My tortoise was upside down

Angie williams

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May 25, 2015
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Ive just come in to find my baby horsfield upside down on the cool side of his table. I last checked on him 5 hours ago so he could have been like that for 5 hours. I've put him in his bath and he's moving around in there.

Will he be ok and is there anything I can do to help prevent this happening again?
 

Yvonne G

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The smaller tortoises don't seem to suffer ill effects from a short time on their backs. That is, unless they've been under the light. The tortoise should be ok.

Try to figure out what happened. Is he climbing the walls trying to get out? (Habitat is too small) Is there an object he's climbing on?
 

Angie williams

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May 25, 2015
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He wasn't near the rocks. He was next to his water bowl which is shallow and I can't see how he would fall off it...
 

Gillian M

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I agree with what came above: please be more careful, particularly when there are ROCKS in the enclosure.

And a very warm welcome to the forum. You'll get a lot of help here.
 

Carol S

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Welcome to the Forum. It is so scary to come into the room and find them on their backs. I call my husband when I am at work to check on the hatchlings as I am afraid one will flip over when I am gone. Be sure to turn the tortoise back over slowly as to not cause an intestinal torsion.
 
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