Home's Hingeback unusal behaviour. Please help

[16rash]

My home's hingeback tortoise has been sitting inside the soaking dish for so many hours now.usually he soaks in for sometime and then evening time go inside the hide but its night already and he is still in the soaking tub( almost 7 hours). is this normal?

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't know about hingebacks, but when I see a box turtle sitting in the water for a long time it usually means some sort of illness or worm infestation.

 

[wellington]

I don't know about hingebacks, but when I see a box turtle sitting in the water for a long time it usually means some sort of illness or worm infestation.

This is interesting. What kind of illness have you found before? Have you ever noticed this in any tortoises?

 

[wellington]

@Jacqui has some hinges, maybe she has experienced something like this.

 

[16rash]

I don't know about hingebacks, but when I see a box turtle sitting in the water for a long time it usually means some sort of illness or worm infestation.

I know that rescue center people have dewormed him few days before i got him(on May 15). so it must be 3 weeks now when he had the dose.

 

[16rash]

i clicked a pic of the enclosure for reference. Temp is 84F just under the CHE, humidity is 75 . find attached pic,he is at the corner in the dish.

 

[JoesMum]

That water bowl looks very deep. I would use the terracotta saucer for water and put food on a flat rock or slate

 

[Anyfoot]

My home's hingeback tortoise has been sitting inside the soaking dish for so many hours now.usually he soaks in for sometime and then evening time go inside the hide but its night already and he is still in the soaking tub( almost 7 hours). is this normal?

It's perfectly normal. Mine take long soaks all the time. The one in the 2nd photo practically lives in the water. Like 22hrs a day. They live in the tropical rainforest of Africa, lots of the native habitat is marsh land and flood plains. I read somewhere that they have even been seen swimming to pick fish up before. A strange species for sure. You need a bigger and deeper water dish.
Think I mentioned this before, this is why I provide a seperate water bowl they can't get into that's changed daily. Although they seem to prefer the dirty water in the baths to drink from
It's not unusual to see 2 of mine bathing together.
I change my baths every 3 to 4 days. These are ready for changing. I also fill them to the top to start with. They won't go in the fresh water for hours, I'm guessing the temp is not right at first.

 

[MPRC]

1 of my 5 redfoots is the same way. We joke that she is a little piranha. I haven't seen any ill effects like shell rot from the constant moisture.

 

[Anyfoot]

1 of my 5 redfoots is the same way. We joke that she is a little piranha. I haven't seen any ill effects like shell rot from the constant moisture.

You won't, I've had a minor case of shell rot on my hingebacks, the one that stays in the water all the time never got it.
I later found the cause to be decaying green leaves that started off the rot. Bay leaves to be precise, they were going mouldy on the under side of the leaves. Can't have been a coincidence surely.

 

[16rash]

It's perfectly normal. Mine take long soaks all the time. The one in the 2nd photo practically lives in the water. Like 22hrs a day. They live in the tropical rainforest of Africa, lots of the native habitat is marsh land and flood plains. I read somewhere that they have even been seen swimming to pick fish up before. A strange species for sure. You need a bigger and deeper water dish.
Think I mentioned this before, this is why I provide a seperate water bowl they can't get into that's changed daily. Although they seem to prefer the dirty water in the baths to drink from
It's not unusual to see 2 of mine bathing together.
I change my baths every 3 to 4 days. These are ready for changing. I also fill them to the top to start with. They won't go in the fresh water for hours, I'm guessing the temp is not right at first.
View attachment 175262 View attachment 175263

Thats a relief Thank you!
Yes, you did advise to have separate water bowl and soaking dish(cat litter). this enclosure is quite small so i have kept only 1 water bowl and change water every other day . working on a bigger enclosure for him and will be ready by tomorrow.

 

[16rash]

Thank you everyone for the response! He is out of the water dish now and roaming around.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

This could also be because the environment is too dry. Homeana and erosa are rain forest/more moisture loving tortoises than the belliana group. I would also be very aware and careful not to give them water that is too deep because if they get stuck on their back they will likely drown.