Baby Leopard tortoise update

[JDDV97]

Hello, I recently got a leopard tortoise a month ago from a reptile show. He had very dark eyes and hasn’t ate in about a week. I’ve done some upgrades to his enclosure. The bottom of his show has slight coloration as well.

i just switch to closed chamber. He’s in a 110 qt sterilite tub with 2 holes cut on top of the lid for basking incandescent 60 watt basking light and 75 watt ceramic heat emitter.

I have him on reptibark right now but am switching to orchid bark this weekend .

He normally eats clovers and grass. He never liked pellets Wet or dry . But he didn’t eat all week. He nibbled on some clovers for first time all week.

I soak him 30 minutes every morning in warm water .

Tempature high 90 / low 80
Humidity 70

He has a humid hide for shade but doesn’t go in much . He has a small Petra water dish .

Enclosure is about 18 inches high so I think
basking and ceramic aren’t too close to him .

I give him 1 hour of outdoor supervised backyard time for sunlight . So I have no uvb right now .

Any advice thank you

 

[JDDV97]

I also give him repti calcium but he doesn’t eat the leaves with it . And I give him tortoise eye drops every morning.

12 hour light cycle

 

[JDDV97]

More pics for reference @Tom @wellington @Littleredfootbigredheart @cooky_luvs

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Adorable, if you give the food like in the picture are you sure he's not eating? He's pretty tiny. I used to weigh every week. That can help keep an eye of food intake. You can try to chop up the food real tiny. To make it easier for him to eat more.

Have you read the guides yet for leopard tortoise?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Enclosure looks good! Humidity needs to be more in the 80+ range, but tbh I’m surprised it isn’t giving all that condensation, it looks nice and humid to me, what kind of monitoring is it your using to measure it?

Also what is the basking temperature directly under the floodlight during the day?

Has that colouration on the plastron been there since you got them or would you say it’s gradually appeared?

 

[JDDV97]

Enclosure looks good! Humidity needs to be more in the 80+ range, but tbh I’m surprised it isn’t giving all that condensation, it looks nice and humid to me, what kind of monitoring is it your using to measure it?

Also what is the basking temperature directly under the floodlight during the day?

Has that colouration on the plastron been there since you got them or would you say it’s gradually appeared?

Hello and thank you for your message ! I’m having a tough time getting it into the 80s. The only two holes are for the basking light and heat emitter. I just poured a good amount of hot water to damp the bottom of the substrate. How often do I have to pour hot water to the base? I’m going to get more plants and I leave a big bowl of hot water in there to raise humidity but it’s still is around 70.

 

[JDDV97]

Enclosure looks good! Humidity needs to be more in the 80+ range, but tbh I’m surprised it isn’t giving all that condensation, it looks nice and humid to me, what kind of monitoring is it your using to measure it?

Also what is the basking temperature directly under the floodlight during the day?

Has that colouration on the plastron been there since you got them or would you say it’s gradually appeared?

It gets to about 100 underneath the light during the day. He doesn’t ever go in the hide. He’s always near the lamp.

And his plastron I think it’s slowly turned more in color since I got him, but I’m not 100% sure I just wanna make sure it’s nothing harmful.

 

[JDDV97]

Adorable, if you give the food like in the picture are you sure he's not eating? He's pretty tiny. I used to weigh every week. That can help keep an eye of food intake. You can try to chop up the food real tiny. To make it easier for him to eat more.

Have you read the guides yet for leopard tortoise?

Yes, I’ve Read the guides, he was eating fine, but he has not ate in the last week . He’s never liked pellets. Yeah I think I’m going to have to start chopping it up. Tiny for him to help and weighing him. Thank you for your message!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and thank you for your message ! I’m having a tough time getting it into the 80s. The only two holes are for the basking light and heat emitter. I just poured a good amount of hot water to damp the bottom of the substrate. How often do I have to pour hot water to the base? I’m going to get more plants and I leave a big bowl of hot water in there to raise humidity but it’s still is around 70.

I have a feeling your humidity is higher than 70 looking at the enclosure, that’s why I’m wondering what kind of monitor is reading it? You shouldn’t have to do pours often with this kind of set up

It gets to about 100 underneath the light during the day. He doesn’t ever go in the hide. He’s always near the lamp.

And his plastron I think it’s slowly turned more in color since I got him, but I’m not 100% sure I just wanna make sure it’s nothing harmful.
View attachment 379039

100 is perfect for a bashing temp, but him hanging around under the lamp most the time, has me wondering again if the monitor is accurate, because they’re behaving like they’re possibly trying to warm up, do you have a temp gun and digital monitoring?

It’s hard to tell in photo, but would you say this colouring has a somewhat pinkish hue to it?

 

[wellington]

Try to add more to his diet. Babies don't usually eat grass and clover is not a good staple.
Hibiscus, grape leaf, mulberry leaf, dandelion, arugula, escarole, endive, spring mix minus spinach. Most tortoises love the original mazuri.
Glad you got him in a closed chamber. Try to get the humidity up to 80% and the basking 95-100. Over all temp day and night 80.

I also give him repti calcium but he doesn’t eat the leaves with it . And I give him tortoise eye drops every morning.

12 hour light cycle

Why eye drops? With a proper set up eye drops shouldn't be needed.
Calcium should be a tiny pinch 2-3 times a week. Try to blend it into the food not just laid on top.

 

[Tom]

Repti-bark is orchid bark. You don't need to change it.

The reason your humidity is low is because you have the heat and lights outside. It creates a chimney effect and draws the heat and humidity up and out, replacing it with colder drier room air, and requiring you to use higher wattage bulbs that cause more desiccation. Nobody ever wants to hear this, but that is what is happening. To solve this problem get a closed chamber with the heating and lighting inside. You'll use a fraction of the electricity, and it will be a much better environment for your baby.

What does the baby weigh in grams?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Repti-bark is orchid bark. You don't need to change it.

The reason your humidity is low is because you have the heat and lights outside. It creates a chimney effect and draws the heat and humidity up and out, replacing it with colder drier room air, and requiring you to use higher wattage bulbs that cause more desiccation. Nobody ever wants to hear this, but that is what is happening. To solve this problem get a closed chamber with the heating and lighting inside. You'll use a fraction of the electricity, and it will be a much better environment for your baby.

What does the baby weigh in grams?

With this in mind, perhaps you’ll find this thread useful for some visual examples on a closed chamber set up

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for a leopard/sulcata until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give people some ideas!” I know it looks like a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered...

tortoiseforum.org

I’m still curious on the monitors though because this doesn’t look too bad a closed chamber imo, many have been able to get this kind to work, the size won’t last as long as the examples I include in my thread, so probably still worth going over. But with the foil around the domes, you should theoretically be able to maintain this, if the ground temp readings you’re giving are accurate that is

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Also @Tom do you think that colouring on the plastron is anything of concern? I’m worried if it has a pink hue to it or not and the fact it’s gradually appearing

 

[JDDV97]

Repti-bark is orchid bark. You don't need to change it.

The reason your humidity is low is because you have the heat and lights outside. It creates a chimney effect and draws the heat and humidity up and out, replacing it with colder drier room air, and requiring you to use higher wattage bulbs that cause more desiccation. Nobody ever wants to hear this, but that is what is happening. To solve this problem get a closed chamber with the heating and lighting inside. You'll use a fraction of the electricity, and it will be a much better environment for your baby.

What does the baby weigh in grams?

So hang the fluke lamps by the top with zip ties inside of the chamber, correct ? and buy a new lid and just punch holes for the zip ties.

 

[wellington]

So hang the fluke lamps by the top with zip ties inside of the chamber, correct ? and buy a new lid and just punch holes for the zip ties.

You can also try to fix a plastic like tent over it or get a pop up greenhouse that just fits over the tote. Then hang the lights heat with from the greenhouse frame or a frame you fix over the tote to lay the plastic over.
A search for the greenhouse should find you many to choose from and multiple sizes.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

So hang the fluke lamps by the top with zip ties inside of the chamber, correct ? and buy a new lid and just punch holes for the zip ties.

The greenhouse top suggestion might with better for you, or perhaps you could make your own frame to fit the base and hang your lighting/heating from, and attach the pvc material over it

 

[JDDV97]

Also @Tom do you think that colouring on the plastron is anything of concern? I’m worried if it has a pink hue to it or not and the fact it’s gradually app

 

[cooky_luvs]

If his plastron is also soft, it is very concerning. I have seen this in babies that are failing to thrive. They will be soft on the plastron and as it progresses coloration changes and even sometimes somewhat see through if you hold them up with a light behind them. The closed eyes also corresponds with the plastron issues.

You’re doing a great job with getting this set up more proper but I do fear you may have been sold a sickly baby that was not started correctly from the breeder. It’s unfortunately not uncommon. It truly is a shame because it’s unfair to the tortoise and also to you as the buyer. This is why buying them well started and well established is so important. Don’t give up though, there’s always a chance of turning things around!

 

[Tom]

So hang the fluke lamps by the top with zip ties inside of the chamber, correct ? and buy a new lid and just punch holes for the zip ties.

You need about 24 inches to do that, but my preference it to just use a proper closed chamber, rather than trying to make something work with plastic bins and zip ties or plastic tents.

 

[Tom]

Also @Tom do you think that colouring on the plastron is anything of concern? I’m worried if it has a pink hue to it or not and the fact it’s gradually appearing

This is why I asked what the baby weighs. If its less than 50 grams, then it is likely a case of breeder failure syndrome, as @cooky_luvs described.