Your turtle will understand and know why it does things but you may not know or understand why these animals do things, things like the animal digging in the sand
This article is a look into why your turtle may be digging in the sand
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Why is my turtle digging in the sand?
While some things that turtles do may seem quite common, you may still wonder as to why these animals do these things, one common thing that turtles do is dig in the sand.
Here are the various reasons why turtles choose to dig in the sand
Thermoregulation:
One of the simplest reasons why your pet turtle will choose to dig in the sand is thermoregulation.
These animals are cold-blooded, this means that they depend on their environment to regulate their body temperature, they cannot regulate their own body temperature.
If the environment that your pet is in is too cold then your pet may dig a hole and then buy itself in the hole, doing this keeps them insulated and allows them to stay warm
What To Do:
You may need to consider why your pet needs to do this, check the ambient temperature in your pet’s enclosure to see why the animal seems to feel so cold
Use a quality digital aquarium thermometer to measure the temperature in your pet’s enclosure. If it’s too cold you may want to consider using a heat lamp in the enclosure
Trying to escape:
Another reason why your pet turtle may be digging is to try to find an escape from the tank.
Your pet may be trying to escape because its tank is becoming very boring, because its tank is too small, or because the animal is fearful or a nearby threat
What to do:
You’d need to figure out why your pet is trying to escape and then remedy this. If your pet’s tank is too small then try getting a bigger tank for your pet. You’d need 10 gallons of tank per inch of the turtle’s shell.
You may alternatively need to change the interior of the tank because the turtle is bored.
You can do this by moving things around slightly, increasing basking and hiding places, or adding different decorations to the tank
Avoid making too many changes as these animals can become anxious if their environment is overly changed
If your pet is fearful of a predator, like a dog or a cat, then keep the animals separate and out of each other’s eyesight.
Gravid turtle:
If your turtle is female then the animal may be digging because it is gravid, (a turtles version of pregnant) ,and is creating a place to lay her eggs
Once your turtle lays her eggs she will forget about them, these animals don’t raise their young
What to do:
The eggs won’t be fertilized if your pet is living alone, but if you’re keeping a turtle couple, then the eggs may be fertilized and you may want to incubate and hatch the eggs.
Keep an eye on the mother as she will lay the eggs then turn around and eat the eggs. So, if you want to hatch the eggs then remove them once they are laid
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Does My Turtle Hiss At Me, Why Does My Turtle Pee On Me?, Why Is My Turtle A Picky Eater?, Why Is My Turtle Swimming Frantically?, Why Is My Turtle Panicking?, Why Does My Turtle Have A Lump On His Neck?, Why Is My Turtle Digging In The Rocks?, Why Does My Turtle Move His Rocks?, Why Is My Turtle Burrowing?