today i found sullivan my hatchling sulcata tortoise upside down.
can they get them selves up with there tail?
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capsized tortoise
shelly78
Sep 07, 2003 10:51 AM
Replies (4)
zhiv9
Sep 07, 2003 04:15 PM
definitely not with their tail, but they are pretty good a righting themselves. If they get stuck upside down they can die from panicing and vomiting or from hyperthermia(if it happens under the heat lamp, also they can drowned if the water dish is to deep. After finding my hatchling on his back a couple of times i removed all the decorations in his habitat that he could climb up and flip over just to be safe. Once he got bigger I put some of the stuff(rocks, etc) back in to keep things interesting
HTH
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Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.0 Northern Diamondback Terrapin, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx
shelly78
Sep 07, 2003 06:16 PM
i'll removed the things she could get hurt on but i'm still nervous. she was really panicing, she was waving her legs and arms. i was upset when i saw her.
zhiv9
Sep 07, 2003 06:59 PM
I wouldn't worry too much, hatchlings seem to flip over a lot but are usually good a flipping back. Its when they get bigger and their shell gets flatter that you really don't want them to flip over. They panic, because they know they are vulnerable like that.
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Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.0 Northern Diamondback Terrapin, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx
ibrakeforlizards
Sep 10, 2003 09:50 AM
hey my baby sulcata tipped over one day and when I found him I freaked out cuz he wasnt moving. but he was okay. The area where he flipped over was just empty space. The only thing I have in his cage is grass as a substrate and a hidey hole, which I dont want to take out because he loves it! He sleeps in it every night. What other steps should I take to prevent his flipping over?
