# Tort on its back?



## Quince Wood (Jun 19, 2014)

What do you do when you find your tort on its back do you flip it over or let him do it himself?


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## Yvonne G (Jun 19, 2014)

In my way of thinking, if I see a tortoise on his back, that means he's been there a while. If he hasn't been able to get over on his own, there's no reason for me to make him keep trying. I gently turn him over. If we're talking about a large tortoise, you always want to be very gentle when you turn him back over. If you "flip" a tortoise, you run the risk of twisting the intestine.


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## dmmj (Jun 19, 2014)

If I find one n it's back, I flip them back, If I see one flip themselves, I wait a couple of mins, to see, then I take action.


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## yillt (Jun 19, 2014)

I flip the, back myself.


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## zaroba (Jul 11, 2014)

Tortoises have evolved the ability to wright themselves, but it's not always possible for them to do so depending on the circumstances.
If I see one of mine upside down waiting for me to find it then I assume it was a case where they couldn't wright themselves and give them a hand.


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## wellington (Jul 11, 2014)

Flip them back over. I also don't like taking a risk, so I don't put things in the enclosure that I think would make them flip.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jul 11, 2014)

I never leave a tortoise on his back. Box turtles can turn back over with ease, but not so tortoises. I found my 150 pound Sulcata on his back a while back. He had dug around in a circle trying to right himself, he had pooped and peed and finally given up and was just laying there. Their lungs are in the top of their carapace and they can die if left in that position too long. I personally think it's mean to leave them like that when you could very easily fix the problem by slowly turning them back over. I have no respect for a keeper who will not right his tortoise immediately...


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## THBfriend (Jul 12, 2014)

maggie3fan said:


> Their lungs are in the top of their carapace and they can die if left in that position too long.


Question is, what is too long? A few minutes or even hours probably aren't. A tortoise on its back that can't right itself will die of dehydration or be killed by predators long before it asphyxiates. Whalers and pirates used to raid the Galapagos islands for giant tortoises, take them onto their ships and have them suffer on their backs there for weeks, to have a source of fresh meat.

Anyway, when I find my tortoises on their backs, and they're still trying to right themselves, I wait for a couple of seconds to see if they can manage on their own. If they fail, it's usually because the ground is too soft or flat to get the necessary grip. So I lend them a hand/finger from which they can push themselves off. I like to imagine that they feel more accomplished this way than if I had turned them.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jul 13, 2014)

THBfriend said:


> Question is, what is too long? A few minutes or even hours probably aren't. A tortoise on its back that can't right itself will die of dehydration or be killed by predators long before it asphyxiates. Whalers and pirates used to raid the Galapagos islands for giant tortoises, take them onto their ships and have them suffer on their backs there for weeks, to have a source of fresh meat.
> 
> Anyway, when I find my tortoises on their backs, and they're still trying to right themselves, I wait for a couple of seconds to see if they can manage on their own. If they fail, it's usually because the ground is too soft or flat to get the necessary grip. So I lend them a hand/finger from which they can push themselves off. I like to imagine that they feel more accomplished this way than if I had turned them.



I suppose what you're saying is semi true. But I can't remember the last time I saw whalers or pirates in my back yard. I was specifically speaking of our captive tortoises, large ones in particular. I do not think that a 150 pound tortoise on his back will live for hours. That's my opinion from having big tortoises. I may be wrong, but I am not willing to find out.
Recently I found my big Sulcata on his back. It was obvious he had been that way for a long time, (I had not been home); he had foam coming out of his mouth and his eyes, when I turned him over he laid his head on the ground and wasn't moving. I rubbed his head and slowly poured cool water over it. I rubbed on his legs and did all the stuff to him I know he hates. It took him a few minutes to 'come around' it made me so scared I was sick at my stomach and crying. When he finally did start acting like himself he went into his shed and stayed there for the rest of the day. I realize my experience was an exceptional one and not everybody has that. But when it comes to a tortoise on his back I don't mess around...period.


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## tortoisetime565 (Jul 13, 2014)

None of my torts have ever really flipped. Except Rosie. Rosie was hatches sideways and is heavier on her right side and flips all. The. Time. I flip her at least 10 times a day. A lot of times it scares me to death because she's just laying there motionless. But she's always okay. I made sure that the basking lamp is only in one spot but it has ambient heat and keeps the entire tank warm this way she has a 3/4 chance of flipping away from the direct light. But I always flip her when I can. Although I do believe she has to be able to flip herself back because sometimes I come home and she's righted and I'm sure that she didn't stay righted while I was away on my 9 hour shift.


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## THBfriend (Jul 13, 2014)

maggie3fan said:


> I do not think that a 150 pound tortoise on his back will live for hours. That's my opinion from having big tortoises. I may be wrong, but I am not willing to find out.


Yeah, I know what you mean.

Here's a curiosity for all of you. Happened to me last year:




As you can see, the hatchling in the back there is, well, on its back. No idea how that happened!
I caught the exact moment that momma tortoise laid those eggs, meaning they weren't in the ground for an unknown amount of time. I dug them out immediately, and as usual marked their top with a soft pencil. Then I didn't touch any of the eggs for the whole incubation period until they started hatching (I stopped candling eggs years ago), meaning I didn't accidentally turn them.
Yet somehow that one hatchling got on its back. Did it somehow manage to turn inside the egg? I don't think they can develop upside-down. This hatchling was also oriented lengthwise inside the egg, which is quite a bit rarer than the crosswise orientation that is nicely demonstrated by the squished shape of the hatchling on the left of the photo.
Anyway, once I saw this, I turned the egg immediately, of course. This particular animal is one year old now and doing perfectly fine. I still wonder what happened there and how much time it spent like this...


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## smarch (Jul 15, 2014)

If I watch him flip himself then I wait and see if he can figure it out, and if he's not back up soon after i'll help. But times I find him flipped I don't know how long he's been there and would never put even more stress on him so I flip him right away. One time he flipped right on his water dish and had stopped trying to fight and it scared the life out of me seeing him upsidedown in his water dish (I've since gotten a new dish with no such incidents)


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2014)

I see two tortoises in your avatar pic. How did your tortoise flip in the first place?

While they should always be turned back over, it is worth examining how they got on their back in the first place.


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