almost 3 - pyramiding/growth

[marcy4hope]

haven't been on here in a long time. Partly cause laptop died and so now only have a nook to use for internet. Anyhow this is an update on bing crosby, my male leo. He will be 3 in october. I raised him identical to my 4 year old sulcata who has an almost perfect shell and is huge. But bings shell is quite pyramided. I just really struggled raising him even with high humidity. Hes a very hard keeper. Hes a picky eater, totally hyper, trashes his enclosure and acts like he hates being outdoors. He will never graze outside. He did when he was one year old and then quit and hasn't since then. He wont eat anything that has a speck of anything on it. Thus its very hard since he has substrate in his enclosure. We tried him in an empty enclosure but while he ate a little better, the crap cleanup was overwhelming. He started pooping on his feed, then wouldnt eat it. So we wemt back to cococoir. He stopped pooping on feed, but drags his feed thru the coir and spreads it all over the cage. If i feed him outside, he refuses to eat until i put him back inside. He is right at 10 lbs. and is right at 10 inches long. Wondering if this seems too small for a leo turning 3?

 

[wellington]

seems like a good size to me. maybe post pics of his enclosure and we can help tweak it to make him happier. btw, my leopard just this summer started grazing steady and he's 4 1/2. also a pickier eater then most seem to be. with age though it keeps getting better. mine also, would rather stay inside their shed. I have three and only one seems to really like being out, so I put them out and shut their door so they have o stay out. I also don't feed them until they have come in for the night and then I don't feed much and sometimes I skip a day, so they ill graze much more then.

 

[Neal]

Information about the parents size and sibling growth rate will provide a better answer, but a 10 inch three year old is really good in my opinion.

Do you have any pictures of your set-up you could show us? What type of lighting and heating are you using?

 

[Greg T]

That is a very good size for a 3 year old. I have raised some big babies and none of them have gotten that big by 3 years. I'd keep him outside as much as possible because I believe real sunshine and fresh air do make a difference in growth.

 

[marcy4hope]

the first image is his indoor enclosure now. The second show his daily lettuce disaster. The third is the original enclosure he was in until around 2 years old. I raised my sulcata in both these n she is extremely smooth. I haven't taken a photo of his outdoor pin he is in during the day but I will do that this week n post it too.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I'm sorry I failed to read your posting mainly because I saw pictures in it so I checked those out. I know your name, and I've come to miss you on here.
Your pictures overall look great but I didn't check the prices.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

My leopard (raised humid) was also 10" by age 3. But are you sure he's 10lbs? My guy is more like 5-6lbs at that size and he eats lots. I'm wondering if a picky eater really weighs twice as much..? ..or maybe I need to re weigh mine.

It's possible the MVB could have contributed to some of his pyramiding. My leopard has 1 pyramid on a top scute from a CHE. Long story but I was able to conclude that the CHE desiccated that particular spot, hence the lone pyramid.
@Elohi has some humid raised leopards that have a bit of pyramiding. Her set up in the beginning was different than it is now. We've chatted about the possibility of top desiccation from over head heat sources, despite humid conditions.

The refusal to eat outdoors and mess created indoors are behaviors I haven't experienced...sorry. Hopefully you get some helpful info though.

 

[marcy4hope]

My leopard (raised humid) was also 10" by age 3. But are you sure he's 10lbs? My guy is more like 5-6lbs at that size and he eats lots. I'm wondering if a picky eater really weighs twice as much..?.

Thanks! I'm glad u questioned the weight. He is really under 5 lbs NOT 10. I had hurriedly weighed him on a scale n photographed it. In the picture I thought it showed 9 lbs 9.7 ounces because the 4 looks like 9 in the photo. But I went back n reweighed him n it's a 4. I thought that seemed heavy but was n a hurry n didn't pay much attention. Thanks. So you are right on with yours.

 

[Jodie]

My male is not a picky eater, but trashes his enclosure on a regular basis. I nicknamed him pigpen. He does much better outside and is very active. He hates change and the mess he makes intensified every time any thing changed, so this year I built a heated night box and leave him out. He has done very well.
Your tortoise is beautiful. Mine is 7 years old and about the same size.