Turbo is trying to commit suicide...Please help me.

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erdavis

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Please take the time to read this, I am very worried.
I have had this cage for a couple weeks now. This is the picture the first day I had it, I have been doing a lot of tweaking sense then.
Everything was fine the first couple days then one day I came home from school and I saw he was flipped over on its back. I flipped him back then checked on him in a couple minutes-flipped over again. Flipped him back and watched him. He was trying to climb up the "hill" between the far right wall and the larger hide and flipping over. So I moved it where he couldn't do it-everything was fine...for a couple more days. Came home from school two days ago and he was on top of the aloe plant, its kind of hard to describe. He was on top of one of the branches, all feet hanging in the air. I put him back on the ground. Few minutes later I checked on him-flipped on his back next to the plant. I assumed he was trying to climb it so naturally I completely took it out. Today I came home from school and he was sleeping. I got a drink and brought my laptop/hw outside and when i went back he was laying on his back, but there was nothing near him the he could've tried to climb up. It was on the wall closest to us in the pic, exactly in the middle(left and right wise). There was no buildup of substrate-surface was flat.
Although his case is very large(WAYY larger than his most previous cage) he paces around the sides a lot and I see him trying to climb up the bare walls. He didn't do this until I started taking him out to graze the backyard.
I don't think I can explain to any of you how TERRIFIED I am of him dying from me not getting to him in time. As I walk into my room every time I check on him my face turns red and my stomach turns because I am scared to see him dead. I literally check on him every 5 minutes that I am home but I obviously cannot be home all of the time. It is preventing me from learning at school because I cannot focus on my professors.
I am not sure how old Turbo is(if someone can give me an idea of it, that would be great as I would like to create a "hatchday" for him :p) I have had him since Christmas day and my sister said she had him for about a month and a half before that. (i emailed the guy she got it from and asked how old-no reply so obviously not a reputable breeder).

His Stats:
Around 12/29/11 he weighed in at 53g
1/3/12 he was 56g(3in long, 2 1/4in wide)
just weighed him and he is 59g(same length/width)
when will he be heavy enough to not tip over so easily?
someone please tell me what I should do.

Also, when I take him outside i have a lot of leaves around and he blends in. I will look down at my hw for a couple minutes, look back up and I cant find him! So I taped a pink catball on his shell. Is that okay?

And ive been bringing him outside almost every day. Soaking 2xday. Misting idek how many times a day! Humidity never drops below 60. And temps are good. How's his shell lookin?
View attachment 15361 1/3/12
View attachment 15362 cage before tweaking it a lot(cameras not working to take new pics) can see the large hide and aloe plant he tipped on several times.
P1060377.JPG pink ball-can hear and see it easily
View attachment 15367 just thought it was cute-resting on the hose
View attachment 15365 turbo loves chevy. a little bonding moment in the yard(supervised only of course!)

pictures arent working now. ill fix it when i get back from dinner.
 
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Yvonne G

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Hi erdavis:

did you ever decide what you'd like for us to call you?

This is kind of a catch 22 question. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Turbo is the kind of tortoise that isn't satisfied in his habitat once he was introduced to the real world. There are a lot of sulcatas like that. So you take him outside for some good sunshine and now he doesn't want to be in his habitat anymore. I'd like to tell you to keep the ball on his back that way he can't tip over, however, then he can't fit inside his hiding place. By the way, that ball is very clever!! And looks precious!

I wish the enclosure picture had shown up, we might have been able to spot something.
 

ascott

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Love the pink ball :p Be sure you do not lose him though....every critter he passes will make fun of his fashionable pink ball...lol...just funnin ya..

Well I can not see what your enclosure looks like, but I would suspect that you have given him run of the yard and now he is a bit let down with the indoor space....perhaps you should set up an outdoor space designated in a less large space...maybe stack some cinder blocks in a controlled area (then perhaps he won't need the pink ball...lol) and in a shape of your liking....after awhile maybe he will be a little less restless when indoors???

When you show them the world they want to be in that big space you know.... good luck.

Also, a tortoise can easily flip themselves simply against a flat surface...so maybe in his indoor enclosure you make a reversed roof eve ---a inside ledge so that he can not get in the upright spiderman position?????



http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Flipping-Tortoises-Eraser#axzz1jOM0edC9

I am trying right now to see if I can find the actual article that I read this in...but my prior post is the basic idea...:p
 

IRTehDuckie

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i dont think he is trying to kill himself sweetie, mine does the same, he just wants out and he wants to roam around lol and he will do ANYTHING to try to get out of his cage he has now.
 

erdavis

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P1030310.JPG cage before tweaking it a lot(cameras not working to take new pics) can see the large hide and aloe plant he tipped on several times.
P1030301.JPG 1/3/12
P1050333.JPG turbo loves chevy. a little bonding moment in the yard(supervised only of course!)
P1060377.JPG pink ball-can hear and see it easily
P1060402.JPG just thought it was cute-resting on the hose

^^Hopefully all the pictures worked this time! :)



IRTehDuckie said:
i dont think he is trying to kill himself sweetie, mine does the same, he just wants out and he wants to roam around lol and he will do ANYTHING to try to get out of his cage he has now.

Yes I know he is not actually trying to commit suicide :p But I'm scared it might actually happen!

emysemys said:
Hi erdavis:
did you ever decide what you'd like for us to call you?

Call me Erin! :)
 
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BrinnANDTorts

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I love your enclosure , even if it is an old one. It looks like a house !! A adorable sullie house , I wish I could of done something like that for my new enclosures but it would of just made them too tall :(
I love it though
And your tortoise shell looks great !! Keep doing what your doing but if you can get the humidity up to 80% or higher thats awesome too.
I don't know what you can do about the flipping over , Im sorry. My sullie Pipa does that too and it always is worrying me. I dont put any cool things in the enclosure except the hide because I know she would just flip over it.
The ball thing is adorable and a really good idea. I lost Gupta once because he went under a leaf ...it scared me very very very badly.
 

erdavis

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ascott said:
Love the pink ball :p Be sure you do not lose him though....every critter he passes will make fun of his fashionable pink ball...lol...just funnin ya..

Well I can not see what your enclosure looks like, but I would suspect that you have given him run of the yard and now he is a bit let down with the indoor space....perhaps you should set up an outdoor space designated in a less large space...maybe stack some cinder blocks in a controlled area (then perhaps he won't need the pink ball...lol) and in a shape of your liking....after awhile maybe he will be a little less restless when indoors???

When you show them the world they want to be in that big space you know.... good luck.

Also, a tortoise can easily flip themselves simply against a flat surface...so maybe in his indoor enclosure you make a reversed roof eve ---a inside ledge so that he can not get in the upright spiderman position?????



http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Flipping-Tortoises-Eraser#axzz1jOM0edC9

I am trying right now to see if I can find the actual article that I read this in...but my prior post is the basic idea...:p



The first time my dog saw the ball he picked it up in his mouth! I had to show him that Turbo was attached, he never did it again :)
That eraser is actually a terrific idea! I think I'm going to set up cinder blocks in the backyard on Sunday, but I'm going to try to use the eraser until then!


BrinnANDGupta said:
And your tortoise shell looks great !! Keep doing what your doing but if you can get the humidity up to 80% or higher thats awesome too.

I purchased a vaporizer a couple days ago and am trying to figure out how to run a pipe from it into the cage to get the humidity up! :)
 

ascott

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The first time my dog saw the ball he picked it up in his mouth! I had to show him that Turbo was attached,

Okay, so that is funny (only because everyone came out aok that is:D)

Your dog was probably like, "hey, what the duce? how'd that get there?"
 

EKLC

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Here are the two things that helped get my little guy to stop flipping:

1. no square corners, round them off and he will walk along the wall rather than right at it

2. Much more cover and hides, along the walls. I provided my guy with a few hides, yet he was still flipping. I then lined the walls with fake plants, natural grass, cardboard box hides, plant pots on their sides, etc. He stopped trying to flip and enjoyed walking through the mess that I made in there.

Not sure if this will work for you, but it did for me.

Also, you have much more time if your tortoise flips away from the light. So as long as the basking areas are flip proof, don't stress yourself out too much. I set up a webcam and check up on my tort from work to give me some piece of mind. Perhaps you could do the same?
 

cherylim

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Have you identified certain places Turbo is trying to climb and ending up flipping?

Emrys loves the corners of his enclosure. Fortunately, he only seems to want to get out when I'm in the room with him, but once he sees me he desperately tries to get out using the corners for support.

If Turbo's a corner guy, too, I have a solution. A small slate tile in each corner. I added these when I saw Emrys using the corners to climb. Now, once he's got himself to a certain angle his feet slip out from under him and slide backwards. He has no way to get vertical and flip himself over, because he just slips down against the tile.

I imagine tiles would also work if you lined the entire edge of the enclosure with them, creating a border. If he's flipping somewhere not against the wall, I can't imagine this would work, though - just off texture, stones, and things he can push himself against.
 
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