- Joined
- Nov 10, 2010
- Messages
- 20
My tortoise flipped its self onto the back of his shell, right beneath a heat lamp, and now, is not moving. He's a cherry head red footed, still juvenile, and was healthy. He climbed the side of the enclosure, and wound up on his back right below a heat lamp. (major design flaw in both my placement of heating lamps, and tortoises inability to flip when reversed on their backs. I digress). Really not handling this well, forgive my humor... Thing is, and from what I've seen/read/been told, tortoises are supposed to get all rag-doll like, and sag when they die. Yet, Oliver is still stiff, but not rock solid. You can feel that his joints are able to move - it just seems like he is stiff. His eyes are shut, and his head is out of his shell, held upright. I know tortoises and turtles are capable of slowing down their heart rate, so I'm holding out that he might be alive. Hell, even if he's trying to pull a fast one on me. I can take a picture if need be - I'm not quite sure how long he was under the heat lamp, but it had to be over a few hours. Not the first time he's flipped over under one, but it's the first time I didn't catch it. Please, try your best to help, or pass it along to someone you think might be able to. The vet isn't open until early tomorrow morning, and I'm not sure how long he will last in this state, or what I can do to make sure he stays alive through the night. [/align]