Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Destiny used to poop in a certain area of the fenced in yard, near the fence in the Southwest portion of it, she very seldom did it in her house. Then after we built the new fence that she can't see through which also gave her more space she started doing it in her house ALL the time.
I've been on my hands & knees scrubbing that concrete so many times this summer that my knees are still red lol.

Fall-like weather came early this year, it happened at the end of July which means she's spending more time outside every day.
Suddenly she's doing her business outside again thankfully. She's again going next to the fence line in the Southeast portion out in the new space.
Since she changed her behavior only after getting a new fence, then it has got to be that the fence is what made her change.
Since the new box turtle pen is going to cut her off again, and put her back into not having the new space I wonder if she'll go back to using her own house?

I wonder just how territorial they actually are? Does anyone here see a lot of territorial behavior in their sulcatas?
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PHRatz

There is definately a strong degree of territorialism. Females in my experience seem to be the dominant ones in a group. I have one female to three males, she pushes them all around (literally).
She digs the burrow each year and she gets first dibs on sleeping in there at the deepest level.
When extra food is introduced, "Nancy" will start eating, if others come over, she will climb on top of the pile of food and prevent them from eating until she finally gives in because she wants to eat just as badly lol
Unlike what i've read in most literature, the adult males are only pushy with immature males, not each other or the females. (in my experience anyways).
As far as poo-ing goes lol Mine only seem to poo in their paths of travel. When they're grazing (usually from the fence perimeter, inwards) there is a definate trail of feces. You can actually see where they've been.
Additionally, all of the tortoises defecate where they sleep. I have some tortoise that have specific sleep locations outside of the burrow every night, and at each location, there is fresh droppings daily. I would say that yes when it comes to sleep locations anyways, the droppings are definately a message to other tortoises. Does that help at all!?
Thanx, Leo
Skin & Scales

Yes it does help, thank you very much.
I too have always read that males are very territorial & will fight with other males yet we stopped at a horrible roadside animal exhibit once & I saw 5-6 male sulcatas together in one pen. The biggest one looked like the "man in charge" but the smaller ones didn't seem to fear him at all. They didn't look like they'd been fighting either.
Maybe it's because there weren't any females near?

When it comes to the dog who is a little weenie dog, she's fine with him visiting her inside her home. They seem to like one another, I often wonder if they know how to communicate with one another.
Her home is part of his daily rounds so he does an inspection of it whether she's in it or not & she doesn't mind.

As for pooping where she sleeps, she normally doesn't do that & I've always thought that's because she knew the "mansion" was hers, she didn't feel the need to mark it as territory but the new fence must've freaked her out so she then suddenly did feel the need to mark it. However she always has marked her hide boxes by pooping in them when she uses them.

She tried to move into "The Tortoise Mansion" when it was still under construction. With a floor & half of one wall, she was already trying to kick my DH out while he worked on it. She's such a smart alec LOL!
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PHRatz

I can't say for sure that Nacy defecates where she sleeps, it could very well simply be a male thing. As far as dogs go I occasionally have a pair of Boston Terriers and a weimeraner hanging out with my tortoises and they all get along just fine. The only thing i'm adamant about is removing the dog feces before the tortoises find it because naturally, tortoises will occasionally eat droppings (this is called coprophagy), its usually there own dropping (like rabbits) for the bacteria benefits, but with dogs, there may be something in there to harm the tortoises.
Thanx, Leo
Skin & Scales

>> The only thing i'm adamant about is removing the dog feces before the tortoises find it because naturally, tortoises will occasionally eat droppings (this is called coprophagy), its usually there own dropping (like rabbits) for the bacteria benefits, but with dogs, there may be something in there to harm the tortoises.

I call it Poop Patrol LOL and I am on Poop Patrol daily. I have my pooper scooper in working order at all times & keep a plastic bag hanging outside ready to go at all times.
I KNOW my dog has something in his poop that could harm the tortoise. He's got hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease, and allergies, he's on a lot of medication so the one thing I am adament about is that his heartworm preventative must not contain ivermectin.
His regular medications are expelled through urine but ivermectin is expelled through feces. There is always the chance I'll miss something so no HeartGuard for the dog but I think the dog gets tired of me following him with a sack & a pooper scooper in hand LOL!
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PHRatz