenty big for her, she also has a climbing rock, food dish, water dish and a built in hide. Can you please tell me if the climbing her walls is a bad thing. Also I take her out to let her walk around on my floor around 2 to 3 times a day. Thank you so much for advice! Charlie.
From what i now it's completely normal and mine used to do the same thing
 

queen koopa

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yay14

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When tortoise are let out if their enclosures for free roaming they tend to try and find a way to get out to that free area again. Larger enclosures may take care of this. Or sometimes it is too cold in their enclosure. Have you read the care sheets?

Agreed that could deffinatly be the problem. It might also be if OP enclosure is see thru it wants to get out
 

CharlieS2020

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i
Agreed that could deffinatly be the problem. It might also be if OP enclosure is see thru it wants to get out
i ahve read the care sheets and i think letting her out so often could be the problem. Is there anyway for her to top climbing the walls? and thanks for the help. Charlie
 

Krista S

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i dont know to post photos. i would love if you could teach me. Charlie
When you go to type your message there should be an “Attach files” button on the bottom left hand side, just under the text box. Once you click Attach files it will provide you with a few different options as shown in my screen shot below.
26275A9C-636B-4730-8860-A3EF73A0EA4D.jpeg
 

CharlieS2020

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When you go to type your message there should be an “Attach files” button on the bottom left hand side, just under the text box. Once you click Attach files it will provide you with a few different options as shown in my screen shot below.
View attachment 315967
thank you so much i am new to the forum so i am learning how it works. and i realy appreciate the help! Charlie
 

Two babies

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thank you so much i am new to the forum so i am learning how it works. and i realy appreciate the help! Charlie
how do i stop charlie from climbing walls?
Hi - my tort did the same thing when he was a baby. I had him in a clear plastic container at first, and he developed a spot on his nose from bumping the sides and trying to get out. As an experiment I covered the outside in newspaper and he immediately stopped. It happened again when I moved him to a 17' x 8' area outside made out of cinder blocks. He would constantly flip himself over trying to climb out. I noticed a sliver of light coming between the blocks in a corner, so I put a large rock on the outside covering the thin crack, and he never did it again. Now, some years later, he has a big yard to hang out in with a fence that has spaces between the boards, and he loves to walk the fence line looking up and down the street, but he has never tried to climb over, under, or through it. Maybe make sure Charlie can't see out of his home and see if that works.
 

CharlieS2020

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Hi - my tort did the same thing when he was a baby. I had him in a clear plastic container at first, and he developed a spot on his nose from bumping the sides and trying to get out. As an experiment I covered the outside in newspaper and he immediately stopped. It happened again when I moved him to a 17' x 8' area outside made out of cinder blocks. He would constantly flip himself over trying to climb out. I noticed a sliver of light coming between the blocks in a corner, so I put a large rock on the outside covering the thin crack, and he never did it again. Now, some years later, he has a big yard to hang out in with a fence that has spaces between the boards, and he loves to walk the fence line looking up and down the street, but he has never tried to climb over, under, or through it. Maybe make sure Charlie can't see out of his home and see if that works.
hi please respond back to this. charlie is in a hand built cage amde out of wood and there are no crakes. though i take her out around 2 times a day becuse she constently climbs her walls and im getting woried. please tell me how to stop this from happening. her is a photo of her cage. CharlieIMG-0453.jpg
 

Holly.thompson

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Hi Charlie, I have a Hermann too, Sheldon. He does the exact same I don’t think it’s anything to worry about too much! Depending on how long you’ve had him, Charlie may be just exploring his habitat and trying to learn and get use to surroundings. I haven’t had mine long, but I found he calmed down and isn’t doing it as frequently as before as time goes on. Hope this helps x
 

Two babies

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hi please respond back to this. charlie is in a hand built cage amde out of wood and there are no crakes. though i take her out around 2 times a day becuse she constently climbs her walls and im getting woried. please tell me how to stop this from happening. her is a photo of her cage. CharlieView attachment 316091
I can only tell you my results. I am not one of the experts here. My first container was not as nice as yours. It was 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, 4 inches high and clear plastic. I would take the entire box outside under my covered patio almost every day for an hour or two (sitting on a patio table). Only about 1/3 of the box got sun. Also, 1/2 was covered but had lots of holes in it. It got too warm under the cover without the holes. They loved being outside in the box. I live in central CA so we have warm weather a lot. I never let them out in the house. One of the best purchases I made was a temperature gun. I check their enclosure multiple times a day, even though heat is on thermostat. I also check outside ground temp before they go out, and I check their soak tub continuously as it gets cold fast. I don't know this, but maybe it is too hot in Charlie's box. I have a warmer side and cooler side so they have a choice. You will find the best info on the downloads from this site. I didn't know about The Forum at first, so I just kept trying things until they seemed comfy. I went through multiple homes the first year trying to get it right. Good for you for asking questions and reading the great info on here. Lucky Charlie!
 

queen koopa

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hi please respond back to this. charlie is in a hand built cage amde out of wood and there are no crakes. though i take her out around 2 times a day becuse she constently climbs her walls and im getting woried. please tell me how to stop this from happening. her is a photo of her cage. CharlieView attachment 316091
Try searching in the Hermans section of the forum for more examples. For your enclosure you will need to make the temperatures 80 degrees F minimum with 70% humidity. Also maybe another hide? He may feel exposed. Also needs light exposure which is in the care sheet linked originally. Though this is a smaller species, they require more space, the minimum size enclosure is 8ft by 4ft. So prepare now for your future upgrade. I adopted an 18 yr old red eared slider who was kept in a 20 gal glass tank his whole life, when I would come into the room the turtle would flip out and scratch everything! His previous owner would also take him out to clean the tank and let him roam. I upgraded the enclosure to 75 gal Stock tank with a large boulder sticking out so he can dock himself. He no longer flips out. The pacing and climbing may subside with not handling him as much, most likely won’t hurt him but watch for flip overs.
 

CharlieS2020

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Hi Charlie, I have a Hermann too, Sheldon. He does the exact same I don’t think it’s anything to worry about too much! Depending on how long you’ve had him, Charlie may be just exploring his habitat and trying to learn and get use to surroundings. I haven’t had mine long, but I found he calmed down and isn’t doing it as frequently as before as time goes on. Hope this helps x
hi thanks for the advice ive had charlie around 10 monthes and she has stayed in the same cage and her climbing addiction has gotten worse. Charlie
 

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