Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently acquired a hingeback tortoise but its not happy. I gave it a nice warm bath on arrival and a comfortable home. I have yet to see it come out of its shell. It is new and I understand that they are timid but does anyone know if there is a favorite food I might tempt it into making an appearance. (It did move around last night but I didn't see it do so.) Whats an average settle in time for a Hinge? I assume I'm a bit paranoid and it'll make an appearance soon. Thanks for any input you may have.
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3.4.0 Beardies
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.0.0 marbled salamander
1.1.0 Box Turtles
0.1.0 Sulcata
0.1.0 Ball Python
1.0.0 corn snake
0.1.0 great plains rat snake
0.2.0 Blue Beauty Snakes
1.0.0 tangerine Hondo snake
1.0.0 Banana King snake
1.0.0 Desert King snake
0.1.0 jungle carpet python
2.7.0 Guinea Piggies
3.6.0 Dumbo rats
1.0.0 Blue Front Amazon Parrot
0.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrot
1.1.0 house cats
2.0.0 Maine Coon Cats
1.0.0 Boxer

You probably have a forrest hingeback and they can be tough to acclimate.

As a rule humid type tortoises (like the forrest hingeback) are notorious for carrying parasites which go nuts when the animal is stressed (as in a capture). You need to get a fecal and treat accordingly. To do this you need to gain the animal trust.

Soak it regularly and when/if it comes out of its shell SLOWLY pick it up to show it that you are not going to harm it. Keep doing this until it no longer withdraws.

This is by now means a guarenteed method but it is one that works... sometimes.

If you have a shy one of these guys they are very difficult to acclimate.

You can also try mushrooms and earthworms... see if that brings it out.

Provide a warm humid environment such as a thick layer of pine bark mulch and hay. The problem there is that you have to be careful not to let the hay mold so you have to change it out frequently. Once it is acclimated you can do what you want.

They are not easy as WC but once acclimated you can't kill them.

>>I recently acquired a hingeback tortoise but its not happy. I gave it a nice warm bath on arrival and a comfortable home. I have yet to see it come out of its shell. It is new and I understand that they are timid but does anyone know if there is a favorite food I might tempt it into making an appearance. (It did move around last night but I didn't see it do so.) Whats an average settle in time for a Hinge? I assume I'm a bit paranoid and it'll make an appearance soon. Thanks for any input you may have.
>>-----
>>3.4.0 Beardies
>>1.1.0 Crested Geckos
>>1.0.0 marbled salamander
>>1.1.0 Box Turtles
>>0.1.0 Sulcata
>>0.1.0 Ball Python
>>1.0.0 corn snake
>>0.1.0 great plains rat snake
>>0.2.0 Blue Beauty Snakes
>>1.0.0 tangerine Hondo snake
>>1.0.0 Banana King snake
>>1.0.0 Desert King snake
>>0.1.0 jungle carpet python
>>2.7.0 Guinea Piggies
>>3.6.0 Dumbo rats
>>1.0.0 Blue Front Amazon Parrot
>>0.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrot
>>1.1.0 house cats
>>2.0.0 Maine Coon Cats
>>1.0.0 Boxer
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

cantalope and bannana work well at times. Make sure they are very ripe. Worms also are taken, but with the shy animals you will need to offer them in a dish of some sort.
Do keep the animal warm~85F, keep the light levels very low, and keep it humid. I would not recomend handling the animal during acclimation. They are shy by nature so don't expect a "pet" tortoise.
I have spent the last four years working with them. They are not easy to acclimate. I currently have seven healthy animals. WIth proper treament I have had about twenty animals die, some after a years time. They are always heavily parasitized. They are also very difficult to medicate.
Good luck!

I have a home's hingeback tort that I have had about a month it was a birthday gift from my mom to my 3 year old son .she thought it was a box turtle..anyway he is just starting to come out of his shell with me in the room he won't when I am near the cage but if I am across the room ok . I have had to expiriment with different things and for now I have a log hide on the warm side some fake plants on the cool side (he seems to like the plants beter) bed a beast mixed with topsoil as substrate and a really big water dish because they seem to be semi aquatic torts so far he seems ok but he is extremly shy and timid I have him in a back bedroom w out alot of traffic .he doesnt like his greens and picks through them if I mix them with fruit what do you feed yours?
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~~*Erica*~~
1 puppy-cocoa
1 cat-Livvie
1 chinchilla-Lilo
3 Russian tortoises-baby,Calvin & Hobbs
1 Home's hingeback-Elephant
5 lil monkeys Jake,Matt,Amber rose,Zach,Kaitlin Grace
oh yeah and my husband Dave :0)
and 3 fish aquariums