Dear all,

I am new to this forum and I hope you guys can help me on this.

I have a baby Leopard (shell length 2") who I acquired a month ago. It was quite active before and the lamp was on (Exo Solar Glo 125W) from 10.30am to 4.30pm. It would retreat to hiding after light out. But recently it remains inactive even during light on period, with head extended limping on the floor and hind legs extended. Eyes are closed. I put it in a bath and it will wake up but back to the play death posture after a few minutes.

My terrarium:
hay as substrate
Solar Glo 125W (temp 92F hot spot, 80F elsewhere)
Humidity 40-70% (40 during day, 70 night)

What's wrong with my baby?

Hi "Hermit":

It would be hard for us to know what's wrong "long distance", so to speak, so I'll tell you how I keep my baby leopards and maybe that will help you.

I have 13 babies leopards ranging in age from 5 months to 3 weeks. This is the "care" sheet that I give out with each baby that I sell:

"Here's how I keep my babies:

I keep my babies in a large Sterilite tub.

I used to use oat hay pellets as the substrate, but tried the 50/50 play sand/coconut coir...didn't like it. So I went out to an area on my property that had never been cultivated and dug up some "virgin" dirt. That's what I'm using now. The dirt packs down on top to a clean layer that isn't tracked into the food, yet it stays moist underneath.

I have two half-log hiding places so they have a choice of where to hide. There are a few succulent plants around in the tub for aesthetics, but they are edible if the baby chooses.

There are two clamp light fixtures, one with a regular incandescent bulb that is on for 12 hours during the day, and the other with a black bulb that is on at night. I take the babies out for at least an hour of sun a week, so I don't feel the need to spend money on the UVB bulbs. I have aluminum foil over the top of the lights and the habitat to keep out any draft and help keep the warm air inside.

I buy the salad type hay from Joe at Carolinapetsupply.com. I've tried the hay from Oxbow and it's dirty. When you put it in a bowl of water to hydrate it, Joe's hay doesn't change the color of the water, while the Oxbow hay turns the water dark brown. I also buy turnip greens, rapini, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, radicchio and occasionally collards, also several large containers of the prepared "Spring Mix" of baby greens. I take a sampling of each of these items and cut them up very small on a cutting board. Joe's hay is already pretty small, so I don't have to cut it up. I put a pile of this at the "feeding station" and place the babies in front of it and step away so they can't see me. Every time I walk by the baby tub, I place all the babies in front of the food again. I put enough food there that it lasts all day long and when I turn out the light at night, I remove the tile I use to feed them on and clean up any uneaten food.

I cut the greens up really small because the babies don't have a lot of strength in their jaw and their beaks are not really sharp. They have a hard time biting off a piece and usually just "tongue" the pieces into their mouth and down their throat. If it's too big they have trouble eating it.

I have a small reptile water dish in the tub that I keep filled with water. Every other day I take the babies out of the tub and soak them in warm water for about a half hour."

I hope this helps you. If its at all possible, I think your baby needs to get some natural sunlight. I'm not a big fan of the UVB/UVA lights for reptiles, and have never used them. Also, I think the hay is keeping your baby too dry.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Yvonne

Thank you so much Yvonne.

I have been told to keep the humidity dry at all time. However, after I read the posts here, I learned that I should give my baby a humid hiding place. The area I am living has a very high humidity during summer so I have to use a small ventilation fan (the kind you see in a computer) to achieve a lower humidity. The best I can do is around 40-50%. Will this be OK for the tortoise? What is a correct humidity for Leopards? I have just put a small earth clay flower pot stuffed with moist moss to create a humid hide. It has a humidity of 60-70%. Is it OK?

Thanks again.

Another question. When you said warm water to soak the tortoises, what temperature are you talking about? Room temperature or higher? Thanks.

I don't worry about the percentage of humidity...I just keep the dirt moist under the top layer. What you describe sounds a bit on the high side, though.

The water temp I soak my torts in is warm to the touch. I know...I know, not very scientific. Warm, not hot. Then you can leave them in there until it gets too cool.

Yvonne