Reptile & Amphibian Forums

someone was posting below about being concerned that her tort was flipping him/herself over, and i was going to bring the topic up since i had something of an add-on question:

is being on their backs painful or otherwise really bad for them? aside from the concerns already addressed about being exposed to heat and light like that for so long (i've seen torts die in the desert like that in nature shows), does anyone have any idea whether it's really unconfortable for them?

a roommate of mine said he had box turtles as a kid and, in a book he read, it said that turning them over causes them pain. but i see lots of pics of torts purposely turned over to show their plastrons, and mine never acted distressed whenever he flipped himself over... he naturally tried to right himself, but he didn't seem especially frantic about it. maybe it's a myth.

just curious.

I beleive that they can suffocate if left on their backs to long.
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Kelly Wood

1.2 Cherry Head Redfoots

1.2 Brazillian Redfoots

0.3.4 Leopard tortoises

1.1.2 Sandfire Bearded Dragons

0.2 Dogs

1.3 Parakeets

Their lungs are located at the top of their shell, so when they are put on their backs all of their internal organs fall onto their lungs (they do not have a diaphragm like mammals to separate the two cavities).

In the radiograph (sorry, this is a slider I did not have a tortoise)the lungs are seen as the darker air filled spaces at the top of the body under the shell.

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Stacey

and since their lungs are located alond their backs, a good way to see if a severe upper respitory bout has developed into pnuemonia, is to place the turtle or tort in a deep bowl of water. The animal should float level with the water surface. If one side sinks deeper than the other, this is a good indication that the lung on that side is collapsed or has fluid in it.
Be careful because some torts may just simply sink if they have just expired the air in their lungs, so keep a hand underneath just in case.
On a different note, I just spent the last 2 weeks in china and I am happy to say I did not find any turtles or torts on the menu anywhere. I did see some water turtles in sad shape for sale at a petshop, but nothing worse than at my local petco/petsmart.

What a cool trip? Was it vacation or business?
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Stacey

Thanks--it's good to be back. I was their visiting a friend.

... and thanks for the image, stacey! i can totally see how it would be hard for them to breathe. i suppose for very short periods of time (such as for quick photographic purposes) it wouldn't be a problem.

you learn something every day (or, i think, you should at least try to)!