at 5-6 inches that doesn't sound captive-bred. but you've got the tortoise now, so where it came from doesn't matter so much. Except a vet visit would still be a good idea.

Eating: try earthworms. The tortoise will get stimulated by something wiggling. They also like melon - a picture of my bell's eating watermelon showed up in a European reptile magazine. Don't expect it to be a standard, herbivorous tortoise. Fruits and protein are part of the diet. But like any other tortoise, it needs variety. A little banana, a little dog food, a little melon, a few greens, a slug, etc etc.

As for identification: Bell's has a lot of variation. I've seen some that looked almost like leopard tortoises with spots. Mine was a very dull, brown tort with a domed shell. Some of the other Kinixys species are flatter and more rugged looking. As the link I posted said, Bell's like it a little drier and more brightly lit than the other types.

Here's a good website with photos of different Kinixys species:

www.chelonia.org/kinixys_gallery.htm

There's also a caresheet there. That caresheet really pushes the idea of feeding native foods. I wouldn't worry about that too much, unless you can get things shipped from South Africa.

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• baffled--help - cutesyturtle, Thu Feb 16 17:55:02 2006
• RE: baffled--help - bradtort, Thu Feb 16 18:31:52 2006
• RE: baffled--help - cutesyturtle, Thu Feb 16 18:41:41 2006
• RE: baffled--help - bradtort, Thu Feb 16 18:54:51 2006
• RE: baffled--help - cutesyturtle, Thu Feb 16 19:02:16 2006
• RE: baffled--help - steffke, Thu Feb 16 18:40:01 2006
• RE: baffled--help - cutesyturtle, Thu Feb 16 18:55:25 2006