Russians do indeed burrow, but not as much as I was led to believe, I guess it depends on exact locality/exposure/substrate. The others burrow under objects, down to hibernate or aestivate, but not a tunnel/burrow system like a gopher tortoise/desert/texas tortoise would in my experience. I made artificial burrows for them, and they do use them but it took awhile and some truly hot weather to "learn". They seem to prefer a shallow depression "scrape", often under a bush or overhang or amongst tall grass. I planted a lot of wheat this Winter, and to my surprise, they have eaten a lot of the leaves, the grain is now turning gold in the sun. They spend a lot of time basking in the filtered sun from the wheat grass.

I think my russians are fairly content, and do not seem to be motivated to burrow on their own, though I have had some dicey times searching for them just prior to hibernation, I waited too long and they burrowed in on their own. Good luck and have fun, Vic

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