8 month old Leopard not doing as well as when he arrived

[l512]

Hello,

I received my tortoise at the end of May and he seems to be progressively getting a little worse then when he arrived. Prior to coming to our home he was with 30 other babies and the lovely breeders said he was very interactive and active in the group and with them.

His shipping transportation didn't go well and Fedex had an issue and missed putting him on a truck and then when he did arrive he was toppled in his container and covered in poop/pee. He seemed to be okay however and after an initial soak he began to move around fast and eat.

Since then he just seems to be progressively worse. He doesn't want to come out of the hide much. I feed him 3x day 1x spring mix (no spinach), 1x Santa Barbara mix (that Yvonne recommended with escarole, endive and radicchio) 1x baby kale or baby arugula. Every three days I've been giving him warm soaked Mazuri with calcium and acidophilus as instructed by the breeders. I've tried to mix the dried grass hay in as well as grown the fresh pet grass and alfalfa and he wants nothing to do with it and will actually just smell it and walk straight back into his hide (he seems a bit grouchy at times).

I've read on the forum that they don't want/needs friends - he just doesn't seem to be happy. We have a vision cage warm on one side with his hide partly on a heating pad and party under the mvb bulb - inside temp 84 degrees. Cold side of cage that I keep dry is 81-82 degrees, warm side is always damp at 90-95 degrees in the day. I keep one side of the hide a little damp at all times to make sure his humidity is up - it rarely goes below 75% on the warm side under the mvb, the cool side is always over 85% and sometimes as high as 95%.

Not sure if he's bored - we have a tortoise house that we put him in to sun during warm days and feed him, he usually just goes and again hides in the corner of the hide side. When we let him out on the grass with us he takes off running so he doesn't seem lethargic at all when there's a possibility to escape.

Any advice would be appreciated. This week he got constipated for a few days and it took four days of baths 2-3x day for over 40 minutes to get him to poop. When he arrived he pooped immediately every time for the first few weeks he arrived as soon as he was in the warm water. Maybe I'm feeding him something to make him constipated?

Thank you for anyone's advice how to make him more happy and back to having good easy movements like when he arrived.

 

[lismar79]

Warm him up a biT would be my suggestion, try for mid high 80s with a basking are of 95-100. Post pictures of your enclosure too so we can see if there is anything else to tweak

 

[wellington]

80 with a humidity of 80% is good all over. I would raise your basking a little 95-100, 105. I would not us a heat pad, unless it's a cane heat pad. Tortosies warm themselves from the top. Be sure you are using good temp and humidity gauges to get correct readings. The little puck type ones don't work good. Also be sure you measure at torts level. Him being a little one, they do sleep most of the time. The activity the breeder told you is not what your going to get in a single hatchling, because they don't have to fight for space, etc. if he comes out eats, walks around some then goes to sleep, that's norml. They hide, because they are vulnerable. Place plants in the enclosure to give cover from the top. Also, how small of an enclosure is he in? As for pooping, give him warm soaks in something large enough for him to move around. The movement helps to move things along.

 

[Tom]

What does he weigh? What did he weigh when you got him?

 

[Neal]

How do you measure your temperatures?

As others have indicated, your temperatures may be a bit too low on the high end. Since you are concerned with his activity level I would suggest keeping him warm 24/7 until you see some improvement. I would recommend keeping his habitat temperature in the upper 80's - 90 degrees as a low. Warmer temperatures typically encourage them to be more active and eat more.

 

[Greg T]

Your diet and setup sounds very good. I have read some discussions about feeding kale and it can bind up their digestive systems in large quantities, so you might try removing that from the diet. Feeding 3 times a day is more than enough unless he eats it all, I will feed moring and evening for the little guys who are hungry. Temps are good, humidity is great. He was stressed in the shipment, but seems to be okay.

If he is eating, drinking and pooping then you are still doing fine. The little guys are not playful like puppies, they will wake up, eat, sleep during the heat of the day, come out and eat again then go to bed. Otherwise, you have to wake him up when you want to interact, which is okay. Get him out and play some. The best advice is to get himoutside in direct sunlight for a while, crawl in the grass and dirt, adventure around. I have found that to really rev up my guys and increase their activity.

 

[l512]

Thank you so much for everyone's advice I waited until I got home and could take some pictures to respond. I'll cut back on the kale and buy a scale (so sorry I don't have one but he definitely has been growing), I have accurite thermometers for the hot/cool side, a laser pointer from amazon and probes on the che & in his hide. I'll turn off the heat pad that is half under his hide (warm side) and the rest under the basking area. question with not having the pad under the hide was the damp bark sometimes felt cool to the touch on top but if he dug down it was warm and I thought it gave him options of the warmer temp on one side if he wanted but if it's best to remove I can do that. He definitely likes to sleep and dig down to where it's slightly damp. I called the babysitter from work today when I saw your posts and told her to raise the che heat a little so my humidity looks lower than when I normally get home from work and temps are slightly higher. He's under the log in the corner which means he was out of the hide and maybe a good sign?

I've posted pics of his cage, also his outdoor area where he plays on the grass (mostly runs away), and also his tortoise house. When it's warm I leave him outside to get sun for about 1-2 hours always with fresh food and water in his tortoise house. I also posted a pic of another tortoise table (2-story with ramp) that I bought for him to go outside on our enclosed deck but we don't use it yet. I had a cover made for the entire thing I just put half and him in the table just to show in the photos.

I've tried to read and follow everything and get him what I could to make him happy and if there's anything I need to change or can do to make him happier please let me know.

Thanks for all the help I really appreciate it!