7 Reasons Why Tortoises Bury Themselves

Tortoises can be quite curious creatures. There are a lot of things that can cause strange behaviors, like burying themselves. And if you are a new tortoise owner, strange behavior like this can leave you quite clueless about what you should do. Fortunately for you in this article, I will cover every possible reason why your tortoise is buying itself.

It’s a very common behavior for tortoises to bury themselves. The most common reasons why they do this are: to regulate their temperature, to lay eggs, due to danger, hunger, improper living conditions, brumation, and for fun.

As you can see there are quite a few reasons why your tortoise might bury itself. Some of them are completely normal, but some of them don’t sound that good. So let’s take a closer look at each one to find out which is the case for your tortoise.

Tortoises Bury Themselves to Regulate Their Temperature

This is one of the most common reasons why tortoises bury themselves, especially in the summer, or whenever the temperatures get too hot.

Tortoises are cold-blooded animals. This means that they can’t regulate their own body temperature. So they have to rely on external factors.

Due to the insulating properties of dirt, a hole in the ground, no matter how deep it is, will always be cooler than the overall outside temperature.

So, if the temperature gets too hot for your tortoise, it’s perfectly normal for it to bury itself in order to cope with the heat.

If the weather has been warmer than usual, then this is the most likely reason why your tortoise is buying itself. And there is no reason to alarm yourself, what your tortoise is doing is completely normal and harmless.

If the temperature keeps rising, you might want to consider moving your tortoise to a colder room. Turning the AC on can be an option, but I would not recommend it since the sudden change in temperature can really mess up the instincts of your tortoises.

But if the weather has been getting colder recently, things are a little bit different.

Tortoises Bury Themselves to Brumate

When the temperature drops, tortoises will still bury themselves, but for a completely different reason.

When the temperature reaches a certain point, usually around 50°F (10°C), tortoises will prepare to brumate. Brumation is very similar to hibernation, and it’s basically a very long and profound sleep.

This is the natural response of most reptiles when winter is getting close, and I said it’s not based on time, but on temperature. So it doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of July or January. If the temperature drops enough, tortoises will start to prepare for brumation.

Brumation doesn’t provide any benefit to tortoises, except for keeping them alive during the harsh winter months. So, for a pet tortoise that lives indoors, there is no practical reason to brumate.

So in this case the best thing that you can do is to move your tortoises somewhere warmer, so they will stop preparing for brumation. Alternatively, you could let it brumate, but as I said there is no benefit to that.

Tortoises Bury Themselves to Lay Eggs

Another very common reason why tortoises bury themselves is to lay eggs.

One thing that you have to know about female tortoises is that they will lay eggs every year. It doesn’t matter if there is any male around, they will still lay the eggs. Males only fertilize the eggs.

If you are not sure if your tortoise is male or female tortoise is male or female you should check out this article: How to Tell If a Tortoise Is Male or Female (with Pictures), after reading the article you should yearly be able to tell if your tortoise is male or female.

Most tortoise species will lay eggs during spring. So if the timing is right and you have a female tortoise, then this is the most likely reason why your tortoise is burying itself. 

Tortoises don’t lay their eggs in the open, even if they live in a safe environment. What they do instead is dig a hole in the ground big enough to hold them and the eggs, then bury themselves in that hole and only come out when the eggs have been laid.

Again, this is completely normal behavior for female tortoises, so there is no reason to worry about anything. As for the eggs, if they are not fertilized, no babies will come out of them, so you can do whatever you want with them, you can even leave them there.

Tortoises Bury Themselves When Feeling in Danger

Tortoises are not the bravest animals out there, and they will hide in their shell at the first sight of danger. So a tortoise burying itself because it feels endangered might not seem that strange. But it actually is.

As I said, the basic response of a tortoise when it feels endangered is to hide in its shell. In order for them to bury themselves there must be something really scary out there. Even if we don’t perceive that thing as threatening.

A scared tortoise is a stressed out tortoise, and a stressed out tortoise is a tortoise that can easily get sick, as their whole body is weakened during this time. So you should try to find what stressed out your tortoise.

Things can be a little tricky right now, because we know that our tortoises are completely safe, and there is nothing around them that can hurt them in any way. But they don’t necessarily see things the same way, so you really have to take a good look around the room.

Sometimes it can be pretty easy to guess what was carrying your tortoise, things like cats, dogs, sound systems, birds, a shaky enclosure, etc. but sometimes it can be something smaller like a ticking clock, close to the enclosure.

Tortoises Bury Themselves for Fun

Tortoises really like to bury themselves. And it’s one of their favorite recreational activities.

There are three things that tortoises like to do in their spare time, climb things, hide and dig. And if they can’t do one of them they will only do the other, to the point that it might seem excessive.

If your tortoise is not burying itself, due to any reason found in this article, then most likely it’s just harmless fun. And there is no need to do anything else.

The only thing that I would recommend you to try  is to add a little variety to their environment, something like a rock which they can climb, or a cave where they can hide. This way they will dig less and have even more fun.

Tortoises Bury Themselves Due to Hunger

Another possible reason why your tortoise is hiding can be hunger.

When tortoises don’t get to eat enough food they feel vulnerable, since they can’t operate at full capacity. So they will hide, until they get a proper meal.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about how, and how much you should feed a tortoise, so it can be quite easy to get the wrong idea. 

On average a tortoise should eat 4 or 5 times a week, and its diet should be made out of fruits, vegetables and plants. If you would like to know how much food you should give your tortoise, and which fruits and vegetables you should avoid, you can check out my article: How to Feed a Tortoise (How Much, How Often, and What). There you will find all the information that you need.

If this was the problem, your tortoise should stop burying itself after it eats a few good meals.

Tortoises Bury Themselves Due to Improper Living Conditions

The final reason why a tortoise could be burying itself, if due to improper living conditions.

And in this cane the tortoise is not only trying to bury itself, but also trying to dig a way out of its enclosure, in search of a better place to live.

Improper living conditions can mean a few things, but the most common problems can be food, basking area and substrate.

Food we already covered, in the last point. In the case of substrates I have an entire series of articles, one for each tortoise species, which you can find right here. And now, we’ll take a look at the basking area.

The basking area should have two light bulbs, one that provides heat, and one that provides UVB light. And those bulbs come with different wattages, and depending on their wattage they will have a different power. So let’s figure out what is the best wattage for your tortoise.

How to Choose the Best Heat Bulb for Your Tortoise

In order to give an answer that will fit your setup and your tortoise, we need to know two things.

The first is what temperature you can expect from a light bulb at certain distances. And second, what tortoise species do you have.

Now, let’s start with the first.

Here is a chart that I made showing what temperature you should expect to achieve using different powered light bulbs at certain distances.

To make this chart I used a laser thermometer and the average temperature of the room was 75°Fahrenheit (24°Celsius), so you might get slightly different results depending on the temperature of your room, but unless the difference is massive the temperature of the basking area should be similar.

As for the bulbs, I’ve been using these bulbs for a few years, but from my experience, all heat bulbs are very similar, so you can use whichever you like the most. But, make sure to avoid mercury vapor bulbs, I will explain shortly why,

Now that you know what temperature to expect from a heat bulb, based on distance and wattage, it’s time to see what temperature you actually need.

Overall most tortoises require a similar temperature range, but if you want to get into detail, they are slightly different. And here is a list of the most common pet tortoises and their ideal basking area temperatures:

How to Choose the Best UVB Bulb for Your Tortoise

When it comes to choosing UVB bulbs things are a little more complicated due to the huge variety of wattages, in which UVB bulbs can be found. And then there is the fact that most manufacturers have a different rating system, and some of them have no instructions at all.

So, for UVB bulbs, I am going to give you the exact distance for a few bulbs that I’ve used before that come from a reputable manufacturer, and I will provide links to Amazon, where you can get them

And in case you have something between the UVB bulb, like a net, or a grill, you want to move the bulb closer by one inch, as anything in between the tortoise and the bulb will reduce the amount of UVB rays.

One more thing to keep in mind is that UVB bulbs will stop producing UVB rays, way before they will stop producing light. On average I would say that a UVB bulb only produces UVB rays for only half of its lifespan. I measured the amount of UVB light produced by the bulbs and noticed that after about 6 months, the amount drops considerably, so I change my light bulbs at around 6 months, and I would advise you to do the same.

And if you want to measure how much UVB light your bulb produces you can use this device. While it’s a little bit expensive, overall it will save you money since you will know exactly when the bulbs run out of UVB light, and it will help your tortoise remain healthy. But it’s not a requirement.

Final Thoughts

So tortoises can bury themselves for a lot of reasons, luckily most of them are harmless. But there is also a good chance that there is something wrong, so make sure to examine every single possibility. 

I hope this article answered all of your questions about tortoises and why they bury themselves, but in case there is anything else that you would like to know, don’t hesitate to leave a question in the comment section below. I regularly check for questions and answer each and every one of them.

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