Home's Hinge-Back Tortoise — Fact Sheet

Kinixys homeana · Home’s Hinge-Back Tortoise · Homes Gelenkschildkröte

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• One adult: at least 180 x 90 cm; larger preferred
• Closed/partly closed forest enclosure that retains humidity without stale air
• House singly outside supervised breeding introductions
• 15-25 cm moist soil/bark/leaf-litter substrate
• Avoid dry open tables, bright bare pens, pure sand, aromatic shavings, and waterlogged bedding

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Several opaque hides + dense plants + deep leaf litter + sight barriers
• Warm humid retreat + slightly cooler retreat + subdued feeding area
• Stable shallow soaking tray with easy exit
• Cork slabs, rotting hardwood, and low safe foraging obstacles

💡 Lighting

• Low-level UVB required; Ferguson Zone 1
• Aim for about UVI 0.5-1.0 at shell height with dense zero-UVI shade
• Measured shade-dweller/low-output T5 HO + broad gentle visible light
• Preserve dim refuges; glass blocks UVB
• Photoperiod: 11-12 h; no bright night lamp

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 28-30 °C broad optional warm patch

• Warm zone: 24-27 °C

• Cool zone: 23-24 °C

• Night: 22-24 °C

• Stable gentle warmth; no hibernation

• Measure substrate surface and hide interiors

• Avoid narrow hot spots, heat mats under the animal, >30 °C exposure, and chilling

💧 Humidity & water

• 80-95% relative humidity with clean airflow and drainage
• Mist litter/substrate; allow some surface areas to breathe
• Clean full-body shallow soaking tray; replace water daily and when soiled
• Juveniles need especially stable hydration and shallow safe water
• Avoid both dry housing and sour saturated substrate

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Cultivated mushrooms: oyster, button, chestnut, shiitake
• Dandelion, plantain, mallow, mulberry, hibiscus, endive, escarole
• Squash, okra, green beans, edible flowers

In moderation:

• Cultured earthworms, snails, woodlice, and suitable invertebrates
• Small fruit portions only occasionally

Avoid:

• Wild millipedes, unknown fungi, pesticide-exposed prey
• Fruit-heavy diets, meat, dog/cat food, rich pellets as staples

Supplements:

• Cuttlebone available
• Light plain-calcium use on poorly balanced meals
• Sparse multivitamin use matched to measured UVB and product instructions

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Closed/swollen eyes, dry skin, thick urates → dehydration, excessive light, or illness
• Nasal discharge, wheezing, or open-mouth breathing → cold/stale air or respiratory disease
• Weight loss despite feeding → parasites, oral disease, stress, or gastrointestinal illness
• Loose stool → excess fruit, abrupt diet change, parasites, or infection
• Soft shell/weak limbs → UVB/calcium/nutritional problem
• Red plastron or skin sores → saturated substrate, trauma, or infection

Consult a reptile-experienced veterinarian promptly for weight loss, breathing signs, repeated refusal to eat, severe lethargy, or shell/skin lesions.