i was wondering is there a difference in the pardalis babcocki leopard and is there just a babcocki leopard i don't know if i'm wording this right, my leopard has no dots in the middel of the scutes and i have seen babys that have the dots on the sides but not down the middel. and dots in every scute from what i understand that is pardalis pardils the larger leopard. but what one has no dots in any scutes? sorry if this don't make sense.

I have read that the P. babcocki has 1 dot in all or most scutes and that a P. pardalis may have 1 or 2 dots in its scutes, that 2 dots always meant P. pardalis and 1 dot could be either. Sometimes they are just missing a few dots.
I'll try to post my source. I am very new to this and waiting my babies, (2 P. pardalis that will arrive Friday) I have done alot of reading and was torn between sulcata and leopard. I wanted a large tortoise, but am a bit intimidated by the size and strength of a sulcata, so chose the larger of the leopards.

hi i understand that there are two described sub species these are pardalis pardalis and pardalis babcocki of the two the babcocki hatchlings have one or less dots per scute and the p. pardalis hatchlings have multiple dots normally the ones on the vertebral scutes are paired either side of the midline.as i only keep and breed the babcocki i can only be confident about the description of these hatchlings the rest i have either read or had related to me by third parties.
terry