Hi Guys,

I hope someone can help me I have two one year old Hermanns.  I have had them for roughly three weeks.  For the last two days I have gone in to check on them and one of them (the same one) has been on his back!!   I have spent the last two days extremely worried then when I get home from work he will have died becuase this has happened and he has not been able to right himself!!  Is this right?  Can they survive for any period of time on their backs?  Is there anything I can do to stop this happening?  Will the other one try and help him?

Thanks

Carly

Hi Carly,

From what I understand you need to make sure there are things in their table that they can use to flip themselves back over such as rocks and logs, you don't want the surface to flat. I think they advise though that you don't want to put anything under were their lamp is as it can be quite dangerous if they're upside down under the lamp.

Sorry I can't help you out more but there's plenty on here who can and I'm sure they'll come on and advise you soon.

Winnie

Hi Carly,

Have you checked your temperatures in the set up?It could be a case of him trying to escape the heat. Make sure you have plenty of small rocks to help him upright himself. I have had this with my hatchlings where i was forever turning them back over and it is worrying, i ended up leaving the light off in their enclosure when i was out just to be safe. If they turn over directly under the lamp or near the heat then it could be fatal whereas if the light is out they have a much better chance. My thought was always " its best for them to go without UV for a few hours than risk losing them.

This could just be a phase and he will hopefully soon stop.

Ali 

Thank you Ali and Winnie,  your advice is much appreciated.  He seems to like to explore things and climb over things and I am sure this is what is making him flip rather than climbing the walls trying to escape.  However, I have not actually witnessed him flip just found him like this.    I am therefore minded to remove the half logs for them to hide under and the big rocks and plants while I am out at work and put them back when I get in.  I do worry in doing that though that they will get bored.

The tortoise table I have has a built in hide at one end, it is 30 inches by 24 inches and my two torts are about 7-7.5cm each.  The temperatures under the light is around 32- 36 degrees and the hide area is 22-25 degrees c.  Do you think it could be a heat thing?  He is very active, so is his sister although she does tend to sleep a bit more than him.

Thanks

Carly

Hi Carly,

I think it could be the half logs rather than a heat issue as your temps seem fine. I do know from experience that these log hideys can cause problems as they tend to climb them, i've seen my own babies do this. Try removing them and see how it goes.

Ali