Sorry for the long post, but I’m trying to include all of the relevant details. I know there are some real experts on here, I appreciate if you are able to lend some of your knowledge.
We have an appointment on Tuesday with an exotics vet. I would like to know what questions I should be asking and what tests we should be running. I’m also looking for any husbandry advice, I’ll try to implement your suggestions.
My female leopard tortoise has been slowly losing her appetite. She was acting normally through the summer and fall, then about six weeks ago I noticed that she wasn’t eating as much as usual. She often slows down a bit during the winter but this was unusual. Now she is eating very little and is not as active as she should be. I bumped up the temperatures a couple of degrees about a month ago and gave her warm soaks 3x/week. She was improving, and then about a week ago she went downhill again. Previously we did soaks 1-2 times a week, often she would put herself in the bath while I’m changing her water. She has access to her bathtub all the time. She isn’t moving around much, isn’t going into her tub and isn’t greeting me when I bring food. This is not normal for her. She has always had some clear nasal discharge, it became more copious (never green) but that also improved. Now she actually looks kind of dry.
History
Binky is 19-20 years old, female. Shell length 12.5”. 11lbs-7oz. She feels light and appears to be underweight. She was a healthy body score in the past.
She is heavily pyramided, I take full blame for this. She was raised at the time of “hot and dry”, results from “hot and humid” keeping were just starting to emerge and I unfortunately chose the wrong path. She has always been a quieter tortoise, and I’ve always felt that she was not as robust as she could be. I have a second tortoise (male, housed separately) who acts like a bulldozer.
She has had a mild case of RNS almost her whole life. She has had several rounds of antibiotics at various times but it never cleared up, and honestly didn’t make much difference. Last year I had a jailbreak and the tortoises had an interlude, she laid eggs later that year. I was worried that this would cause her trouble due to the calcium demand. I increased her calcium supplement, made sure she had plenty of food, regular soaks, and she seemed to bounce back without incident.
Indoor Housing
Last year I built a new sunroom/tortoise shed/house addition. It has big windows, is heavily insulated, built in tortoise bath, hot and cold running water. She has about 11’ x 6’ of floor space. Access to water 24/7 from a 36” shower base, she can drink from or sit in.
The torts seem pretty content, I think the natural light and being able to see the sky has improved their welfare. They tend to pace if something isn’t right, dirty water, dirty bedding, too hot, too humid, don’t like the food, etc. I have seen very little pacing since the move.
Outdoor Housing
When it is warm enough she goes outside to a weedy pasture. It is about 1/2 acre but she only uses about half of that. I put her out for about an hour in the spring and gradually increase it as it warms up. Sometimes she can be out 24hrs in August If it has been really hot. I am in the BC interior it gets about 100f during the summer. She spends about four months inside 24hrs/day during the winter.
Light and Temperature
Ambient 79f - 82f
Basking 92f-102f
Top of shell temp 98f, measured 30 min ago.
Lamp is a halogen. I used mercury vapour in the past. I recently switched to Arcadia 12%. I don’t have a solar meter so I set it to the manufacturers specs, she immediately hid from it. Behaviour I had never seen her do. I raised it 6”, she still hid. I raised it another 6” and she returned to basking. So who knows if its actually doing anything.
Food
Spring, summer, fall - grass and weeds. As much as they want. I pick it for them to supplement whatever they are foraging. Occasional grated carrot and squash.
Winter, grocery store greens. I tried an experiment last year where I picked grass and froze it. Once thawed it was just like fresh and they eat it as normal. I’ve run out, but will fill a freezer this year.
They wont eat hay, soaked hay, or commercial pellets. I’ve tried and tried.
They have never had fruit.
Supplements
Calcium 2x week. Calcium +D3 very other week. Minerals every other week. Access to cuttle bones. I admit I have not been super consistent with the supplements, but I have tried to keep up with Binky’s
I’m open to any suggestions. I’ll try to post some pictures.. Thanks for reading, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Public service announcement.
Research juvenile care carefully, it has lifelong concecuences.
If you live in Canada you really shouldn’t get a leopard tortoise unless you have unlimited funds and a lot of space.
We have an appointment on Tuesday with an exotics vet. I would like to know what questions I should be asking and what tests we should be running. I’m also looking for any husbandry advice, I’ll try to implement your suggestions.
My female leopard tortoise has been slowly losing her appetite. She was acting normally through the summer and fall, then about six weeks ago I noticed that she wasn’t eating as much as usual. She often slows down a bit during the winter but this was unusual. Now she is eating very little and is not as active as she should be. I bumped up the temperatures a couple of degrees about a month ago and gave her warm soaks 3x/week. She was improving, and then about a week ago she went downhill again. Previously we did soaks 1-2 times a week, often she would put herself in the bath while I’m changing her water. She has access to her bathtub all the time. She isn’t moving around much, isn’t going into her tub and isn’t greeting me when I bring food. This is not normal for her. She has always had some clear nasal discharge, it became more copious (never green) but that also improved. Now she actually looks kind of dry.
History
Binky is 19-20 years old, female. Shell length 12.5”. 11lbs-7oz. She feels light and appears to be underweight. She was a healthy body score in the past.
She is heavily pyramided, I take full blame for this. She was raised at the time of “hot and dry”, results from “hot and humid” keeping were just starting to emerge and I unfortunately chose the wrong path. She has always been a quieter tortoise, and I’ve always felt that she was not as robust as she could be. I have a second tortoise (male, housed separately) who acts like a bulldozer.
She has had a mild case of RNS almost her whole life. She has had several rounds of antibiotics at various times but it never cleared up, and honestly didn’t make much difference. Last year I had a jailbreak and the tortoises had an interlude, she laid eggs later that year. I was worried that this would cause her trouble due to the calcium demand. I increased her calcium supplement, made sure she had plenty of food, regular soaks, and she seemed to bounce back without incident.
Indoor Housing
Last year I built a new sunroom/tortoise shed/house addition. It has big windows, is heavily insulated, built in tortoise bath, hot and cold running water. She has about 11’ x 6’ of floor space. Access to water 24/7 from a 36” shower base, she can drink from or sit in.
The torts seem pretty content, I think the natural light and being able to see the sky has improved their welfare. They tend to pace if something isn’t right, dirty water, dirty bedding, too hot, too humid, don’t like the food, etc. I have seen very little pacing since the move.
Outdoor Housing
When it is warm enough she goes outside to a weedy pasture. It is about 1/2 acre but she only uses about half of that. I put her out for about an hour in the spring and gradually increase it as it warms up. Sometimes she can be out 24hrs in August If it has been really hot. I am in the BC interior it gets about 100f during the summer. She spends about four months inside 24hrs/day during the winter.
Light and Temperature
Ambient 79f - 82f
Basking 92f-102f
Top of shell temp 98f, measured 30 min ago.
Lamp is a halogen. I used mercury vapour in the past. I recently switched to Arcadia 12%. I don’t have a solar meter so I set it to the manufacturers specs, she immediately hid from it. Behaviour I had never seen her do. I raised it 6”, she still hid. I raised it another 6” and she returned to basking. So who knows if its actually doing anything.
Food
Spring, summer, fall - grass and weeds. As much as they want. I pick it for them to supplement whatever they are foraging. Occasional grated carrot and squash.
Winter, grocery store greens. I tried an experiment last year where I picked grass and froze it. Once thawed it was just like fresh and they eat it as normal. I’ve run out, but will fill a freezer this year.
They wont eat hay, soaked hay, or commercial pellets. I’ve tried and tried.
They have never had fruit.
Supplements
Calcium 2x week. Calcium +D3 very other week. Minerals every other week. Access to cuttle bones. I admit I have not been super consistent with the supplements, but I have tried to keep up with Binky’s
I’m open to any suggestions. I’ll try to post some pictures.. Thanks for reading, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Public service announcement.
Research juvenile care carefully, it has lifelong concecuences.
If you live in Canada you really shouldn’t get a leopard tortoise unless you have unlimited funds and a lot of space.
