Tortoise turning over

by James Thacker
(Warwickshire, England)

We have had our tortoise for nearly 30 years she is about 50 years old and very occsasionally she has turned upside down in the past.

This year, with the same pen and house, she has turned over three times twice to-day. Lukily someone has been at hand to see it and turn her over. However some days she is left all day and so this would not be noticed for up to ten hours max.

Two questions; how long could she last upside down ? I don't suppose there is a definite answer to this as nobody would know how long they had been upside down unless it was recorded on CCTV.

Secondly, is there anything we can do to prevent this happening with the design of the pen ? I expect that she turns over when frantically climbing up the netting to try to get out. We let her out most days under supervision but our garden is quite large and we are afraid she would get lost in the extensive undergrowth or some way become trapped in the four inch square sheep netting around parts of the garden which is overgrown so we would not find her. She could then be vulnerable to foxes and badgers etc at night.

In anticipation, thank you for your help.

Regards

James Thacker