Stephanie Kalahurka
Member
My baby sulcata -- about 4 months old now -- occasionally manages to flip himself onto his back. He doesn't do it often (once every couple of weeks), but just when I think he won't do it again, he manages it. I have made sure that all feed bowls, rocks, etc., in his enclosure are flush with the ground. Best I can tell, he tries to climb the wall and then somehow flips.
I'm nervous about his doing this while I am at work. I've got a desk job, so I set up a tortoise cam on an extra computer monitor and just have him up there all day.
http://kalahurkakiddos.com/tyrion-cam/
Yesterday, I looked over and Mr. Tyrion was on his back again.
Panic!
I work about 45 minutes away from home, and I've read that baby sulcatas can die on their backs, so I started calling my husband at work and other relatives, trying to find someone who could go rescue him. It was about 20 minutes before a benevolent rescuer finally arrived.
Bottom line -- it's a little crazy for me to be watching him all day and then calling my husband to leave work and go flip the pet tortoise. For now, however, I can't think of a better system and I would feel awful if I came home to find him dead on his back.
In light of the above, my questions are --
Would Tyrion be okay on his back for 45 minutes if I had to go rescue him myself?
Will the self-flipping stop when he gets older?
Thanks,
Steph
I'm nervous about his doing this while I am at work. I've got a desk job, so I set up a tortoise cam on an extra computer monitor and just have him up there all day.
http://kalahurkakiddos.com/tyrion-cam/
Yesterday, I looked over and Mr. Tyrion was on his back again.
Panic!
I work about 45 minutes away from home, and I've read that baby sulcatas can die on their backs, so I started calling my husband at work and other relatives, trying to find someone who could go rescue him. It was about 20 minutes before a benevolent rescuer finally arrived.
Bottom line -- it's a little crazy for me to be watching him all day and then calling my husband to leave work and go flip the pet tortoise. For now, however, I can't think of a better system and I would feel awful if I came home to find him dead on his back.
In light of the above, my questions are --
Would Tyrion be okay on his back for 45 minutes if I had to go rescue him myself?
Will the self-flipping stop when he gets older?
Thanks,
Steph