Tortoise keeps getting knocked over

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rockintrixi

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My tortoise keeps flipping himself over by either propping himself up on a log and turning over or by mounting my other tortoise. He is flat on his back (Russian Tortoise), so he can't flip himself upright.

Any ideas on how to keep this from happening??

Thanks!
 
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Maggie Cummings

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The obvious answer would be to remove any logs or other stuff that he is climbing on that makes him flip. I personally would also separate him from the female. How awful it must be to have the male harassing her all the time. Sooner or later she will stop eating and then you will really have a problem on your hands...:) just my opinion
 

Yvonne G

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Sometimes a deeper, softer substrate will allow them to get more traction when trying to right themselves. And, yeah, what Maggie said!

Yvonne
 

tortoisenerd

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You won't always be there to flip the tort over. Under a hot light or in water, they have very little time on their backs without suffocating. Best to only have straight-side hides (like a box) and individual housing to limit the obstacles. Some torts however even with "safe" enclosures and good substrates cannot flip themselves back over, while others have no issue. Is this a hatchling or adult? How long have you had it?
 

rockintrixi

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Well,

I have had Hermi and Lela (Russian Tortoises) about 2 years now. I bought Hermi (the 'trouble maker') first and then 3 months later I got Lela. I don't know the exact age of them, but they were both about 4 1/2 inches 2 years ago.

They are actually both females, but Hermi (who is slightly larger) takes on the dominant role. Hermi has a bad habit of climbing on everything from logs to Lela. When I let him run around the house, she'll actually look for things to climb over on her journey.

I tried 'separating' them today when I left the house, but Hermi was hyperventilating in his cage when I got home. The cage I put Hermi temporarily in was his old cage (I just bought a new one two days ago to see if more room would solve the problem. Arrrghhh...I am so confused what to do????

By the way, here's a picture when they first met. They rubbed noses as soon as they saw each other and snuggled up and fell asleep within a very short period of time (minutes).

IMG_1255.jpg
 

dmmj

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I'm no expert but they look like 2 diifferent ( russian and greek) species. It could just be the lighter color shell of the one on the right. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.
 

tortoisenerd

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Russians come in varieties of shell colors based on the subspecies, genetics, and exposure to light. However, not sure the species in the photo for sure. With my limited experience I see two Russians....their arms and head pattern look Russian, and so does the shell to me.
 

rockintrixi

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I use eco-earth for my substrate and have two 'hides', a large log and then a large canopy type shelter. I don't have any 'recent' photos of my new enclosure, but it is 48 inches long by 24 inches wide.

Here's a link to my photo album:

http://s731.photobucket.com/albums/ww317/rockintrixi/

I'll try to add more pics of them in the next couple of days....

The big enclosure shown in my album is for my red-eared sliders. I made that one out of wood and plexiglass.
 
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MaryJeanOcsan09

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tortoisenerd said:
Russians come in varieties of shell colors based on the subspecies, genetics, and exposure to light. However, not sure the species in the photo for sure. With my limited experience I see two Russians....their arms and head pattern look Russian, and so does the shell to me.
I just want to know if you really love to take care a tortoise? As far as I know, like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge.



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mctlong

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They're both Russians.

It looks like the post just above mine by MaryJeanOcsan09 is spam.
 
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