- Joined
- Jul 14, 2010
- Messages
- 7
As some of you may know my sister and I have two Arfican Hingeback tortoises. I have gone onto a lot of websites about the species and their care, but all of them seem to say different things about one topic or another, so I am in looking for some input and advice from experienced tortoise owners. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps!
Health Concerns
Respiratory Problems- Ever since I got my two Hingebacks one or both of them on occasion (on and off again) seem to have some sort of respiratory problem. Their breath, especially with Marble, almost to whistles when they breathe. I've tried soaking them in very warm water, raising the humidity in their cages and I have even taken the to a vet who is supposed to specialize in exotic pets, like reptiles. Unfortunately he seemed to know next to nothing about Hinegbacks and had to look them up on the Internet, just to find out what they were. The vet declared both of them in good health or at least fairly good health upon examination and didn't seem to notice the breathing problem. How can I cure this problem, whatever it is?
Marble's Shell- My one tortoise, Marble has these cuts on either side of his shell. At first I had no idea how he possibly could have gotten these, but now I am beginning to think that it was a result of my other Hingeback, Rocky attempting to mate with him. Rocky would seem to claw at him right at the spot where Marble's injuries are now in an attempt to hold Marble in place. I realize now that I should never have kept two male tortoises in the same enclosure and regret it entirely, so please don't yell at me for it. The purpose of this thread is for me to receive help and advice regarding the care and well-being of my tortoises and not to criticize me about previous mistakes I made that can't be fixed now. During the examination at the vet's (that I mentioned before) the vet prescribed a disinfectant to prevent Marble's shell injuries from becoming infected. After the injuries only got worse, I stupidly took Marble back to the vet's and the vet prescribed an antibiotic that was administered through a shot to the leg, which didn't effect the injuries at all and apparently caused Marble stress because he stopped eating until I stopped the shots. Since then, I haven't taken Marble or Rocky back to the vet's office nor have I put them back in the same enclosure. Marble's injuries seem to have gotten a little better but have not completely healed. How worried should I be? Did Rocky's attempts to mate with Marble or something else cause the injuries? What is there for me to do?
Pictures of Marble's Shell:
Left Shell Injury:
Right Shell Injury:
Rocky's Neck and Head- My one tortoise, Rocky, has these scab-like spots, one on the top of his head and the other farther down on his neck. What do you think these could be, what cause them, and what should I do about them?
Pictures of Rocky's Neck and Head:
Sorry for the blurry photos, Rocky refused to stay still.
Diet
As I've mentioned before, I have researched African Hingeback tortoises online, including their diet in captivity, but, the information differs from website to website and is inconsistent.
I know that Hingebacks are omnivorous and need animal matter, such as earthworms (which I currently feed my two) in their diet. I also know that variety is important, so they need a mix of fruits and vegetables as well as animal matter. Here is where things get sketchy. I am very unsure of the percentages for their diet and overall the plant matter I should be feeding them. While some sites list bananas, tomatoes, peaches, mushrooms, lettuce, melon and oranges, others differ with a list that includes kale, grasses, timothy hay, carrots, squash and tomatoes. Some sites also have zucchini, cucumber, red/green sweet peppers, and pumpkin as suggested foods. Many sites also suggested giving a small amount of "high-quality low-fat dog food", but I am too nervous to feed mine any as I am worried it would damage their liver and kidneys. Many of the sites stress the importance of limiting fruits in the diet, is this extremely important, because one of my tortoises, Rocky won't touch greens and vegetables (or rarely does), but loves fruits. I've tried to only feed him leafy greens and other vegetables, but then he doesn't really eat, which worries me. My other tortoise, Marble, is addicted to eating earthworms and won't eat that much fruit or vegetables even when that is all I feed him. One more question regarding diet, are certain fruits, such as blueberries and grapes harmful to African Hingeback tortoises?
Soaking and Water Consumption
I know that soaking hingebacks is an important part of caring for them and I try to soak my hingebacks at least twice a week in warm water that doesn't rise above their mouth and nostrils. How often should I be soaking my hingebacks and how deep should the water be?
My hingebacks must be drinking water if they have survived this long but I've never really seen my hingebacks drink any water. They do have a water dish in each of their cages, but again I haven't really seen them drink from it. Should I be worried about this? Is there anything I can do to make sure they are getting enough water?
Lighting
Most websites say that full spectrum lighting can be beneficial but hingebacks dislike bright light and I know this fact is true from experience with my two hingebacks. In the summer time their cage is usually around 80-85 (sometimes it gets into the upper 80s) because I don't use air conditioning in my house. I know that this is the ideal temperature range for hingebacks and since I don't want to make their cage too warm, I don't use any type of light in the summer, but I do take them outside to be exposed to sunlight as much as I can, at least twice a week, in the summer time when it is warm enough. In the winter I use a light in the day and turn it off at night to simulate a natural day and night cycle (I have a heating pad at night) and to keep the cage warm. Am I doing the right thing as far as lighting for hingebacks goes?
Miscellaneous Questions
-I know this is a crude, gross question to ask, but (how should I say this?) what color should the urine be?
-This isn't important, but I was just curious, is there anyway to tell age?
-I know that African Hingebacks require a high humidity level, so I use cypress mulch to retain humidity, but should the mulch be wet or dry? I know wet bedding can lead to shell rot, so I wasn't sure as to how their substrate should be maintained.
-Are you supposed to trim your tortoises' nails because I've noticed that the nails on my two get extremely long and sometimes even fall off?
-Overall do Marble and Rocky look healthy (besides Marble's shell injuries)?
Marble:
Rocky:
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Health Concerns
Respiratory Problems- Ever since I got my two Hingebacks one or both of them on occasion (on and off again) seem to have some sort of respiratory problem. Their breath, especially with Marble, almost to whistles when they breathe. I've tried soaking them in very warm water, raising the humidity in their cages and I have even taken the to a vet who is supposed to specialize in exotic pets, like reptiles. Unfortunately he seemed to know next to nothing about Hinegbacks and had to look them up on the Internet, just to find out what they were. The vet declared both of them in good health or at least fairly good health upon examination and didn't seem to notice the breathing problem. How can I cure this problem, whatever it is?
Marble's Shell- My one tortoise, Marble has these cuts on either side of his shell. At first I had no idea how he possibly could have gotten these, but now I am beginning to think that it was a result of my other Hingeback, Rocky attempting to mate with him. Rocky would seem to claw at him right at the spot where Marble's injuries are now in an attempt to hold Marble in place. I realize now that I should never have kept two male tortoises in the same enclosure and regret it entirely, so please don't yell at me for it. The purpose of this thread is for me to receive help and advice regarding the care and well-being of my tortoises and not to criticize me about previous mistakes I made that can't be fixed now. During the examination at the vet's (that I mentioned before) the vet prescribed a disinfectant to prevent Marble's shell injuries from becoming infected. After the injuries only got worse, I stupidly took Marble back to the vet's and the vet prescribed an antibiotic that was administered through a shot to the leg, which didn't effect the injuries at all and apparently caused Marble stress because he stopped eating until I stopped the shots. Since then, I haven't taken Marble or Rocky back to the vet's office nor have I put them back in the same enclosure. Marble's injuries seem to have gotten a little better but have not completely healed. How worried should I be? Did Rocky's attempts to mate with Marble or something else cause the injuries? What is there for me to do?
Pictures of Marble's Shell:
Left Shell Injury:
Right Shell Injury:
Rocky's Neck and Head- My one tortoise, Rocky, has these scab-like spots, one on the top of his head and the other farther down on his neck. What do you think these could be, what cause them, and what should I do about them?
Pictures of Rocky's Neck and Head:
Sorry for the blurry photos, Rocky refused to stay still.
Diet
As I've mentioned before, I have researched African Hingeback tortoises online, including their diet in captivity, but, the information differs from website to website and is inconsistent.
I know that Hingebacks are omnivorous and need animal matter, such as earthworms (which I currently feed my two) in their diet. I also know that variety is important, so they need a mix of fruits and vegetables as well as animal matter. Here is where things get sketchy. I am very unsure of the percentages for their diet and overall the plant matter I should be feeding them. While some sites list bananas, tomatoes, peaches, mushrooms, lettuce, melon and oranges, others differ with a list that includes kale, grasses, timothy hay, carrots, squash and tomatoes. Some sites also have zucchini, cucumber, red/green sweet peppers, and pumpkin as suggested foods. Many sites also suggested giving a small amount of "high-quality low-fat dog food", but I am too nervous to feed mine any as I am worried it would damage their liver and kidneys. Many of the sites stress the importance of limiting fruits in the diet, is this extremely important, because one of my tortoises, Rocky won't touch greens and vegetables (or rarely does), but loves fruits. I've tried to only feed him leafy greens and other vegetables, but then he doesn't really eat, which worries me. My other tortoise, Marble, is addicted to eating earthworms and won't eat that much fruit or vegetables even when that is all I feed him. One more question regarding diet, are certain fruits, such as blueberries and grapes harmful to African Hingeback tortoises?
Soaking and Water Consumption
I know that soaking hingebacks is an important part of caring for them and I try to soak my hingebacks at least twice a week in warm water that doesn't rise above their mouth and nostrils. How often should I be soaking my hingebacks and how deep should the water be?
My hingebacks must be drinking water if they have survived this long but I've never really seen my hingebacks drink any water. They do have a water dish in each of their cages, but again I haven't really seen them drink from it. Should I be worried about this? Is there anything I can do to make sure they are getting enough water?
Lighting
Most websites say that full spectrum lighting can be beneficial but hingebacks dislike bright light and I know this fact is true from experience with my two hingebacks. In the summer time their cage is usually around 80-85 (sometimes it gets into the upper 80s) because I don't use air conditioning in my house. I know that this is the ideal temperature range for hingebacks and since I don't want to make their cage too warm, I don't use any type of light in the summer, but I do take them outside to be exposed to sunlight as much as I can, at least twice a week, in the summer time when it is warm enough. In the winter I use a light in the day and turn it off at night to simulate a natural day and night cycle (I have a heating pad at night) and to keep the cage warm. Am I doing the right thing as far as lighting for hingebacks goes?
Miscellaneous Questions
-I know this is a crude, gross question to ask, but (how should I say this?) what color should the urine be?
-This isn't important, but I was just curious, is there anyway to tell age?
-I know that African Hingebacks require a high humidity level, so I use cypress mulch to retain humidity, but should the mulch be wet or dry? I know wet bedding can lead to shell rot, so I wasn't sure as to how their substrate should be maintained.
-Are you supposed to trim your tortoises' nails because I've noticed that the nails on my two get extremely long and sometimes even fall off?
-Overall do Marble and Rocky look healthy (besides Marble's shell injuries)?
Marble:
Rocky:
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!