Close call with Smiley :-(

[BigBiscuit]

Hello All,

Today, Smiley gave my wife and I a big scare. My wife found Smiley on her back, in her water dish, not moving, with her head extended out. My wife picked her up, and tried to revive her and put her under her heat light. Smiley finally came to. Smiley's water dish is a frisbee, that I fill with about 3/4-1" of water. I usually keep the water dish on the edge of her enclosure. I suspect that Smiley was standing in her water dish, and tried climbing up the side, and fell backwards into her water.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Is there some sort of strength test you can have your tort do to see if they are competent at righting themselves once they have flipped over? I wonder if her water dish was too slippery to get a grip to right herself.

Nonetheless, It was scary.

Thank you,

Evan

 

[galvinkaos]

Try medium grit sandpapering the surface so its rough for better grip. That might help. I am glad Smiley is ok.

Dawna

 

[Crazy1]

Evan, I agree, I sandpaper all my slippery plastic tort ware. Also you could just set Smiley on his back and see if he rights himself but remember all instances are slightly different. I would definitely move the water container and place it so there is nothing he can climb on that could tip him on his back into the water.
Glad to hear Smiley is doing ok and still Smiling.

 

[BigBiscuit]

Evan, I agree, I sandpaper all my slippery plastic tort ware. Also you could just set Smiley on his back and see if he rights himself but remember all instances are slightly different. I would definitely move the water container and place it so there is nothing he can climb on that could tip him on his back into the water.
Glad to hear Smiley is doing ok and still Smiling.

Thanks for your replies. How long should I leave Smiley on her back?

Evan

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Evan, I agree, I sandpaper all my slippery plastic tort ware. Also you could just set Smiley on his back and see if he rights himself but remember all instances are slightly different. I would definitely move the water container and place it so there is nothing he can climb on that could tip him on his back into the water.
Glad to hear Smiley is doing ok and still Smiling.

Thanks for your replies. How long should I leave Smiley on her back?

Evan

This is just my personal opinion, and I mean this with all respect due to the parties involved, I would never put a tortoise on their back. It's unnatural and very stressful to the tortoise. You can't train a tort to roll over, how they get upright depends on the substrate and the level of fear the tort is feeling at that time. For a person to place a tort upside down is not as stressful and frightening as when the tort accidentally falls...like I said that's just my opinion, I wouldn't do it to any of my animals.

 

[Crazy1]

Maggie I do respect your opinion and take no offence to you going against my suggestion. I do not normally recommend that anyone place a tort on his back, yes it is stressful to the tort and to the person doing it, especially watching what they go through to right themselves. And like I said each instant is different, as Maggie pointed out substrate, how frightened it is, etc. But I also realize sometimes a little supervised stress for both tort and owner may be better than hours lying on it’s back. I would not leave Smiley more than about 30 sec. they should flip over by then. However again a WARNING it is not easy to watch them struggle, and as Maggie so eloquently stated, places stress on the tort, and not something I would ever recommend doing just to do it. I have found my hatchlings flipped in their enclosure by climbing a wall it is not something I take lightly and truthfully scares me to death that I may be at work when this happens and they may not be able to right themself. However righting themselves is also not something you can teach a tort either.

 

[BigBiscuit]

Here is what I have come up with. I haven't put Smiley on her back to test her response. I did, however, buy some 100% Silicone and some "Grit and Gravel" (for birds). I smeared the silicone around her clean, dry water dish, and I poured the grit and gravel all over the silicone. It is in the process of drying. Hopefully, this will add the course texture Smiley would need to get a good grip.

Just wondering, when Tortoises are struggling, do they go limp like Smiley did to conserve energy, or had she actually given up and was ready to drown?

Thank you for everyone's input.

Evan

 

[jlyoncc1]

Glad to hear smiley is ok! I don't recall how big Smiley is but their water does not have to be real deep for them to drink. So, you might be able to lessen the amount in there.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Here is what I have come up with. I haven't put Smiley on her back to test her response. I did, however, buy some 100% Silicone and some "Grit and Gravel" (for birds). I smeared the silicone around her clean, dry water dish, and I poured the grit and gravel all over the silicone. It is in the process of drying. Hopefully, this will add the course texture Smiley would need to get a good grip.

Just wondering, when Tortoises are struggling, do they go limp like Smiley did to conserve energy, or had she actually given up and was ready to drown?

Thank you for everyone's input.

Evan

In my experience they stop struggling and seem to just give up ready to die I guess. But I would think that each case is different, the will of the tort, the length of time they struggled, can they get purchase in the substrate. It's a subject that each tort keeper is afraid will happen to them.

 

[BigBiscuit]

Glad to hear smiley is ok! I don't recall how big Smiley is but their water does not have to be real deep for them to drink. So, you might be able to lessen the amount in there.

Here is a photo of Smiley. When I measured her a couple of months ago, her plastron length was around 4.5 inches. I was using a dog frisbee for her water dish. It had a nice beveled edge she could crawl in and out of. I try to never go past about 3/4 of an inch of water.

Evan

 

[Candy]

Thank goodness you found him and saved him. He's adorable. I have a water dish that that slopes on one side that Dale can just walk into he doesn't have to climb. Just a suggestion. Candy