What to do when found flipped....

[goodsmeagol]

Hello all, once again thank you for your support in weeks past regarding my poor PussPuss who passed away.

This is more of a confirmation question.
I am having a argument with a particularly annoying 14 year old, who thinks he is a know it all. I Know it should not bother me, but it does.
In the past, when I set up a fresh enclosure for any of my tortoises, if I find one flipped over, I wait and watch for a minute or two, to determine if it can right itself, or if decoration movement is required to avoid flipping in that area. If within those few minutes it does nto right it self, I help it and make the changes.
Now this little boy has made the claim over and over that I am a bad owner because I do not flip them over immediately.
With this method, I got my cage setup so I KNOW there is really no where in the cage it can flip it self over, without being able to right itself. This way, when I am not home, I know that if they do flip, they will be alright.

This is a good idea right?

Thanks!

 

[Michael Bird]

If they can manage to flip themselves upside down while you are watching, then you know they'll be doing it when you aren't around. Most of the time, they can flip themselves back over. Sometimes it takes a little while, but they do it all the time in the wild. However, if you have a location/situation in your enclosure where they can NOT right themselves, then they will be in trouble if it happens when you are gone for an extended period of time. So I definitely agree with you that you should let them right themselves whenever possible both for practice for them, and for you to make sure that there aren't any situations in the enclosure where they can get stuck.

 

[dmarcus]

I was just having this issue and today when my Sulcata hatchling flipped over on his back I just waited a little while and he was able to flip himself back over. My wife would help him as soon as she saw him flip over but not she will wait since she knows that he can do it on his own..

 

[dmmj]

I personally believe it is a good idea to watch them when they flip and see if they can do it themselves. That way you can at least have a idea of how they would react when you are not around. Of course you don't want them to try to exhaustion but a couple of minutes is not gonna hurt them and it will probably put your mind at ease some what.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Wow fast replies.
Thanks for putting me at ease.

 

[Isa]

I always flip them over right away when I find them like this. After, I try to find what happened and make the proper changes