tortoise flipping himself! help!!!

[LittlefootNCera]

we just had a tortastrophie! i have an outdoor pen set up for our large tortoise, my plan was to have him out by day and in a large rubbermaid tote over night. my plan was also to provide an MVB over one side of the tote extending day light house to help keep him up(they are brandnew to me so on the suggestion of others here i was going to keep him up) anyway he happily wandered around his outdoor pen today and this evening i brought him in. since then hes been staying on the heated side trying to climb the sides. i keep fearing he would flip himself, and then sure enough he did! im so scared he will do this again in the middle of the night and i wont find him until its too late. should i place a smaller box over the top of him inside the tote when i go to bed??? i have timothy hay in the tote and he pushed it all over to the cooler side. what should i do???

 

[ascott]

How big is the tortoise? What was his prior enclosure like?

Here is what I would do if it were me and brumation was not an option....so eventually the outside temps will no longer give you the outside during the day and in for night.....so you will need to provide him with a large enough winter enclosure to meet his needs all day and night....hay is not a preferable choice for substrate (if we are talking about a CDT)...you will need some good ole dirt and it should be deep enough for him to muck around in...at least two times deep as he is tall.....I would heat one side and I would use a uvb long tube bulb somewhere in the center of your enclosure....I would also put a water dish in there somewhere near the center of the enclosure because CDTs pace perimeters and you will have a mucked up water dish rather quickly......and at night just shut off all daylight bright lights and let the temps drop down...just not below 75ish.....

But you will tailor the size of the enclosure based on your tortoise size.....

 

[LittlefootNCera]

thanks....hes about 12" long....im in over my head!!!! i need to figure out how and where to do this..... that or provide a heated dog house outside and lock him in it each night. i was hoping this method would work. thanks again.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

That method *might* work if you turned off all the lights at night and let him go to sleep. Why are you trying to keep him awake anyway? That's kinda mean. But you are going to need a large dogloo with heat in it anyway, might as well start now. You can get a cheap one off craigslist then cut a hole in the top and put a black light bulb thru the hole, then put a tarp over the whole thing. That will work depending where you live...you might have to get a pig blanket also to help with the heat...

 

[LittlefootNCera]

well i wasnt trying to be mean, lol. id read here over and over it wasnt SAFE to let a new tort brumate and that i should keep him up this winter. and i wasnt going to keep him up all night, just extended daily light hours from like 5pm-8 or 9pm and then turn off all the lights and let him sleep(our house stays about 74) and then during the day he would be outside. i ended up turning off the lights and covering him with hay. he is still now. we live in upland, california and dont get much rain(rare) and our coldest months arent until feb./mar. so ive got a bit of time. our days are still very warm(im in flip flops)

 

[ascott]

Nope....I don't think you are in over your head...I believe you are just feeling like running in circles freaking out....lol. You will be fine

I am curious though, you said you do not know if he is male for sure? At this size you will absolutely be able to tell....pick that big ole boy up and slide your hand under him and if he is concave you have a male, if flat like a table top then you have a female

How was he housed for winter before you took him in---did he brumate last year?