Flipping

Lisanne Allen

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Indiana
CD43ABCD-3D5B-4852-B62D-C46D0B942B5C.jpeg 7572EAF0-DA53-4F76-9A04-B392B61E7020.jpeg 187BE056-1996-4C81-B662-20809B9A92A0.jpeg 2B93BA58-EACF-4877-A461-EA7A53B00F9E.png D4E164B6-0F6A-4DF2-BFF7-B8FCE694B2C8.png 0795FD5F-7D0C-4B36-8CAF-29686C1064DE.png 1D344DB3-A5A6-47BA-AC98-4D6F848B2BD5.png CD43ABCD-3D5B-4852-B62D-C46D0B942B5C.jpeg 7572EAF0-DA53-4F76-9A04-B392B61E7020.jpeg 187BE056-1996-4C81-B662-20809B9A92A0.jpeg so my little guy (about 7 months old) is all of a sudden flipping over multiple times a day. I put a camera on him so we have been able to flip him back relatively quickly but i can’t get him to stop. This is day 2. I have pictures and videos Uploaded. He is trying to climb the walls
1.) i thought maybe he was bored so i took everything out and reconfigured it all. Moving most of his things other than his basking rock.
2.) checked his temps they are all good
3.) sat and watched him for an hour. Noticed he was trying to climb walls so i put things in the corners to keep him from climbing! He just climbed on top of them! So i had to be inventive and find things he could climb.

So he is only flipping over in a super strange spot of the cage. I have circled it in red in the picture of his enclosure.

Also, if myself or my neighbors aren’t home to flip him back and i can see in the camera he is flipped, what are some things i can do to that ‘area’ to make it easier for him to flip himself back over. I can see him trying on the camera and he can almost get himself back over but can’t. Should i Ike make a hill or something? Also are they ever able to flip themselves back over when they are older?

The video is showing what i think is happening where i keep finding him. But i have never seen him flip with my eyes. He has only been found flipped over where the red circle is. Not where the video was taken. So it would let me upload even the smallest (13second) video so i had to take screen shots of the video to show you! Sorry!

I should also note that the cactus was not always in the corner, that was put there once i noticed the behavior, along with the shovel and the bark hide. The fake plant is far enough away from the edge of the cage that he can walk between its base and the edge.
 

KayLeo7

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Jul 25, 2017
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What are you feeding? My experiences with flipping have been directly related to food. If I haven’t fed enough, or not enough calcium, or not enough vitamin supplements my little guy tries to climb the up walls to get out of his enclosure in “search of food”. When I see this I normally give him a dose of calcium or supplements or simply get his favorite food and he eats, basks, and returns to his favorite sleeping spot.
 

Lisanne Allen

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Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
36
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
What are you feeding? My experiences with flipping have been directly related to food. If I haven’t fed enough, or not enough calcium, or not enough vitamin supplements my little guy tries to climb the up walls to get out of his enclosure in “search of food”. When I see this I normally give him a dose of calcium or supplements or simply get his favorite food and he eats, basks, and returns to his favorite sleeping spot.


What a great suggestion!! It makes total sense for what happened, he hasn’t done it in a few days and that’s right about when i reintroduced his favorite which is Romain. I know it’s not great for him so i was trying to ween him off of it and last week i only put his other greens in his mixes. He wasn’t very interested in them, he really only likes Romain and i feel like i trick him into eating better by mixing in the dandelions and greens etc. (His breader fed him Romain) There is always mazuri available to him and we give him greens 2x a day, taking the wilted out. He never eats it all. The seeking behavior makes total sense to me, That never even dawned on me.
Quick question, CB has never used his cuttle bone, which i always available, so i dust it onto his food, but i really seems like he avoids the food it is sprinkled on, even the Romain. Have you had a picky eater? How do i make sure he gets it? Also if he needs it he would eat it right?
 

Bambam1989

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I wouldn't recommend giving calcium supplements more than once a week, especially if he has a cuttlebone available. To much calcium can be harmful.
 

Lisanne Allen

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Messages
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Indiana
I wouldn't recommend giving calcium supplements more than once a week, especially if he has a cuttlebone available. To much calcium can be harmful.
I sprinkle it occasionally, i figure if he needs it he will eat the cuttle bone. I hope that’s ok
 

eternalnewb

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Hi,
I have two Hermann's torts and my youngest who is 6 months old and just recently started flipping. I had never seen any behaviour that made me think he would flip so when I found him flipped over after coming home from shopping it was quite scary as I didn't know how long he had been flipped. I ran out and got a camera so I would be able to check on him while I was out and at work, my family thought I was crazy but after reading your post I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one monitoring my tort :) I wonder if flipping could also be related to age, my other Hermann's is around 3 years old and I have had him for about a year now. He has never flipped and never attempted to climb the walls or corners, he's so laid back I can't even imagine it. My Russian tort went through a phase when he was a hatchling where he would flip, he climbed everything including the walls so it was never a surprise that he flipped. I'm hoping it's a phase that he will outgrow soon as it is definitely something I worry about. Oh and I really like your enclosure, with the stone and plants it looks really nice.
 

Lisanne Allen

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Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
36
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
Hi,
I have two Hermann's torts and my youngest who is 6 months old and just recently started flipping. I had never seen any behaviour that made me think he would flip so when I found him flipped over after coming home from shopping it was quite scary as I didn't know how long he had been flipped. I ran out and got a camera so I would be able to check on him while I was out and at work, my family thought I was crazy but after reading your post I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one monitoring my tort :) I wonder if flipping could also be related to age, my other Hermann's is around 3 years old and I have had him for about a year now. He has never flipped and never attempted to climb the walls or corners, he's so laid back I can't even imagine it. My Russian tort went through a phase when he was a hatchling where he would flip, he climbed everything including the walls so it was never a surprise that he flipped. I'm hoping it's a phase that he will outgrow soon as it is definitely something I worry about. Oh and I really like your enclosure, with the stone and plants it looks really nice.



Thanks! Good to know others start doing it for no apparent reason. He has stopped doing it and i haven’t found him flipped for about 2 weeks. Fingers crossed it stays that way good lick with your little guy! And no the camera isn’t crazy! It’s the on,y way i would be sane!
 

Franco F

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I remember the flipping days with my Hermann. I adjusted the temps to not be too too hot (hottest spot being around 90-94 degrees F after I made the adjustment) and I put small rocks around the entire enclosure to pitch the walls at a certain angle (so that they weren’t too steep) so he’d stop trying to climb. The rocks are totally unnecessary in my enclosure now that my tortoise has stopped climbing (and they’ve sort of become buried over time) but I kept them for the look.

052C7D70-7EA4-4C5E-9BB1-40E91E5A070E.jpeg
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WithLisa

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I would recommend to cover the whole space with plants. That's what their natural habitat looks like, it makes them feel safe (babies don't like to sit in the open) and enables them to easily flip back over if necessary (should only take them a few seconds).
 

Lisanne Allen

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Joined
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36
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Indiana
I remember the flipping days with my Hermann. I adjusted the temps to not be too too hot (hottest spot being around 90-94 degrees F after I made the adjustment) and I put small rocks around the entire enclosure to pitch the walls at a certain angle (so that they weren’t too steep) so he’d stop trying to climb. The rocks are totally unnecessary in my enclosure now that my tortoise has stopped climbing (and they’ve sort of become buried over time) but I kept them for the look.

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Totally unrelated but it’s been on my mind lately and your photos sparked the thought. When did you start making water accessible to your Hermann? We are still bathing daily and i spray him and the enclosure multiple times a day to make sure there is standing water on rocks etc.. but how do you know they are ready for a water dish.
I should say i know he isnt ready yet since he is flipping.
 

Franco F

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Totally unrelated but it’s been on my mind lately and your photos sparked the thought. When did you start making water accessible to your Hermann? We are still bathing daily and i spray him and the enclosure multiple times a day to make sure there is standing water on rocks etc.. but how do you know they are ready for a water dish.
I should say i know he isnt ready yet since he is flipping.

I always made water available to my tortoise just in case he was thirsty, but I made the water very very shallow so that if he flipped in the bowl he wouldn't go under. I positioned the bowl away from the edges and totally away from the spotlight. Thankfully, he never flipped in the water, but he never used it anyway. As a matter of fact, I've only noticed within the past several months that he's actively using and drinking from his water dish now. He didn't use it even once when I first got him. As long as you continue to soak and keep the enclosure humid, I don't see it being detrimental to the tortoise's health by restricting the water bowl until he stops flipping. I've only had my little one for 11 months, so I wouldn't consider myself an expert though
 

Yvonne G

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I put little pebbles in the bottom so the dish isn't so steep to climb out of. Also, if they tip over in the water it's not so deep that they drown:

babies eat a mulberry leaf.jpg

This picture was before I cleaned out the dish and added fresh water, but you get the idea.
 
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