Outdoor enclosure temperature and humidity help for leopard

kr1202 said:

Hi all!
I have a five year old leopard tortoise that we are starting to move outdoors. I live in NC on the coast. Now that summer is here, temperatures and humidity are up (90s with humidity 60-90%). I am just confirming these conditions will be okay with plenty of shade and hideaway spots provided for him. Anyone else do well with their leopard in the Carolinas? Anything you would add or provide to the enclosure for best conditions given the area?

Thanks!

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Tom said:

If this is a South African leopard, you will have no problem. If it's a regular leopard, proceed with caution. It can be done, but you need a dry heated house for night time and rainy days, and it will be best if you do it gradually. Outside for one hour only for a few days. If all looks good, go to two hours mid day at the hottest part of the day. After a week or two of that, and all looks good, appetite, activity level, normal behavior, etc..., then move to three hours at a time. If at any time you see nose bubbles, or appetite goes down, or the tortoise hides and doesn't move around all day, leave him inside and reevaluate. I've seen people pull it off, but I've also seen people fail in GA, FL, LA, TN and SC.

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kr1202 said:

Thanks Tom! I am actually unsure his exact type. Is there a way to tell?

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Tom said:

Yes. If you'd bought a SA, you would have been paid more and been told what it was.

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kr1202 said:

To be honest, we got him from the not the greatest pet store and do not recall being told. Here is a picture of him now if this helps. View attachment 401049

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Tom said:

That is the normal type. It used to be called a "babcocki", but the scientists did away with the subspecies and made it all one species. So now we refer to them as the "regular"leopards, and the "South African Leopards". The South Africans are bigger, hardier, much more outgoing, and they eat grass and grass hay like a sulcata. Regulars are higher domed, more environmentally sensitive, and not as bold and outgoing.

To complicate this further, most people have been mixing the two, and every other type of leopard from every other part of the range for decades. The SA types have been kept and bred true since about 1990, but all the other types, and some SA too unfortunately, have been mixed together. I know of one exception. So your regular leopard could been any number of mixes. It could have some SA genetics mixed in somewhere, and when that happens, we typically see "regular" looking leopards that are more bold and outgoing, and have a stronger affinity for grass or grass hay.

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kr1202 said:

Very interesting! He is one to not eat a lot of grass or hay so we are working on that. Tends to have a lot of activity in the warmer time of year and is liking his time outdoors. Today he has been hiding more maybe related to the heat advisory we are in. We will keep exposing him and see how he does!

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