10/24/2026
You may be seeing less activity on our page, but we are anything but idle here at That Turtle Place! One of our biggest goals this winter was to give each of our larger male sulcatas their own individual space where they can sleep, spend hot summer days alone and cool, and feel like they are underground. We built a mini version of one of these for our star tortoises a few years ago, and it worked wonderfully, allowing us to grow plants on top while keeping the interior temperatures nice and cool.
Earlier this year I came across a business that uses this same design to build burrows for desert tortoises, sulcatas, and other species that beat the heat by going underground. The company is called Arizona Tortoise Tubes and we strongly recommend following them to see the techniques they use and the lessons they’ve learned through trial and error building so many tortoise homes.
Because we’re in a very low area, we’ll need a few modifications, such as adding a dirt pad to raise the area and prevent underground flooding. We’ll be working on the snapping turtle pond at the same time and will use that dirt as extra backfill for the burrows. Keeping multiple males together definitely has its challenges, but with tens of thousands of male sulcatas in need of homes around the U.S., it’s a situation that can’t be ignored.
Although our males currently have a 1/4 acre space (which we plan to extend to 1/2 acre), they aren’t a species that prefers to live together. These burrows will be strategically placed to provide visual barriers, and we will add more barriers so they don’t feel the need to fight or constantly assert dominance. We want to be a place tortoise keepers can visit to get ideas for improving their animals’ lives, and we are learning daily what works best and what doesn’t. We can always improve! If you love the work we do here, and would like to see us continue on the path of education, and providing homes for these amazing animals, consider donating or becoming a member! Every amount makes the biggest difference in what we do here, and couldn’t do it without the support we receive. Check the comments or bio for donors link.
