Flipping

[sheilaamistone1974]

I just changed pokeys bedding to dirt/ peat moss from aspen. but once again, he is flipping. he never did that with the aspen. he is in a 5' kiddie pool. the bedding is flat. what do I do? he can't flip back over by himself. do I go back to aspen until he gets older? please advise

 

[coreyc]

Do you what he is flipping on ? try to watch him and find out then take it out or rearrange it a little to stop him from doing it

 

[wellington]

If he did well on the Aspen and didn't flip, I would go back to it. However, if you can figure out why or how he is flipping and can fix it, then I would do that.

 

[sheilaamistone1974]

I even took everything out that he could possibly flip on. he still does it. my concern is I don't want him to start pyramiding.

 

[Allison M.]

Switch back and see if the flipping stops. If so go with it. I have had problems with my guys flipping from time to time as they get older. Possibly he is trying to crawl up the side of the pool and flipping. If so you may have to reconsider your enclosure

 

[Jacob]

he might be trying to climb the edges?

 

[Redstrike]

he might be trying to climb the edges?

I agree. It may be that the substrate has caused a change in behavior, but I'm leaning more towards your tortoise getting more comfortable and feeling a bit more exploratory and trying to mount the walls. Is it occuring near the perimeters of the kiddie pool or in the middle of the enclosure near objects?

Could also be a change in weather resulting in restlessness. I don't know, you can switch back to aspen, but I'm not too sold on substrate change = flipping.