My leopard tort looks different

[memo1987]

Hi, I'm new here

I was watching pics of a few leopard tortoises and watching mine, looks different. I don't know why, maybe is another kind of leopard, or... is not a leopard?
Can someone help me?
I guess he/she is just growing up and may change
Is around 1 year old, here are a some pics

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think it's a leopard. They usually have two elongated oval patches right above the nose and yours doesn't. Like this:

Or maybe it does and I just can't see it in your pictures.

I thought at first maybe its a hingeback, but I don't see the start of a hinge above the back leg.

Where did you get the tortoise? Any chance it might be a hybrid between sulcata and leopard?

 

[Yvonne G]

I forgot to say, "Welcome to the Forum!!"

I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know that your baby would benefit greatly from the removal of that indoor/outdoor carpet and the addition of a moistened substrate about 3" deep. Baby tortoises hatch out during the monsoon season and their environment is very humid and moist. This helps them to grow smooth shells. Do you soak your baby daily?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome memo.
From Florida USA

 

[memo1987]

First of all, thanks for your response, and happy bday! Yvonne

mmm... i bought a leopard tortoise, but he/she became sick and my vet keep it for almost 5-6 months
I have to ask him about this, maybe my tortoise died and he replace it with another one and he gave me this one
I need to know what kind of tortoise is, so I can give him/her the best conditions.
Also, yeah, I will change the carpet, I already have the substrate, thanks for that.
As soon as I get home, I will post more pictures so you can help me to identify what kind of tortoise is
I'm using temps and humidity for a leopard... hope that doesn't hurt this little guy if isn't a leopard
Also need to know if this guy needs to hibernate.

Thanks Zeropilot

Greetings from Mexico!

 

[Yvonne G]

Let's send a shout out to @tortadise , @Will , @HermanniChris

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm pretty sure its not a hibernating species.

 

[JoesMum]

A leopard tort is definitely NOT a hibernating species.

 

[memo1987]

A leopard tort is definitely NOT a hibernating species.

Thanks, yes I know that, but, now I'm not sure that I have a leopard..

I'm pretty sure its not a hibernating species.

Thanks!

I will post more pics today later!

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I'm having a difficult time parsing out what is happening here. Did the vet treat your tortoise for several months, for what exactly, and in all that time the vet did not sort out the species?

Where did the tortoise come from? Found in your backyard, bought online, a gift from someone, purchased in a pet shop?

More images a little sharper in focus, including plastron and head shots would help. The carapace looks like a marbled red foot, but the head is all wrong for that, the head looks like a testudo. If there are chin glands then it would be an Gopherus. I've not seen hatchlings of Bolson's, where in Mexico are you, could it be a Bolsons? Need to see if there are chin glands to help firm up that as a potential.

To little data for my frame of reference to sort out the species. No species is an obligate hibernator, those that do hibernate do it as a survival mechanism for sub-optimal weather, but those don't have to hibernate. So no tortoise "needs to hibernate".

 

[memo1987]

Well what really happened was that the tortoise was keeping her/his eyes closed, was like 3 months old at that time
and the vet gave her/him calcium but I think was too much
the tortoise was unconscious for several minutes, and my vet decided to keep it to look after her/him
He told me that the tortoise was not eating properly so he need it to keep it more time
after 7-8 months was healthy and he returned me my tortoise

I already talk to him and he said is the same tortoise that I gave him.
He said that is also strange for him too that it doesn't look like a leopard tortoise.
He said his pigmentation changed very fast
I bought it in a reptile pet shop here in my city.

I'm working now, so, as soon as I get home I will post more pictures
I live in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, near USA

greetings!

 

[tortadise]

I agree with Will. My initial thought was Bolsen. They typically only dipict that sort of coloration in captivity. Bolsens will not hibernate like other species. They will hibernate nightly and then prowl around when temperature rise late morning through early afternoon then retreat for the evening. Only during the winter though. This would be a species that would not be recommended to hibernate in captivity. A lot like chelonoidis chilensis when hibernated in captivity they perish. What region of Mexico are you from? Be extremely careful with that species. They're illegal to posses, even captive bred specimens.

 

[memo1987]

Be extremely careful with that species. They're illegal to posses, even captive bred specimens.

omg I'm shocked to read that :/
When i bought it looked like a baby leopard tortoise

Wait for my next pictures, so you can help me to clarify what kind of tortoise do I have.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[tortadise]

omg I'm shocked to read that :/
When i bought it looked like a baby leopard tortoise

Wait for my next pictures, so you can help me to clarify what kind of tortoise do I have.

Thanks for your responses!

Yes indeed. More photos would be great for a positive ID. Plastron(underside) picture would be great too.

 

[memo1987]

Hi guys
Here are more pics!

 

[memo1987]

Hi guys
I found this pic online

Looks pretty similar to mine I think...
It's a hybrid leopard-sulcata
I was wondering... maybe I have a little hybrid guy?

Or what do u think?

 

[Yvonne G]

It certainly is a possibility.

 

[Baoh]

The tortoise that is the subject of this thread is a berlandieri and only a berlandieri. Focus not on color, which is of little meaning here, and instead pay attention to structure. The presence or absence of a nuchal scute is likewise not determinant (to head that commonly repeated misinformation off), however, the shape of the gular scutes enriches the ease of identification here. Most berlandieri are normally darker and that is probably what is throwing people off, but the structure matches throughout and this is a color variation some raised-in-captive-conditions juvenile berlandieri occasionally display just as similarly raised polyphemus juveniles may display a lot more brilliant orange and yellow until outdoors living dulls things. Hatchling morafkai are structured in a significantly different fashion on particular parts of the body. Likewise for flavomarginatus (which also have a different color scheme from any of these). Again, in case it has been forgotten since the beginning of the paragraph. the animal is a nice little berlandieri.

Not a leopard/pardalis by any means in any fraction, so not a hybrid, of which I have many and have had many more. Not a leopcata (the animal in post #16 is a leopcata, but that has no relevance to the animal this thread is about), of which I have several. Labeling "unknowns" as hybrids has become commonplace incorrect practice. Likely because 1) people tend to seek the exotic in what are mostly simple explanations and 2) people seem to feel more comfortable with an incorrect conclusion than no conclusion at all.

To memo1987 specifically, do you have multiple clear photos of the animal you sent to your vet? If so and you show them here, I can tell you if it is the same animal or not and what it was if old photos show a different animal.

 

[memo1987]

Thanks for your reply Baoh

I don't have a picture but looked like this one

 

[memo1987]

Maybe you're an expert and I'm not
But I'm not sure is a berlandieri, cause I had one in the past and doesn't look any closer to the one I have right now
Here are pics of the one I had before
Or maybe was not a berlandieri?
As I said, I'm not an expert