# Leopards



## Yvonne G (Feb 3, 2016)

@Will 

I have a friend's leopard tortoise. Mary used to be a reptile-keeper at our local Chaffee Zoo, and when she retired, she took an apartment in a city about an hour north of here. She asked if I would take her tortoise, Tortellini, and, of course, I said yes. Tortellini:




Tortellini hasn't been the best egg producer here on the property. But this past year, she really got with the program, and deposited three clutches in the ground over the past summer. On July 22 she laid 13 eggs. They've been cooking in the Zoo Med Reptibator ever since. The external temp reading says the temperature in the incubator is 89F degrees, however, my little thermometer placed inside reads 82F or 83F. I would like to get it up higher than that, but am hesitant to 'cook' the eggs, so I've left it alone.

On January 12th, almost 6 months after start of incubation, one lone egg hatched. And today, a little more than 6 months later, two more have hatched.






I'm assuming these will be male because of the low temperature. The thermometer on the inside reads close to 85F degrees.

I really like the size and shape of the Zoo Med Reptibator, however, I'm not a big fan of the digital temperature read-out on the lid. I have several of the cheapy thermometers shown above, and they all read the same temp, so I have faith that they are fairly accurate. I'm trying to get the temp up in that incubator, but it's not easy.


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## Markw84 (Feb 3, 2016)

Yvonne, I love the pictures. Thank you!

Have you tried actually shooting the eggs with a heat gun to see what the actual temp at the egg is? I'll do that for peace of mind, but I'm sure you probably do too.

Also, I would really like to get an adult female leopard. I have a male I raised from hatchling that is now about 18 years old, and would love to give him a mate and have some leopard eggs to work with. Keep me in mind if you can, if you hear of an adult female.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 4, 2016)

you're not too far from me, but I hardly ever get female leopards in. I just took in a young male a couple days ago.

No, I've never checked the actual egg temp with a gun. I'll have to do that. My problem is I have trouble finagling the control on the top of the box. I read the directions which said to do this and that, but when I do 'this and that' nothing changes, the temp stays the same.


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## chin_lee (Dec 12, 2017)

I use a reptibator as well. I put in a small computer fan blowing over a container filled with aspen wood shavings that is soaked in water. I also plug up the four holes at the top of the styrofoam box with paper towels. This evens out the temp in the incubator and it gets my temperature within 1 degree from the thermometer on the lid compared to the thermometer beside my eggs. The wood shavings increases surface area and gets my humidity to 85% when I plug up the four holes. 
The computer fan is easy to rig up. Find any old computer that has a small 2.5 or 3 inch fan. Most computer fans are 12V but I've used 5v DC power adapters with good success. The fans blow slower, quieter and does the right job for a small space like the incubator. Many 5v DC power supplies around with majority of cell phone chargers rated at 5VDC.
I am more tempted to trust the temperature of the thermometer closer to the eggs. 6 months for hatching is long time.....
Get a digital thermometer with external probe and put the probe beside the temp sensor in your incubator to compare the temp difference if any. Once you know the temp difference, then put the probe beside the eggs and adjust your control temp accordingly


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