baby leopard ??

Mark L

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Nov 9, 2014
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hi ya'll i have a new leopard tort hatchling. about 2 weeks old. i haven't noticed him eating a ton like ive seen videos of his clutch mates. iv'e seen him nibble on grass in the yard, but as far as eating in his tub, nada that ive seen. another concern is that iv'e not seen him defecate yet. i do 2 warm 15 min shallow water soaks a day and once a few days ago i saw a lil white thing in the water after a soak, it was little and shaped like a hershey kiss, sorry gross, lol. maybe a urate ? he is in a 23 gal cement mixing tub with 2 heat light, 95 degrees under both and about 75 around the edges. i have him on newspaper but i would like to switch to coconut coir. he is alone and maybe there is no competition for him to eat, because he's alone ??

questions:
is not poo'ing normal for hatchlings ?
coconut coir ok for hatchlings or newspaper ?
not eating ravenously like his siblings ?
 

G-stars

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Hello Mark. Yes that sounds like a urate to me. Have you weighted him? Some tortoises are really shy and don't like to eat when people are around. Also some take time to get used to new surroundings.
 

phebe121

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Hi i also have leopards there on coconut coir basking spot is 98 and cooler is 85 any lower then 80 they can not digest there food they need high humidity and i.have cardboard over the top to help what are you feeding him
 

wellington

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Please read Toms threads below in my post for proper housing and care for your leopard. The sulcata threads will apply. As for the white thing, possibly urates, however, I have never seen my leopards pass any. They aren't as common to see in leopards as some others. Please get rid of the paper and get the coir. Soak in warm water and add to enclosure. Then make sure you keep it warm, no lower then 80 with basking of 95 and keep,that humidity at 80%. Leopards don't tend to eat much grass, specially when young. If yours is eating it, I would keep adding it to the diet. What else are you feeding and I would soak for 20-30 minutes at each soak. Once a day for smoking is fine. Mine would always poo in its soak, I'm guessing maybe yours would do the same in a longer soak, also, he may be eating his own poo, yes, they will do that. Get things set up right, and soak longer and see if things don't start coming out
 

Mark L

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Nov 9, 2014
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hi everyone, thanks for the responses, i'm a forum virgin this is my first and love it so far. this forum has taught me a ton and im always on it reading ;)
anyway iv'e changed up my lil dudes enclosure for the better. as soon as i put him on his new home he went right to the food and ate. my conclusion is that he felt very vulnerable with newspaper and felt like he was on a "dinner plate" to predators.
i gave him a new larger cement tub 36" long X 24" wide, coconut coir, 2 hiding spots, 3 lil flat rocks to eat off, 100w dark heat bulb, UVB / UV light, made an out door portable screened box 5ft x 3ft with shade spot for outdoor sun bathing and grazing on my lawn. gets a 20 min warm "hot tub" soak and fed dandelions rose pedals hibiscus kale spring mix dark greens and grass. its right now 80% humid and about 75 degrees in the day and 55 at night were i live. ill try and get some pics when i can :D.

still haven't seen poo yet, should i be worried ?
 

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