Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, here are pics of the area I'm talking about. The tunnel is in the far corner, behind the upside down flower pot. The retaining wall is about 4.5 feet tall. The tunnel goes under the wall into the hill at least 8 feet. I think it doesn't go straight either. On the plus side the dirt is very sandy, so it shouldn't be too difficult to dig.

Any ideas on where to dig?

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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

behind the wall in the direction of the tunnel.As you dig down to and open up the top of the hole you will be able to see further.A small hand mirror and strong flashlight will come in handy.

Your wall is lap jointed so very hard to take apart but built well.

We had about the same thing happen and here are some helpful hints. Put a PVC pipe 3 or 4" as far as you can to help with holding up the tunnel as you dig over it. ( cave-ins are trouble and you could loose direction)

Look in the hole at night with a very strong flashlight or spot light. For some reason your eyes adjust better at night.

Also we took a plastice golf ball and made a small hole in it and attached it to a plummer metal fish tape ( flexable wire ) with tape and put it in the hole it will turn most corners and if it hits a rock or her shell you can hear the hollow sound.( we left it in the hole as we dug to find the direction in case of cave-ins)

We also bought about 50 crickets and put them in the hole durning the early morning and they all crawled back into the darkness. (food source)

God Bless and good luck
When you see her the work will seem like nothing.
The next day just fill it in and reseed.

Tx Peepers! As soon as I read this, I went right out w/ a flashlight (while still wearing my pjs! lol!) and laid in the sand on my stomach and looked in the hole.

I could see it went about 2 feet fairly straight out, then took a pretty sharp turn left. I could just barely get my finger tips to the corner. I tried, as you said, to push the plastic ball down the tunnel with the fishing wire. When I couldn't get it to go any farther, I pulled it out. It took about 10 feet of wire, but it was pretty loopy, so I don't know how much is actuall distance and how much it doubled over on its self.

So, maybe I should start digging 2 feet in, put the pvc pipe in where it curves?
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

You may be able to tape a mirror on a broom handle at a 45 degree angle, push it down the hole to the bend and reflect a light off the mirror to see around the corner. I cut a small piece of foam at a 45 and it made it easier to attach it to the stick I used.

One thing I wish I had was one of those arms with the grip end people that can't bend can use to pick items off the floor or up in a cupboard. Our rental store has one that extends to 6 or 8 feet that could save some digging in the end.

These are brilliant ideas. One other thought, don't know how feasible it is, but could you stick a webcam down there at that 45 degree angle. If it had a small LED light attached to the top of it you might get a very good idea as to what you are dealing with.

If I knew that the first part of the whole was 2 feet or so straight back I would put that pvc pipe in place before I started digging the area from above it. I think you need the support before the work begins to really prevent the cave ins. Just my thoughts.

DH want to dig in from under the retaining wall (like the rabbit did). At first I didn't think this was a good idea, but there is a big tree there, so roots are going to get in the way. Also, if I dig enough to crawl up to where it turns, maybe I can shine a light down that tunnel and see somethng.

I really don't know how long rabbit tunnels usually are, or if they are one lane or branch off in different directions!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Oh, and another thing. Spike was out there all summer last year. As far as I know he never went in the tunnel. Why? Is it a difference in species habits?
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Here's an idea...have you thought of contacting a roto-rooter-type service? Or the municipal water/sewer dept.? They are usually equipped with video cameras for line inspection that they might be able to snake down into the tunnel and help find your turtle.

Or call your local animal shelter and see if they know anyone who would do something like that for you.

Good luck!

Yeah, DH checked w/ the sewer people, and it's very expensive. I didn't think about checking with an animal shelter, that's a good idea!

The bad news is, I dug under the wall about 3-4 feet and it turns out at this point, Hershey (rabbit) split it into 2 tunnels! One goes to the left and one goes straight out! I could see a little ways down both tunnels, and didn't see anything.

The good news is, DH says he always wanted to tear up the lawn anyway, so he's thinking he will dig in from the top!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Rabbits can do cut backs and tunnel straight up or down which a turtle can't get out of or get confused with a cut back going up. I tried to attach a cut view of a rabbit tunnel.
Rabbit tunnel

Let me try again

www.dkimages.com can't get it to transfer

Just google rabbit tunnels --- then hit images and you can see how complex they can be. One rabbit not as much as a family of them.

I really feel for you.

Universities and Colleges that offer Ornithology courses often have bona fide ornithologists on staff or consult with them for cirriculum. One very important tool for the serious Ornithologist is a camera system that can reach up into bird nests, owl boxes, etc.. It's worth a shot. Many of them are animals lovers and will do it for a good cup of coffee and/or some gas money.

One other thought, reaching here I know, but if you find a guy who has to identify water lines, and find pipes under ground they often use 2 coat hangers one in each hand bent at 90 degree angles. They hold them loosely and the hangers will cross over each other when they are directly over the pipe, water source, even graves............. It is called water witching. Have no idea why it works, but have seen it done. It may be another way to track which direction(s) the tunnel(s) go and help you locate digging spots.

The fellows who had to replace the waste sewer line from our house to the Main one underground had to use this method to locate the main as it didn't show up on the city's drawings where it was supposed to be. It ended up that the main line was 3 feet over from the city's map and also 3 feet deeper (15 ft depth instead of 12) than it was supposed to be. THey were only able to locate the main line using the coat hangers. I know it sounds weird, but it worked.

Still keeping your girl in my thoughts and prayers......

They are awefully hardy, ornates, and stubborn.