- Joined
- Jul 16, 2011
- Messages
- 5
Hi all,
I woke up this morning in a great mood, only to feel the horror I know others on this forum have felt when I checked on my baby Hermann's, Charlie, only to see that he had flipped himself over and was straining and stretching all of his limbs out to right himself. As I had no idea how long he'd been there, I went ahead and flipped him back over, placing him next to his food to see what he would do. He kept his neck extended for more than a minute, chomping repeatedly and looking as though he might flip over again, because his front limbs were all stretched out while his back legs were not.
Concerned, I picked him up and applied a little pressure to each limb (i.e. pushed his foot to see if he would push back) in turn, making sure he still had the ability to move it. He did, but when I put him back down he began frantically scratching his head, again almost flipping himself over after putting his head down into the substrate so he could rub it with his foreleg. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to give him a soak and see if that would calm him down. It sort of worked, only he kept putting his head down and going to sleep in the water, so that got me concerned that he might drown. I dumped out the water and now have him sitting outside with me (on my apartment's balcony) and while he's finally stopped scratching after 30 minutes of doing so, he's also not really walking normally.
I tried to get a video of him moving around, but of course as soon as I got out the camera he decided to take a nap, so I'll have to describe it the best I can: As I said before, his front legs and head were moving quite a bit, while his back legs were not active at all. They alternated between completely stretched out and completely drawn in, but not with any rhythm and not in a way that propelled him forward at all. His front legs, however, were moving very frantically. It was as if he was trying to decide between scratching his face and walking, but couldn't satisfactorily do either. When I initially put him near his food, he stretched out his neck to eat it but didn't seem to be able to walk forward and get to it. When I put food in front of him again, he didn't even pay attention to it, simply wiggling around and dragging himself via his forelegs.
As I said before, his back legs do have strength to them, and they are moving a bit; it just seems as though he's forgotten how to properly use them. He's sleeping now, and his limbs are finally all mostly retracted (how he usually sleeps) so he looks mostly peaceful. I'm tempted to wake him up and see if he starts walking again, but I know that after a stressful experience he probably needs some rest.
I guess my question is, does anyone know why he might be (not) walking so strangely? Is it just the stress, physical and mental, of flipping over, or is there something else going on that I should be concerned about? As I just got my little guy a few weeks ago, I haven't decided on a vet yet, but if need be there are a few in the area that I can get to to have him checked out. Any and all advice would be appreciated, as I am new to tortoise keeping and have already had nightmares about bad things happening to him while I am away.
I woke up this morning in a great mood, only to feel the horror I know others on this forum have felt when I checked on my baby Hermann's, Charlie, only to see that he had flipped himself over and was straining and stretching all of his limbs out to right himself. As I had no idea how long he'd been there, I went ahead and flipped him back over, placing him next to his food to see what he would do. He kept his neck extended for more than a minute, chomping repeatedly and looking as though he might flip over again, because his front limbs were all stretched out while his back legs were not.
Concerned, I picked him up and applied a little pressure to each limb (i.e. pushed his foot to see if he would push back) in turn, making sure he still had the ability to move it. He did, but when I put him back down he began frantically scratching his head, again almost flipping himself over after putting his head down into the substrate so he could rub it with his foreleg. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to give him a soak and see if that would calm him down. It sort of worked, only he kept putting his head down and going to sleep in the water, so that got me concerned that he might drown. I dumped out the water and now have him sitting outside with me (on my apartment's balcony) and while he's finally stopped scratching after 30 minutes of doing so, he's also not really walking normally.
I tried to get a video of him moving around, but of course as soon as I got out the camera he decided to take a nap, so I'll have to describe it the best I can: As I said before, his front legs and head were moving quite a bit, while his back legs were not active at all. They alternated between completely stretched out and completely drawn in, but not with any rhythm and not in a way that propelled him forward at all. His front legs, however, were moving very frantically. It was as if he was trying to decide between scratching his face and walking, but couldn't satisfactorily do either. When I initially put him near his food, he stretched out his neck to eat it but didn't seem to be able to walk forward and get to it. When I put food in front of him again, he didn't even pay attention to it, simply wiggling around and dragging himself via his forelegs.
As I said before, his back legs do have strength to them, and they are moving a bit; it just seems as though he's forgotten how to properly use them. He's sleeping now, and his limbs are finally all mostly retracted (how he usually sleeps) so he looks mostly peaceful. I'm tempted to wake him up and see if he starts walking again, but I know that after a stressful experience he probably needs some rest.
I guess my question is, does anyone know why he might be (not) walking so strangely? Is it just the stress, physical and mental, of flipping over, or is there something else going on that I should be concerned about? As I just got my little guy a few weeks ago, I haven't decided on a vet yet, but if need be there are a few in the area that I can get to to have him checked out. Any and all advice would be appreciated, as I am new to tortoise keeping and have already had nightmares about bad things happening to him while I am away.
