Flipped over

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jensgotfaith

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So my husband came home from work to find Tex in the middle of the yard flipped on his back. He wasn't even near a wall. How could he have gotten himself flipped and would there be a reason why? Everything seemed to be going well. He's eating well, pooping definitely well, eliminating urates. He said after he flipped him back right side up, Tex hissed at him and walked away taking a bite of grass as he walked. Any suggestions?
 

jensgotfaith

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I haven't seen anything out there. I checked on him and gave him some food. He seemed ok. He had some grass stains on his shell.
 

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Have you got a dog? How about your neighbors? If he was in the middle of the yard and had grass stains from being moved around, he didn't do that himself. Was he wet at all, like from saliva?
 

jensgotfaith

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No he wasn't wet. No we don't have dogs. The neighbors do but they keep them in a kennel on the opposite side of their house which is father away from our house. I don't see any evidence of something else being in our yard. We have seen the occasional squirrel and the occasional blue jay and normal doves. I checked him all over and don't see any bite marks or anything. I didn't see any scratches on his shell. I'm stumped.
 

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They can't flip themselves on flat ground with no obstacles around, so I'm inclined to believe that someone or something was in your yard.

Maybe if you take a pic of him in the area where you found him, one of us might see something that we are missing now.

BTW, the hissing was either an exhale or inhale. They have trouble breathing when they are upside down as the weight of the rest of their organs pushes on their lungs in that position.
 

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That is scary, I hope you get it figured out.
 

jensgotfaith

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So I was able to check him better this morning and did find a couple of small injuries. Tom, I was thinking the same thing. Here is a picture of the area. Now I can see better that something did go on. We do have other people's cats go through our yard, but I haven't seen any in a while. Teenager--scary thought but possible.
This is a picture of the area.
DSC09619.jpg

Here is a picture of the inside left front leg. It's about 1/2" long and very shallow.
DSC09620.jpg

Here is a picture of a very small injury on his "chin"
DSC09623.jpg


Do I need to get him to a vet? Is there anything I can do to help him right now?

Laura- Tex is roughly about 19" long shell to shell and about 60 lbs. He's a pretty big guy. Am I wrong in thinking it wasn't a cat that flipped him? Wouldn't it have to be something bigger?
 

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I'm trying to remember, but isn't he a big one? What does he weigh? I think it was around 50 pounds or so. A cat can't flip a sulcata that size, but those marks look somewhat like what a cat would do. You may have a really bold, hungry raccoon in the area. He definitely had a tussle with something. I've seen dogs jump 8' fences with no problem. Its possible a stray made its way in and out of your yard.

You are going to have to take steps to protect him when you are not home, until you figure this out. Bring him inside or build a covered pen for him to be in when you can't be there. Maybe set up a hidden camera with one of those 6-8 hour tapes and leave some bait out.

For now, some triple anti-biotic ointment should keep it from getting infected.

You've got me very curious. I'd love to know what's going on back there. I wish torts could talk!
 

jensgotfaith

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In the almost 15 years we've lived here, I've never once seen a raccoon. Doesn't mean it's not possible. We really don't have strays in our neighborhood. I'll be going to the neighbors as soon as they get home and asking them about their dogs. Thanks for the info on the antibiotic. I'll go put some on now. I so wish he could talk.
 

froghaven5

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I hope Tex is ok. I'm new to tortoise, but have lots of poultry. We use triple antiotics on them when they get injured, but it must not have any pain killers in it as it is harmful to them. I don't know if it would be the same for torts or not.
 

Wirewehear

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Wow .... definately some kind of scuffle went on. Do you live in an area with Coyotes? They have no problem scaling fences and going into peoples yard. I agree with Tom ... I wouldnt think just a cat could flip a big sully ... despite the wounds looking the way they do.
Also agree with the antibiotic ointment. But when you have the chance, stop by a vets office and ask if they will sell you an ointment cream called, Silvadene Cream. Its mostly for punctures as it allows a puncture to ooze and not clog up as the antibiotic ointment can, as well as promoting tissue growth faster than anything I've ever seen. I've used it on myself.
Hope you can figure out what happen and prevent a 'next time'. Whatever Tex encountered, it knows Tex is back there and will come back if it has a chance. If it isnt too hot in your area maybe you can Tort proof the garage and pen him there while you figure it out? I put my two in the bathroom the other week and they trashed it in just hrs.
 

jensgotfaith

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So after a lot of observation and a lot of thinking, we think we've got it figured out. Close to where Tex was is a 2 wide section of 2 high cinderblock right in front of our slider door leading into our bedroom. The majority of the door is blocked by his new house. I think my husband came home from work and went into our room and left our inside door open so that our indoor-only cats went into our room. Our cats like to sit and look out the slider door on that particular corner. I think Tex saw them and being the curious dude that he is went over to investigate. We recently added the 3rd row of cinderblock -almost all the way around, except for these 2 wide cinderblock by the slider. We think that he tried to climb the cinderblock (we've witnessed this before) so that he could see over and see the cats. I think he must have slipped causing the injury to his chin and arm and got off balance and rolled. Could the disturbance in the dirt have been from him trying to right himself but not having the ability to turn himself over? We've seen nothing else this week to suggest that anyone or anything has been back there bothering him.

On a side note, everytime I feed him in the morning and then when I come home from work and go out to see him, he usually comes running over. I know this is probably the "food goddess" response, but I so totally love it nevertheless. He is amazing!
 

Tom

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jensgotfaith said:
So after a lot of observation and a lot of thinking, we think we've got it figured out. Close to where Tex was is a 2 wide section of 2 high cinderblock right in front of our slider door leading into our bedroom. The majority of the door is blocked by his new house. I think my husband came home from work and went into our room and left our inside door open so that our indoor-only cats went into our room. Our cats like to sit and look out the slider door on that particular corner. I think Tex saw them and being the curious dude that he is went over to investigate. We recently added the 3rd row of cinderblock -almost all the way around, except for these 2 wide cinderblock by the slider. We think that he tried to climb the cinderblock (we've witnessed this before) so that he could see over and see the cats. I think he must have slipped causing the injury to his chin and arm and got off balance and rolled. Could the disturbance in the dirt have been from him trying to right himself but not having the ability to turn himself over? We've seen nothing else this week to suggest that anyone or anything has been back there bothering him.

On a side note, everytime I feed him in the morning and then when I come home from work and go out to see him, he usually comes running over. I know this is probably the "food goddess" response, but I so totally love it nevertheless. He is amazing!

In your OP you said he was out in the middle of the yard, not near a wall, so I had ruled this out. I saw your cinderblock wall in the other thread and considered mentioning it seemed too low. I go 3 high with mine and you need to get some half blocks and stagger the middle row. They tip too easy if they are just stacked three high, one on top of the other.

This certainly could be what happened.
 

jensgotfaith

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He was away from the wall and farther out from what I would have expected. We will be staggering the rows and are considering adding rebar for better stability. I didn't mean to deceive or exaggerate, I just initially thought he was farther out then I thought he would have been. I haven't seen anything else this week to support any other theory. Please know that I greatly appreciate your help Tom and respect the knowledge and experience you have.
 
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