Grave digging

[jon]

My tortoises keep burying themselves when they go to sleep, normal behaviour?
ps sorry about the poor spelling am half asleepm right now

[PicOlio]

From my understanding it is not completely abnormal

Some of them will burrow into the ground to escape the heat or to hibernate etc...

What kind of tortoise is it? What type of environment does it live in?

[elfomatic]

I've been hearing a lot of this sort of thing lately ... I agree with Picolio ... it probably has to do with a burmation instinct. Turts and torts in captivity across the United States seem to be "slowing down" in prep. for the colder months. It's common this time of year.

Don't be too alarmed if you notice a change in energy.

A lot of people who keep box turtles have noticed a jump in appetite this past month as they are attempting to fatten up for winter ...

[jon]

My tortoises are marginated tortoises, as for environment do you mean enclusure? to clear up the secnd post im from the uk which means my tortoises are kept in a vivarium due to the poor weather so the day tem is usualy 32 c and night 29 c and im not planning on letting them hibernate yet as they aren't very old (we were advised by the person who sold them us not to start hibernating until they were about 10)

[elfomatic]

I believe hibernation is more of a choice than a requirement in captivity. I'm sure there are people out there who will disagree with me on that one but it has always been a highly debated topic.

Even if you have no plans to hibernate your torts can still get the idea in their heads that winter is coming ... even inside! They take clues from the weather ... from what they may be able to tell from light patterns if they are near a window ... from the length of time since the last winter they experienced ... so, they know what to expect.

Even people who don't hibernate their turtles and keep them inside usually find that they slow down remarkably during the colder months.