Tortoise on its back

[romesh]

hi...

i had a query...
how long can a Indian star tortoise be alive on its back..??
my tortoise keeps falling on its back.. its lucky m always there but if i am not what will happen to him....

any remedy for the problem...??

 

[jackrat]

Try to find out why he keeps turning over.Do you have anything he can climb on?

 

[romesh]

he tries to climb the plywood walls and falls on the back...
the walls are a 12" high

 

[bikerchicspain]

They can survive couple of days on their backs but this is only an average, it could be more or less.

 

[yagyujubei]

I had a 4 month old star die this way . I checked at midnite, all was well. When I checked at 6am. It was upside down and dead. So, i will say only a couple of hours.

 

[SILVERSTAR]

ive found mine on his back a couple times but it hasnt happend for a while,i got mine in the mail once and he was side ways but never any fatalitys.

 

[ascott]

Also would depend on conditions around when tortoise is flipped...heat, cold, water...as these factors can increase rate of fatality ..... I hope your tortoise figures right side up is better, soon

 

[wildak]

I would be interested to know also. I was informed large bodied tortoises (Galapagos, Aldabras) die because their stomach and organs put pressure on their spinal cord which causes damage, even after you turn them upright they die a couple days later. But I'm not sure how that works with the smaller ones.

Bryan