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my yearling redfoot is continually flipping himself on his back. it seems he tries to climb up the side of the enclosure ( a 4x8' screened outdoor cage) and he flips himself on to his back. i tried placing boards on bottom of the sides so he can't see out, but he keeps doing it anyway. i've tried forming his substrate (dirt) so that it slopes down hill around the sides, and i've also tried it where the substrate is flat (perpendicular to the sides). i've tried making bumps and stuff so that if he flips over he can right himself, but nothing works. i check on him several times a day and lately i've been finding him upside down once every couple days. what should i do?

Most likely he is flipping himself over more often than you think, and is uprighting himself just fine.

Tortoises have survived for eons without humans there to upright them. I've watched my torts flip over and right themselves. They are never trapped upside down for more than a couple minutes. Next time you find him flipped, wait 3 minutes and check on him again. If he is still flipped and struggling, then maybe you have a problem. Most likely he will be upright and doing fine.

a couple of times he just gave up and layed there sprawled out like he was dead. is scared the bejeezus out of me. i've found him once or twice like that- not moving and hanging out of his shell. i'm afraid to leave him alone for very long. does anyone else have suggestions?

I'm sure that's really nerve-wracking for you, plus if they get
stuck they will pee and poop themselves and suffer - I've seen
other posts that have found their torts this way and they were
shocky seeming from the ordeal. I'm sure babies may flip themselves
over a lot, but if they get out of it that's fine. My vet even
used this as a test of my sulcata's health, that he was attempting
and able to right himself after being placed on his back. Now
that was when he was very small because it's dangerous for a
med./lg. tort to be on it's back as the insides aren't held in
place well and can twist and also the pressure on the lungs (on
top of their back) can cause them to suffocate when they're big.

I would try this - slope the dirt the other way - I'm assuming
that you mean you tried sloping it upwards towards the sides
thinking that if he climbed up it and went up the wall he'd
tumble backwards downhill and right himself? Make it more than
a 90 degree angle to climb (since he can do that with no trouble).
Then I would put hay in there to give him some footing if he does
tumble over. If they can't get a leg onto anything how can they
right themselves, I think plain dirt with nothing else is tough
to get a grip on with one foot, which they need to push off on
with a back foot to flip back over.
Try that and see if it works. Good luck.

I'm not sure what you're keeping him in but try breaking up
the "pace-line" or the perimeter so he can't start pacing
and get tempted to climb. I put pieces of shale rock and
small branches to keep mine from pacing back and forth
along the front of the glass. In other words don't let
him have an entire length on any side to walk, without putting
something there to interrupt his path, water bowl, hides,
stones, etc... put interesting plants in the middle to draw
him in.
Teddy

that's a good idea, breaking up the edges. i will try that and also try to put some hay or something for him to get traction. when i said i sloped the sides, i meant that i sloped them down towards the edges, as you were suggesting. at first i tried the sloping uphill hoping that he'd tumble backwards onto his feet, but it didn't work too well. thanx for the suggestions

So I moved him to a rubbermaid container with no decoration but a terracotta pot for the hide at the cool end. The sides are to smooth for him to climb, and he can't see throught them so he doesn't try that often.
Sloping the sides, like you said you have done, will make it easier for him to right himself. I've noticed that they usually don't have too much trouble righting themselves as long as the surface isn't perfectly flat.

HTH
-----
Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx