Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Turtles > sulcata possible injury?

sulcata possible injury?

22 16:37:47

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
We have an 8 year old male sulcata who lives in an outdoor pen in Arizona. i have noticed that lately he is interested in climbing the 2 foot high fence around his
enclosure. Today I came  home and found him outside the
fence.  He is withdrawing into his shell when I come near him. He also seem to be hissing and doesn't come to me like he usually does. He isn"t too interested in his favorite foods He is eating (somewhat) I am worried that he might have climbed over and injured his internal organs. Is this possible?

ANSWER: He sounds stressed, but I cannot figure out why from this description. For a Sulcata, common issues would be too-small of a habitat, or too wet of a diet.

You may want to check the cares against a site like http://www.sulcata-station.org or http://www.africantortoise.com and see if there is anything you can tweak to make the tortoise happier.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am primarily worried that he climbed over and fell on the other side of the fence. Is it possible that he may have internal injuries?  He is eating a little, mostly staying inside his dog igloo ( his house)He doesn't appear as social as usual. He always comes when I call him and he is not responding. He looks at me and some times hisses or hides in his shell.

Answer
Possible, but these are pretty tough animals. If you are worried about it, you should get it checked by a vet. An occasional x-ray is recommended by many reptile vets anyway.

I often find that the sullenness/moodiness drives the restlessness- these guys are notorious for getting moody, aggressively trying to 'escape', etc. when they get bigger. The moodiness often happens literally overnight and the most common solution seems to be habitat size increase and/or a mate (assuming big habitat to share.)

The big-time Sulcata keepers on http://www.turtleforum.com call it 'just being a Sulcata'.