I already made my introduction, so now here's my Home's Hingebacks, Simon and Sam. My hingeback story actually starts many years before I ever saw a hingeback in person. When I was eleven I somehow convinced my mom to let me get a pet snake. A year later I got her a friend. A year later she laid her first clutch of eggs and I accidentally got into snake breeding. I ended up getting a subscription to Reptiles magazine after they published an edition that was pretty much devoted to my snake, and one month I found an article about a tortoise capable of closing their shells. I thought that feature was fantastic and vowed that if I ever got a tortoise, it would be a hingeback solely because they were blessed with hinged shells. Please keep in mind that this particular article did not contain any husbandry information or how inappropriate they are to new tortoise owners.
Eventually I had to find a new home for my snakes because my college dorm wouldn't let me keep them and the weekly purchase of live mice was never particularly popular in my house. Then, sophomore year, I was wandering through our local mall's pet shop and they had for sale two hingeback tortoises! They were both wild caught and about the same size (in the 3-4 inch range) but one of them weighed significantly less than the other, had weepy eyes and a runny nose. My finances and space constraints would only allow me to get one, so I picked the sick one because I felt sorry for him. Little did I know how hard they allegedly are to keep alive! But I kinda have a soft spot for rescues. I'm sure no one here will understand that, though...
Anyway, so I brought him home and nursed him back to health. Of course, I say him now, but then I thought it was a her due to a concave plastron and what I thought was a small tail. It was when he flashed me about a year and a half later that I figured out that "she" needed to have "her" name changed to Simon. Here he is now, 7 years later:
After Simon was healthy and I moved into my own place I suddenly had room for another tort. Since I thought Simon was a girl I figured that I was safe getting any old Home's since a girl would presumably get along with anyone, and I did have a desire to start breeding again. I ordered my second Home's, Sam, from a reptile store a couple hours south of me in FL (I lived in Tallahassee at the time) that mailed him to me same day delivery. I will never do THAT again if I can avoid it; in person pick-ups from now on! Simon was in rough shape when I got him, but Sam was worse. He didn't eat a thing for the first 4 months I had him. I really have no idea how he survived. The vet I went to who allegedly dealt with reptiles (the only one I could find local at the time) actually had to bring in their vet school textbook on tortoises during his exam. The only thing he could figure out was that it wasn't fluid in the lungs. After a lot of concern, and soaking in electrolyte solutions, and daily offerings of treats, etc, Sam finally came around and started eating. Now, here he is about 6 years later:
It was during Sam's quarantine that Simon started flashing, and even though I was fairly certain that Sam was a boy (same size tail as Simon's, etc) I tried to put them together. This did not work very well as Simon is quite aggressive and they have been mostly separated since. Simon is starting to tame down, though. I'm crossing my fingers that his aggression was just part of some sort of adolescent hormone thing and that eventually they'll live in peace.
But, that's my boys. Eventually I would like to get some girls to join them so maybe I can get some more captive bred Home's running around, but that's another endeavor for another day.
Eventually I had to find a new home for my snakes because my college dorm wouldn't let me keep them and the weekly purchase of live mice was never particularly popular in my house. Then, sophomore year, I was wandering through our local mall's pet shop and they had for sale two hingeback tortoises! They were both wild caught and about the same size (in the 3-4 inch range) but one of them weighed significantly less than the other, had weepy eyes and a runny nose. My finances and space constraints would only allow me to get one, so I picked the sick one because I felt sorry for him. Little did I know how hard they allegedly are to keep alive! But I kinda have a soft spot for rescues. I'm sure no one here will understand that, though...
Anyway, so I brought him home and nursed him back to health. Of course, I say him now, but then I thought it was a her due to a concave plastron and what I thought was a small tail. It was when he flashed me about a year and a half later that I figured out that "she" needed to have "her" name changed to Simon. Here he is now, 7 years later:
After Simon was healthy and I moved into my own place I suddenly had room for another tort. Since I thought Simon was a girl I figured that I was safe getting any old Home's since a girl would presumably get along with anyone, and I did have a desire to start breeding again. I ordered my second Home's, Sam, from a reptile store a couple hours south of me in FL (I lived in Tallahassee at the time) that mailed him to me same day delivery. I will never do THAT again if I can avoid it; in person pick-ups from now on! Simon was in rough shape when I got him, but Sam was worse. He didn't eat a thing for the first 4 months I had him. I really have no idea how he survived. The vet I went to who allegedly dealt with reptiles (the only one I could find local at the time) actually had to bring in their vet school textbook on tortoises during his exam. The only thing he could figure out was that it wasn't fluid in the lungs. After a lot of concern, and soaking in electrolyte solutions, and daily offerings of treats, etc, Sam finally came around and started eating. Now, here he is about 6 years later:
It was during Sam's quarantine that Simon started flashing, and even though I was fairly certain that Sam was a boy (same size tail as Simon's, etc) I tried to put them together. This did not work very well as Simon is quite aggressive and they have been mostly separated since. Simon is starting to tame down, though. I'm crossing my fingers that his aggression was just part of some sort of adolescent hormone thing and that eventually they'll live in peace.
But, that's my boys. Eventually I would like to get some girls to join them so maybe I can get some more captive bred Home's running around, but that's another endeavor for another day.
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