Evan White, May 4, 2007
Hi Larry! Is this deja vu or what? Since we last spoke about Kinixys tortoises, I got 5 hinge backs. 2 really big ones and three smaller ones. They are by far one of the most difficult to establish tortoises today.
Once they are established they tend to fare OK, but they are
certainly a delicate, difficult species. The first thing I have to
say is, the pics, and info, and names of everyone who has asked about
them, even your suppliers possibly, call the hingie you picture a
"forest hingeback" tortoise. They are in fact homes hingeback
tortoises. It seems that that name has gone out the window and they
are all called forest hingebacks nowadays. The true forest hingies
are far rarer and virtually impossible to establish. There is a
really easy way to tell them apart. Homes (Kinixys homeana) have an
abrupt angle, almost 90 degrees, at the end of their carapace. The
true forests (K. erosa) have a gentle slope. Homeana actually means
"clipped tortoise" because it looks like their carapaces have been
sheared off at the ends. It is possible that you may have gotten some
erosa in one of your shipments, but chances are against it.
Dealers usually tell them apart and charge way more for them.
Anyway, the problem with keeping them is they harbor numerous deadly
internal parasites upon arrival into the pet trade. This is caused by
their dietary preferences (they will even eat carrion, along with
almost anything smaller they can overpower/rundown) in concert with
the moist, humid habitat they inhabit. This makes a wonderful
breeding ground for many, many types of parasites. By the time they
arrive from Africa, they are so stressed, starved and desiccated that
the parasites have proliferated to a near deadly level. This must be
addressed ASAP in order for success. Herein lies the problem, these
little guys are so shy, it is almost impossible to get a tube down
their throats to worm them. This problem can be avoided by putting
the worming meds into their food. Though, this only works for those
healthy enough to eat. I used a frozen pinky mouse for each that I
injected with panacur (fenbendazole = broad spectrum wormer). I did
this 4 times with 2 weeks in between and it worked wonders. Even so,
I still had trouble with the smallest male. He, being only about 3
inches long, was so difficult to work with. I had to take him to the
vet and get him knocked out and treated, twice!
Their tricky husbandry is also another area for concern. They really
tend to dislike bright lights, they actually avoid them like no
tomorrow. When mine have their light on, they stay hidden all the
time, until night when it is quiet and dark. Otherwise, they stay to
themselves. I use red heat lamps for my tanks, in combination with a
UVB bulb which I leave on for 12 hour cycles. This works fairly well.
They must also have it very, very humid and damp. They come from
almost swamp conditions and they will quickly become desiccated
without moisture in the air. Just cover the openings of their tank,
(like a screen lid) with Plexiglas or even saran wrap, this will
keep most of the humidity inside the cage. I try to aim for 60% with
higher being just fine. A large water dish for soaking is of course
essential (this isn't any exciting news I'm sure) and lots of foliage
is good for them to hide amongst.
As far as their diet goes, very box turtle-ish. They love fruits
(mine adore banana and cantaloupe), some vegetables (they tend to
pick out the fruits and leave the rest, but they do eventually eat
the greens if I leave them in the tank), and meats. I give
earthworms, mealworms, de-legged crickets, pinky mice, and even
chicken bones with a little meat left on them. (Not raw, just what's
left over from dinner etc.) I also put them outside on nice warm
sunny days so they can get unfiltered sunlight. They are fairly
active when outside, though as I said, the bright light isn't their
favorite. If all this is met, and this is difficult to do, they
should fare well. Not always do they, even with these things met.
They are just a difficult little animal to work with. If possible,
would you post your pics of the hingies you've had? I would love to
see some of your pics, perhaps they'd also be good to tell people
what tortoise to avoid at first!
I have to say, I think it is a testament to you as a storekeeper,
animal dealer, and herp-keeper in general that you don't sell these
guys because you know that people may or may not be able to keep them
alive. That is exactly what we need more of when dealing with
difficult animals, more people to not buy them, than to buy them
because they are cheap. Cheers to you. Best Regards,