Hello and welcome.He's already flipped 6 times! I'm stressed.
Hi Robin, and welcome to the Forum!
Desert tortoises are very territorial. They have their space and they stick to it. Since Tony is now in a completely new-to-him territory, he feels it's his job to get outta' there and head back to where he belongs. Trying to escape, climbing the walls, etc., he's ending up on his back a lot. You just have to be patient with him. Let him know he's safe, there's food and water here, a nice shelter, and eventually he'll settle down and stop ending up on his back. Tony is the only tortoise in the yard, right?
Desert tortoises are one of my very favorite tortoise. I still have one of the first ones I ever got - Mi-shell. She's over 80 years of age. I hope you and Tony will have a very long and happy life together. How about showing us a picture of him?
Thank you Yvonne! That is all really good to know! Yesterday he flipped 4 times and we have the same block walls as where he came from. He's got a great space I made him, like an L shape enclosure. I hope he stops trying to climb out, it's upsetting.Hello and welcome to the forum.
Give him more stuff to hide under, like plants or brush or something. He probably feels too exposed.
Reptiles are hard-core territorial. When moved somewhere New, they are very active -- not because things are interesting and fun -- because they are afraid and wanting to go back somewhere familiar.
Lots of hiding places is helpful getting them to settle down and de-stress. Lots...so they can choose where to hole up.
Consider another row of bricks...if he can see just to or even over the top surface of the wall, that may be enough to make him keep trying to climb it. If he does succeed in scaling a corner when no one is around, he'll be at large in the neighborhood.
So sorry you are both having this stressful time together - it does get better!
Thanks for rescuing.