Noob

[NathansChelonians]

Hi, my name is Nathan. I live in upstate New York, and I got into tortoises just a few months ago. I got into them through research and I've loved them ever since. Tortoises are my favorite, but I also enjoy Box, Wood and Leaf Turtles as well as some semi aquatic species. So I found out that my friend owned a Horsefields Tortoise, and he explained to me that he was not exactly knowledgable of the proper care, so I took her in. I had already done many, many hours of research on these animals, and although it was purchased from Petsmart, I felt that it was the right thing to do. She has been doing absolutely fantastic. She eats very well, goes to the bathroom enough, and is very active. Her shell, specifically her carapace, is in rough shape, and she has a lot of attached shed due to lack of any humidity, but that isn't something I can change, and I love her all the same. Once Christmas comes and goes, I am starting a very big project. I am building an enclosure and purchasing some Homes Hingeback Tortoises if I can get my hands on captive bred hatchlings.If not I will go with another species. Anyways, it is going to be very, very nice(in my opinion), it will be 25 sq feet, and have a very tropical, humid "theme" if you will. If anyone has any tips or info for me, that would be great, and once the build starts I'd be happy to post progress pics if anyone is interested. Thanks.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. The hinged are hard to find, good luck though. Maybe @Jacqui or @tortadise can help with the enclosure ideas. Glad you took in your friends tort and she's doing well. Just be careful of some of the info out there, a lot of it is wrong or just outdated.
As for pics, we love them, so yes, please share with us.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Nathan

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[NathansChelonians]

Thanks for the welcoming guys. It does seem that they will be hard to find, but it is worth a shot I suppose.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Nathan!

 

[NathansChelonians]

Thanks, Yvonne.

 

[NathansChelonians]

It seems quite hard to find captive bred babies, and I'm certainly not buying wild caught animals.

 

[Yvonne G]

Not if you know where to look. We have quite a few breeders here on the Forum. Of course, the hingeback might be a bit harder to find. they're a bit sensitive in the breeding area. You might talk to Tortadise, Jacqui and Flintus. they all keep hingebacks. they might know where you can pick up a captive bred tortoise.

 

[NathansChelonians]

I'm waiting for a response from Chris Leone, I imagine you know who that is. He keeps several more rare tortoises, and he's the most well know breeder of Testudo Hermanni Hermanni that I know of. I'm looking to one day be a well known breeder, I'd like to acquire every species I can and breed them if it's legal. I don't think it's very practical for me to do it as an occupation, but I would love to make it a sort of "side business." I'm also very into technical design and custom enclosures and such, so maybe that could be another side job thing. I'll see how it goes, but I'm looking to get started. It's hard in NY because a lot of species aren't legal as far as box turtles and aquatic turtles, and the weather isn't optimal for outdoor enclosures for a lot of tortoises. I'm hoping this project will be the start of something new.

 

[TerrapinStation]

Best of luck Nathan. Welcome, hopefully this will be the place for you to find answers to your questions.

 

[NathansChelonians]

Thank you. I am guessing by your name that you take interest in Diamondback Terrapins? Forgive me if I'm wrong. Such beautiful animals though.

 

[popeye tortoise]

Nathan, Welcome to the forum. I have met Chris on few occasions and he is a very knowledgeable and personable person.

 

[TerrapinStation]

Thank you. I am guessing by your name that you take interest in Diamondback Terrapins? Forgive me if I'm wrong. Such beautiful animals though.

I take interest in all shelled creatures!!!! Diamondback's are awesome, but my name is stolen from a Grateful Dead album.....

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! Getting Homes will be easier then other hingebacks. I wonder if Ben has any currently for sale.

 

[NathansChelonians]

I'm looking for hatchlings, and I won't buy them all at first, but I will be getting 8 or more. I plan on doing a lot of work with the Hingebacks, as many as I can acquire at least.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
The only advice I can offer is don't mix species in same enclosure and don't keep pairs - small groups are better with correct gender mix. Apologies if your were already of these recommendations from your research.

 

[NathansChelonians]

Yeah I'd have a different enclosure of each species/subspecies. The enclosure is very large, so the most I'd do is 8 in the enclosure I think, 6 females and 2 males probably. I'd have to see how they interact within the enclosure to get a good interpretation of how many I can keep. Homes Hingebacks are known for being sort of lethargic and they hide a lot, so I think they would all keep to themselves. I'd have several spare enclosures to separate because I'd be especially concerned about the males confronting one another.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Nathan !

 

[NathansChelonians]

Thank you