My pet tortoise Leonard

[chrisjackson]

Last October, when he was new to me and wasn't eating, you guys gave me lots of help, including identifying him for me (Western Hingeback). He's well settled now but absolutely will not eat protein. I have offered him slugs, snails & worms over the months, but he isn't interested. He virtually lives on tomatoes and red/orange/green peppers. I've tried various other fruits and veg but these are his favourites. Should I worry about the protein? He eats daily, and loves to soak in his 'pond' (a large terracotta plant-pot base) for long periods. Also, where is he likely to have originated from? (As in, what's his country of origin?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chris:

I don't know anything about the hingeback tortoises, so I really can't offer you any good advice, but to point you in the direction of our hingeback section. We have a few hinge-keepers here on the forum and maybe you can glean some good info from reading past posts about them. Have you tried the moistened cat food that Terry recommends for his redfoot tortoises? I bought some of that kind of cat food and feed it occasionally to my Manouria tortoises. They seem to really like it. Maybe it would work for you.

If you post a couple of nice pictures, top and bottom, someone here might be able to help you with where he came from.

 

[chrisjackson]

Thanks for that, attempting to post 2 pictures.....

 

[Itort]

You've got a Bell's Kinixsys {ssp nogeai). They are from equatorial Africa (most likely west Africa). Country of origin is hard to say as they have a large range (the Bell's specie is found throughout subSaharan Africa). It is unusual seeing one now days as there is a USDA import ban on them because of livestock disease they are a vector for. Not to worry though, it is the ticks they carry that spread the disease.

 

[chrisjackson]

Thank you Larry. But back to the original question - does he need protein, and what would his natural diet be if he wasn't living in Ireland right now?

 

[Jacqui]

I would not be really worried about his not getting protein as he is an adult. What I would do, is to keep offering the worms and snails. I might also try boiled chicken, pinky mouse, and even fish. Can you get Mazuri there or not? The dry cat food if a really good quality one will not hurt either, just isn't something I myself use.

Try mixing some of the protein food in with small cut up pieces of food that he does like to cover up the fact your feeding him something he doesn't really like eating.

 

[chrisjackson]

Thank you Jacqui. Any idea how old he might be, and how can I tell?