My Louie has me worried.

[SANDYSFROGS]

My rather large sulcata flipped himself over and couldn't recover. I don't know for sure how long he was like that possible it was a couple hrs. I slowly turned him upright and soaked him about 30 min. He has been eating some but not a whole lot. He just doesn't seem himself since his topple.

 

[MPRC]

How long ago did he flip? What were the conditions? Hot and sunny? overcast?

 

[JoesMum]

He is probably a bit shaken. They do seem to urinate a lot when upturned and that, combined with heat can lead to dehydration.

There isn’t much you can do other give long warm soaks and keep an eye on him. He might take a few days to pick up completely.

The other thing to do is try to identify how he flipped and minimise the risk of it recurring. Joe usually did it when climbing something he shouldn’t

 

[SANDYSFROGS]

How long ago did he flip? What were the conditions? Hot and sunny? overcast?

He did it last Friday. I have given him a couple good soaks since.

 

[JoesMum]

He did it last Friday. I have given him a couple good soaks since.

I would soak him daily for the time being

 

[Yvonne G]

He is feeling subdued. Whatever caused him to flip is now the boss of the territory. He was beaten in the fight and is now the low man in the pecking order. It's going to take him a while to realize he's back to being the only one in the territory and feeling like the king once again.

 

[TammyJ]

He is feeling subdued. Whatever caused him to flip is now the boss of the territory. He was beaten in the fight and is now the low man in the pecking order. It's going to take him a while to realize he's back to being the only one in the territory and feeling like the king once again.

Yvonne, could you elaborate on this? Is it that they feel subdued and defeated and scared, and don't even try to right themselves again? Also, is it never physically possible for them to right themselves again once they have flipped? I had a turtle that righted herself instantly and with very little effort, but I know they are built differently to tortoises, in general.
Again, another question about flipping - Is it harder or impossible to turn back over when the carapace is pyramided in a certain way?
What physical damage can be done in prolonged periods of "flip"?

 

[JoesMum]

Yvonne, could you elaborate on this? Is it that they feel subdued and defeated and scared, and don't even try to right themselves again? Also, is it never physically possible for them to right themselves again once they have flipped? I had a turtle that righted herself instantly and with very little effort, but I know they are built differently to tortoises, in general.
Again, another question about flipping - Is it harder or impossible to turn back over when the carapace is pyramided in a certain way?
What physical damage can be done in prolonged periods of "flip"?

Some learn to flip back some don’t. Some flip somewhere where there isn’t anything they can use as a lever to help them flip back.

Tortoises don’t have high IQs. The world is a simple place of things to eat, things to mate with, things to scare away and things to be scared of.

Your tortoise got scared. They can be very slow in a lot of things, including learning that whatever tipped him over isn’t lurking trying to do it again. Yes, I know it’s your tort’s fault he flipped... your tort doesn’t necessarily see it that way

 

[WithLisa]

Maybe he just feels stiff and aching because he was struggling for hours? Might take a few days for the sore muscles to heal.

Lying helpless on their back is scary and stressful for them, but tortoises are not clever, that's why I doubt they can imagine an invisible rival flipping them over. My Hermanns flip every now and then, it usually only takes them a few seconds to right themselves and that's it, they don't seem scared or traumatized at all. Once one of them flipped in the water bowl and couldn't flip back. It must have been there for at least 24h, but it was a chilly day so it probably stopped struggling soon and was totally fine afterwards.

Again, another question about flipping - Is it harder or impossible to turn back over when the carapace is pyramided in a certain way?

Yes, the shape of the shell is important, a round carapace makes it easier. Especially torts with rather flat backs caused by MBD might not be able to right themselves. I guess it's also harder to find leverage for big and heavy species like sulcatas.

 

[SANDYSFROGS]

Update on Louie!! He is back to his old self again. Truckin around like nothing ever happened. One happy Tortoise Grammy right here.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Hurray!