Hello Everyone! I'm new to the Tortoise World and to the Forum, although I have been doing quite a bit of reading here trying to find some help for little Earl.
Our adventure with Earl the baby Leopard Tortoise started about 2 1/2 months ago when I got Earl and his sibling for my Mom for her birthday. We never dreamed our tortoise adventure would turn out to be so difficult. We were prepared and had done our reading. Also prepared for how big her little hatchlings would grow up to be and very excited to watch them grow into beautiful adults.
Earl has been a lively, friendly little guy and an eating machine. His sibling ate only once in their indoor enclosure and few times in their outdoor pen. Sadly Earl's sibling passed away after a month. We were told these babies were 2 to 3 months old, but the one that didn't make it still had her egg tooth. We have wondered if they were younger...
As for Earl and my reason for posting...
Earl is not growing, at all...
He has been been either 28g or 29g each time he was weighed. My Mom has weighed him every week since we got him in July.
She has tried everything she could think of and finally she asked if I would take Earl for the Fall/Winter and see if I could help him.
I kept him in the wooden ZooMed Tortoise house she sent with him for almost 2 weeks. I regrouped on that last week and now have him in a 50gal storage tote trying to keep the humidity high. I have a mix of Coco Soft and EcoEarth for substrate. There is moist sphagnum moss at one end and dry on the other with a hide on each end. He sleeps in the humid one. I have grass and clover seed planted all along the edges. The temp around the outside of the humid hide stays about 90 degrees with 70% humidity. His night time temp is 75 degrees with 45-55% humidity.
A few times a week he gets to go outside to explore and enjoy the sun in a container planted with several grass seeds. At my mom's she had an enclosure in her yard that he stayed in a few hours each day. I will aquire a MVB before it gets too cold for him to go outside.
Earl's diet consists of spring mix, parsley, carrot tops, fresh grasses, fresh clover & alfalfa sprouts, cactus pad twice a week, and Mazuri & Grassland tortoise food every couple days. He tastes everything he's given and seems to eat quite a bit some days. He also nibbles on the grasses and clover sprouting in his enclosure. I have a calcium supplement ordered that should be here soon.
I soak him in warm water for 20 minutes every morning and he potties in his water.
I also mist him several times a day.
Earl shows early signs of pyramiding. Hoping the humidity helps with this...
Does anyone have any ideas or know of anything else I should be doing or not doing to help Earl Grow?
Other than not growing he seems ok. He's very friendly and somewhat active.
Our adventure with Earl the baby Leopard Tortoise started about 2 1/2 months ago when I got Earl and his sibling for my Mom for her birthday. We never dreamed our tortoise adventure would turn out to be so difficult. We were prepared and had done our reading. Also prepared for how big her little hatchlings would grow up to be and very excited to watch them grow into beautiful adults.
Earl has been a lively, friendly little guy and an eating machine. His sibling ate only once in their indoor enclosure and few times in their outdoor pen. Sadly Earl's sibling passed away after a month. We were told these babies were 2 to 3 months old, but the one that didn't make it still had her egg tooth. We have wondered if they were younger...
As for Earl and my reason for posting...
Earl is not growing, at all...
He has been been either 28g or 29g each time he was weighed. My Mom has weighed him every week since we got him in July.
She has tried everything she could think of and finally she asked if I would take Earl for the Fall/Winter and see if I could help him.
I kept him in the wooden ZooMed Tortoise house she sent with him for almost 2 weeks. I regrouped on that last week and now have him in a 50gal storage tote trying to keep the humidity high. I have a mix of Coco Soft and EcoEarth for substrate. There is moist sphagnum moss at one end and dry on the other with a hide on each end. He sleeps in the humid one. I have grass and clover seed planted all along the edges. The temp around the outside of the humid hide stays about 90 degrees with 70% humidity. His night time temp is 75 degrees with 45-55% humidity.
A few times a week he gets to go outside to explore and enjoy the sun in a container planted with several grass seeds. At my mom's she had an enclosure in her yard that he stayed in a few hours each day. I will aquire a MVB before it gets too cold for him to go outside.
Earl's diet consists of spring mix, parsley, carrot tops, fresh grasses, fresh clover & alfalfa sprouts, cactus pad twice a week, and Mazuri & Grassland tortoise food every couple days. He tastes everything he's given and seems to eat quite a bit some days. He also nibbles on the grasses and clover sprouting in his enclosure. I have a calcium supplement ordered that should be here soon.
I soak him in warm water for 20 minutes every morning and he potties in his water.
I also mist him several times a day.
Earl shows early signs of pyramiding. Hoping the humidity helps with this...
Does anyone have any ideas or know of anything else I should be doing or not doing to help Earl Grow?
Other than not growing he seems ok. He's very friendly and somewhat active.
. Your enclosure looks good. I would try covering it to keep the humidity a more constant. You want it to be 80% with all over temps no lower then 80 and a basking of 95+. Toms great threads for raising leopards and sulcatas are below in my post. They all will work for your leopard. As for not growing, some do take longer then others. He may just be a slow grower. You might want to try adding a little Mazuri tortoise diet to his feeding and it will help put some grow on, but a slow grower isn't a problem either. 
