Tonight, when I went to turn off the lights on my Russian tortoise, at first glance I thought that maybe my little girl had died because she was flipped on her back, she wasn't moving and her head and legs were out of her shell and very stiff looking. Then I saw that she started thrashing her head and legs around, trying to flip back over I guess. Needless to say, I am very concerned. I have a few questions that I would really appreciate someone answering for me.
1. Can she get burned? (She was directly under the lights)
2. Is it possible for her to flip back over? (not only possible, but is it likely?)
3. Could her being flipped over have caused damage to her?
4. How long can she survive being flipped over like that? (for example, if she did it right when I went to sleep and I couldn't flip back over until I woke up, so say 8 hours?)
5.Also, (and I know this is a weird question, but I want to know so I can prepare myself) what does a dead tortoise look like? Head and legs out of the shell, limp, stiff? Everything inside the shell?
Thank you so much in advance for any answers you can give me.
P.S. I dunno if it matters for these questions, but she is fairly young. I bought her at the pet store I work at almost two months ago and she was only at the store for a few weeks (I don't know how old she was when the store got her though) So she is a small, young girl.
Thanks again!
1. Can she get burned? (She was directly under the lights)
2. Is it possible for her to flip back over? (not only possible, but is it likely?)
3. Could her being flipped over have caused damage to her?
4. How long can she survive being flipped over like that? (for example, if she did it right when I went to sleep and I couldn't flip back over until I woke up, so say 8 hours?)
5.Also, (and I know this is a weird question, but I want to know so I can prepare myself) what does a dead tortoise look like? Head and legs out of the shell, limp, stiff? Everything inside the shell?
Thank you so much in advance for any answers you can give me.
P.S. I dunno if it matters for these questions, but she is fairly young. I bought her at the pet store I work at almost two months ago and she was only at the store for a few weeks (I don't know how old she was when the store got her though) So she is a small, young girl.
Thanks again!