Moonymoon
New Member
Hi. I've got a leopard tortoise four days ago and I need some guidance and advise . I did a lot of research before bring him home but of course I still have some doubts regarding his care. I'm almost certain that it's a male . The lady at the reptile centre thinks that too. And said that he's between 6/8 months old. Measures 6cm and weights 46g. So for me he's pretty small
I made the enclosure myself from an old coffee table . For the substrate I'm using a mix of soaked coconut coir and a Tortoise Life Substrate ( a mix of top soil and sand) I have a Mercury light that I leave it on during the day and evening and a black ceramic light on at night. I check the temperature every few hours even during the night
I manage to get a temperature around 30/35°C (80/95°F) in the basking area during day and his temperature is around 22/28°C (72/78°F) depending were he is .
My main concern is during the night time when I turn the Mercury light off and turn the ceramic on. During that time he's sleeping in the bedding area and his temperature is around 17/21°C (62/70°C) . He sleeps a lot and I'm not sure if it's a normal behaviour for a baby tortoise. Only after I give him a 30m soak , he gets more active , poops and then gets energise , after that I'm able to give him a mix of greens ( lettuce, watercress,wild rocket and coriander sprinkled with calcium )I also gave him some strawberry today. Then he moves around and sleeps again .
I also spray the enclosure avery two days to keep it moist , I change his water dish every day. I have some water cress pots around the enclosure so he can nibble on it and help with the moisture levels. I'll attached some photos of the enclosure and my baby boy . So any advise that you could give me , so I can make sure that I have a healthy happy tortoise I appreciate . Thank you so much
I made the enclosure myself from an old coffee table . For the substrate I'm using a mix of soaked coconut coir and a Tortoise Life Substrate ( a mix of top soil and sand) I have a Mercury light that I leave it on during the day and evening and a black ceramic light on at night. I check the temperature every few hours even during the night
I manage to get a temperature around 30/35°C (80/95°F) in the basking area during day and his temperature is around 22/28°C (72/78°F) depending were he is .
My main concern is during the night time when I turn the Mercury light off and turn the ceramic on. During that time he's sleeping in the bedding area and his temperature is around 17/21°C (62/70°C) . He sleeps a lot and I'm not sure if it's a normal behaviour for a baby tortoise. Only after I give him a 30m soak , he gets more active , poops and then gets energise , after that I'm able to give him a mix of greens ( lettuce, watercress,wild rocket and coriander sprinkled with calcium )I also gave him some strawberry today. Then he moves around and sleeps again .
I also spray the enclosure avery two days to keep it moist , I change his water dish every day. I have some water cress pots around the enclosure so he can nibble on it and help with the moisture levels. I'll attached some photos of the enclosure and my baby boy . So any advise that you could give me , so I can make sure that I have a healthy happy tortoise I appreciate . Thank you so much