Burrowing

Question
I have a 7 year old three toed box turtle, who i know for a fact was never wild. Recently, he's been burrowing like crazy, and i can never seem to get him out of hiding, I've tried looking on every site, but no one has answers. Do you know if this is normal or not?

Answer
There are a lot of possibilities...

1. Habitat too small- he may have outgrown it and be looking for more space, or stressed by the smallness of the enclosure.

2. Trying to hibernate. Although we usually see this in the fall, if the temps and daylight length make it think fall is approaching, it will try to hibernate. We fight this with summery temps and day cycles if we don't want it going into either torpor (a sluggish pre-hibernation stage where they will not eat and waste away) or true hibernation.

3. Female feeling an urge to nest, even if not carrying eggs.

4. Feeling a need for something in its diet it is not getting- worms, live insects, etc. (Box turtles eat about 75% insects and such in the wild).

5. Temps or light too high trying to get away from it.

6. Feels afraid- being stared at, dogs, noises, etc.

Lots of possibilities.

The best place to discuss something like this is http://www.turtleforum.com where several experts can offer ideas and we can work to figure it out.