Tort ID

[Laura]

Please look at link to pictures and let me know what this is.
Thank you
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BauHLFw5YsX6w&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

 

[JustAnja]

Maybe a Bell's Hingeback? Oh Danny? Jacqui???

 

[Itort]

Think it's a bells to.

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Laura,
Thats a Bell's hingeback, Kinixys belliana. To tell the subspecies, you have to count front claws. K. b. nogueyi has 4 claws and K. b. belliana has 5 claws.
It looks more like a K. b. nogueyi to me.

Danny

 

[Laura]

Thats what I thought she was. But other pics didnt quite look right. She has 4 claws in front.
She is slowly waking up. I turned the 'heat on' about a week ago, soaked her and she was outside inthe sun today for about an hour. She is thinking about eating some earthwoms right now.
Thanks for the ID!
And Anja,,,, The Mazuri is a hit! Sulcatas were chowing this morn!

 

[jlyoncc1]

That was my first thought - a hingeback when I saw the shape of the shell but I am no expert on these guys.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

" I REMEMBER WHEN ".. how many times have we said that? A friend in FL that imported those 'big' tan ones with yellow marbling and almost solid yellow heads.. $15 in '98. I bought 3 out of 35-40 that he had. Wouldn't I like to turn back the clock for a couple of weeks back then. Of all the different species that he imported I do believe that I would have rather had those!

Terry

 

[JustAnja]

And Anja,,,, The Mazuri is a hit! Sulcatas were chowing this morn!

Good to hear

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Laura,
I'm not getting the "heat on" referance and the just waking up.
K. b. nogueyi need to be warm all the time and humid. Mid to high 80's during the day and mid to high 70's at night. Basicly they should be kept like a Redfoot, with just a bit more protein in the diet.

Danny

 

[Laura]

Hi Laura,
I'm not getting the "heat on" referance and the just waking up.
K. b. nogueyi need to be warm all the time and humid. Mid to high 80's during the day and mid to high 70's at night. Basicly they should be kept like a Redfoot, with just a bit more protein in the diet.

Danny

She puts herself to sleep every year. Burrows under leaves and doesnt wake. Heat or not. So I let her sleep thru most of the winter and wake her up about now. I guess I should look into her needs better. I was letting her do what she wanted. I took her in from a Vet client who's son didnt want it anymore. Learning a lot on this forum.

 

[Jacqui]

*drools* and then *sighs* Learned my lesson from not saying this to somebody once before so...If you ever consider finding her a new home, I know somebody who is crazy about these guys and would love more....Me!

Like Danny says they don't hibernate, but mine have always done a slow down during the winter months.

 

[Jacqui]

" I REMEMBER WHEN ".. how many times have we said that? A friend in FL that imported those 'big' tan ones with yellow marbling and almost solid yellow heads.. $15 in '98. I bought 3 out of 35-40 that he had. Wouldn't I like to turn back the clock for a couple of weeks back then. Of all the different species that he imported I do believe that I would have rather had those!

Terry

Me too. I had several breeding pairs and they were blessing me with hatchlings. If I had just listened to my instincts that the human relationship would never work and I should stay heavily involved with my torts..."If onlys" and "Could have beens", life's lessons to be learned. Just try to keep thinking maybe having to work so hard this time around to get back into the Bells will somehow make me a better tortoise keeper.

 

[Redfootedboxturtles]

there is a pair forsale on kingnsnake. I also had a pair of bells , but I was young maybe 12. They where awesome. Very hardy even though I have heard otherwise , I bought them at glads herp. Had to be about 25 bucks each.

 

[Jacqui]

there is a pair forsale on kingnsnake. I also had a pair of bells , but I was young maybe 12. They where awesome. Very hardy even though I have heard otherwise , I bought them at glads herp. Had to be about 25 bucks each.

LOL yep, I sent them a note...lol. I was thinking the ones I bought were about $35..and from local pet stores.

 

[egyptiandan]

They are nice, just not Bell's. They happen to be Kinixys spekii. There have been quite a few come in recently.

Danny

 

[Jacqui]

I agree about them not being Bells, but I sent the note because I was still interested in them as Speks. Guess I should have clarified that in my post in here, but wasn't really thinking about that part of my post, rather was still thinking about the past and how animals were so readily available. I have been looking around for Spekii too, especially since -EJ is going to keep all his. Actually any Hingeback is considered.

 

[Redfootedboxturtles]

Its really a shame how much they were imported. We need some people to start breeding hingebacks of all kinds. Even the forrest hingebacks they are so overly collected its insain.

 

[Jacqui]

Actually there are many folks out there working with the Hingebacks. Believe me, each birth is a moment of joy and new hope among us.

It's not just the Hinges, it's many species. Most of the animals in captivity are in isolated situations, where they will never be producing the valuable and needed offspring. A few folks were wise enough to create breeding colonies, when the numbers were there. Now we are scrambling to start new colonies, so not all the animals are in just a couple of sites. That gives more breathing space to allow for one colony or colonies in a certain area to be wiped out of suffer great losses thru disease, natural disasters, ect.., and still not lose the species chance for survival. Also keeps as many gene pools going as possible.

We are getting much better at sharing data on their care, as quickly as it becomes known. Thus more animals survive for more folks. Not only survive, but reproduce.

 

[egyptiandan]

If someone wants to get into and breed the Forest type hingebacks, K. erosa and K. homeana, the key to both of them is to keep them singlely and only introduce them for breeding. They also like low light conditions.
I have kept both species and learned the hard way about not keeping them together. I even bred K. homeana and got fertile eggs. At the time I was incubating at 86F. I went to the National Breeders expo that year and an article came out about incubating K. erosa eggs and it said to never go above 84F. Reading that article just killed me. Of course when I got home and turned down the incubator it was to late.
I lost the male not to long after that and sold the female. If I had the room I would definately get back into them.

Danny