Sulcata Tort - Y U FLIP ON BACK?????????????

[Biff Malibu]

Professor Chaos seems to be finding weird ways to flip on his back. There's not much in his tank for him to flip himself with, but he seems to find a way. I've walked in on him twice today in a flipped over position (not near his basking lamp). The second time he appeared to be digging down in the substrate with his shell and arms. (Like a pig rolling in mud or something).

I check on him all the time, I'm just worried that he may flip on his back when I'm out doing chores or something. I know its bad if they end up flipped over under a heat lamp.

Will they eventually get up if they're on their back in substrate?

Any one else's tort do this?

 

[tyguy35]

If there's is nothing for the legs to hook on likely not

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

I wouldn't be worried as long as you have a water dish that is low and nothing that is directly below the heat lamp that he can flip over and that his substrate is sturdy enough so that he can grab ahold of it. Baby tortoises are the masters at flipping themselves back over. If they couldn't flip themselves back over then I would I have a lot of dead tortoises because I am only with them for a couple hours a day and when I'm out there they flip themselves over all the time so they must be doing something right when I'm not there.

 

[tyguy35]

A sulcata shell has a different shape then a star if you own stars. stars shells are so domed for the flipping stuff not so much sulcatas

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Yeah I'm mostly talking about sulcatas and leopards. I havent had one baby die on me from being flipped over yet.

 

[tyguy35]

Yeah I'm mostly talking about sulcatas and leopards. I havent had one baby die on me from being flipped over yet.

thats neat my leo cant ever flip back over

 

[badkitty]

One of my hatchlings always flipped over,not sure if he was just clumsy but I moved them to a bigger table and he hasn't done it since.

 

[bigred]

I found BIGRED on her back today, she was trying to get in the house

 

[KimandKarasi]

Hmm... I have a sulcata, and my vet told me as a "neurological" test I should flip her onto her back and see if she can flip back by herself... I smiled and nodded, but I never did it, I hear a lot on here that it's really bad for them to be flipped and I'm not sure if I need to switch vets or not..

 

[Biff Malibu]

I wouldn't be worried as long as you have a water dish that is low and nothing that is directly below the heat lamp that he can flip over and that his substrate is sturdy enough so that he can grab ahold of it. Baby tortoises are the masters at flipping themselves back over. If they couldn't flip themselves back over then I would I have a lot of dead tortoises because I am only with them for a couple hours a day and when I'm out there they flip themselves over all the time so they must be doing something right when I'm not there.

I was kind of thinking the same thing. In nature they would have to figure something out to get upright again. Good to know.

 

[JoesMum]

Even torts without a domed carapace can learn to flip back. They just need practice and plenty of stuff to use as leverage. This YouTube video shows a Pancake tortoise (Very flat carapace) flipping back:
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSCJbiycQvE&feature=relmfu[/video]

I'm an advocate of letting torts learn to climb safely as soon as possible. Put obstacles in there for them to scramble over and only take them out if you're going to be away for more than an hour or two. Joe can climb a step 5 inches high and get down... it's a nuisance when you trip over him in the kitchen when you thought he was safely outside, but I don't have to worry about him.

 

[Tom]

It's pretty normal for babies to do this. They usually stop within a few weeks. Even older ones occasionally make an error in judgement. I think they probably do this more than we all know and are simply able to right themselves most of the time.

 

[Biff Malibu]

I'm an advocate of letting torts learn to climb safely as soon as possible. Put obstacles in there for them to scramble over and only take them out if you're going to be away for more than an hour or two. Joe can climb a step 5 inches high and get down... it's a nuisance when you trip over him in the kitchen when you thought he was safely outside, but I don't have to worry about him.

Makes sense. They obviously have a natural curiosity like any living creature and a tendency to climb things/explore... might as well make them familiar with climbing and flipping themselves over to become more self reliant. (with supervision of course)

 

[Brad4130]

I saw my lil guy Ernesto flipped over today for the first time . As I jumped up to help he flipped himself back over without trouble . This filled me with a sense pride for my lil guy .
He's exploring and learning new things !!

 

[erdavis]

copying and pasting a link to a thread i posted on a couple months ago. good luck, i know its scary!!

---

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Hatchling-Sulcata-keeps-flipping-over#axzz1xY3NeBTT

 

[grooby]

when my sulcata grooby was 6 months old he would do that all the time!! i would catch him to climb his dome shaped log which he would use for shade, now he couldnt really get onto it but hed still flip himself over and it would terrify me that he could do that while i was at work! he eventually outgrew it but id be careful if theres anything he can climb

 

[Zamric]

I've seen babies do it all the time but WalkingRock is to big or his dome shape no longer allows for it, because when he's on his back he's pretty well stuck! (But it's like flippin a tank!)

 

[Biff Malibu]

CAUGHT IN THE ACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TortieLuver]

I have learned that there are many reasons for tortoises flipping on their backs depending on their age and the setup. Often times with hatchlings and young ones they will do this when adapting to their new environment and after a few weeks they will stop. Usually it's a security issue and placing more hiding areas and fake plants will help. Perhaps placing a vine if fake plants over and around the log will prevent what your tort is doing in the picture.