Getting a Leopard Tortoise

[Oplais]

Hi! I'm Bailey, and I'm new to the forum and to tortoises.

After a long time of interest and saving, I've finally decided to get a leopard tortoise. I'd like to buy my tortoise in person/not have it shipped, and after meeting with several people in my area, it looks like I will be getting a young/baby leopard tortoise. I want to have the best possible set up for my tortoise, especially because it will be so young and fragile. I've bought a 50 gallon tote for it's enclosure (which will be upgraded as the tort grows), and I've gotten together a good deal of coconut coir, sphagnum moss, and cypress mulch for bedding. I also have terracotta dishes for food and water.

However, I do have a few questions. I can't find a good answer for any of them, so I thought I would ask here.

1. Exactly how many/what lights do I need? Originally, I was going to use a UVB bulb, a basking bulb, and a nighttime red or black heat bulb. However, I've been told that just using a ceramic heat emitter and a UVB bulb is okay too. Is that true? How many watts should my UVB bulb be? Is florescent okay to use? I really don't want to hurt my tortoise. Where I live, winters are pretty cold and wet, so it will need a good UVB source.

2. Can I use calcium powder with D3, or should it not have D3?

3. Can a young/baby tort have a cuttlebone? I've been looking at ZooMeds turtle bone specifically.

Thank you very much! I've been reading so much about tortoises and I'm so excited to get my baby, but I want to make sure everything is perfect and set up first. I greatly appreciate any help and input you have.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. The mvb I like the best. It gives light, heat and uvb all in one. Then I like the CHE ceramic hest emitter for added heat in the cold months and for night time heat, it has no light. Tortosies are better off with no light at night. The D3 is fine, just a small pinch 2 times a week. Cuttle bone is fine with little ones. Be sure your new leopard was started right, with humidity and soakings, not hot and dry but hot and humid. Also please read Toms very important threads below in my post for heat and humidty. The sulcata threads will apply to your leopard.

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum. Leopards are great. How they are started as mentioned in the previous post is very important.

 

[Tactical Tort]

Welcome to the forum!
Read the stickies in the Leopard section. Couldn't recommend them more. @Tom and @yvonne are masters I'm sure they will chime in too.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome. I have a leopard but mine is about 2/3 years old so quite big. (10.5")
He lives indoors in his own room with lots of space, coco coir/orchid bark substrate and a humid hide.
I use MVB too as it's all in one as Wellington said, with a CHE on a thermostat at night to keep temps even and because torts need darkness to sleep - or at least its a normal cycle for night and day. The room has a radiator in it also which means its vey cosy when colder, but I use buckets of water around the room to help humidity too. Lola is soaked everyday in shallow warm water as I work so rarely see her drink so I make sure she is kept as hydrated as possible.
Lola is outside as soften as possible when warm enough to get real UV rays from the sun.
I have only had Lola a year and he was rescued so it was a steep learning curve and had no idea of the cost or care involved but we are muddling along fine now and Lola is growing, active and quite curious about everything.
Good luck with yours.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum.

 

[Tom]

Hi! I'm Bailey, and I'm new to the forum and to tortoises.

After a long time of interest and saving, I've finally decided to get a leopard tortoise. I'd like to buy my tortoise in person/not have it shipped, and after meeting with several people in my area, it looks like I will be getting a young/baby leopard tortoise. I want to have the best possible set up for my tortoise, especially because it will be so young and fragile. I've bought a 50 gallon tote for it's enclosure (which will be upgraded as the tort grows), and I've gotten together a good deal of coconut coir, sphagnum moss, and cypress mulch for bedding. I also have terracotta dishes for food and water.

However, I do have a few questions. I can't find a good answer for any of them, so I thought I would ask here.

1. Exactly how many/what lights do I need? Originally, I was going to use a UVB bulb, a basking bulb, and a nighttime red or black heat bulb. However, I've been told that just using a ceramic heat emitter and a UVB bulb is okay too. Is that true? How many watts should my UVB bulb be? Is florescent okay to use? I really don't want to hurt my tortoise. Where I live, winters are pretty cold and wet, so it will need a good UVB source.

2. Can I use calcium powder with D3, or should it not have D3?

3. Can a young/baby tort have a cuttlebone? I've been looking at ZooMeds turtle bone specifically.

Thank you very much! I've been reading so much about tortoises and I'm so excited to get my baby, but I want to make sure everything is perfect and set up first. I greatly appreciate any help and input you have.

1a. There is no way we can tell you this. There are lots of way to successfully accomplish creating the parameters you want. Everything will need to be fine tuned. We'd be able to give better answers if we knew where you were. DIfferent strategies for Phoenix, vs. Tacoma, ya know? Generally I prefer a 65 watt basking lamp set on a timer and at the correct height to give me the temperature I want under it. Then I use a CHE set on a thermostat to maintain ambient day and night. NO colored bulbs. Finally I will use a florescent tube for lighting the whole thing up. If needed, I will use a second florescent tube for UV. If you live in a warm area and your tortoise can get outside regularly, you don't need indoor UV.
2. Does not matter. EIther is fine.
3. Use a real cuttle bone. Most people's tortoises don't touch the ZooMed block.

About buying locally: That is fine if you can find someone who starts their babies the right way. Very few people do. Read this before you proceed: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
This thread will give you all the right questions to ask the seller. You will likely regret it if you don't heed this advice.

About your enclosure choice: You will have a very tough time creating the right conditions with an open topped enclosure. I suggest a closed chamber: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/ Makes life much easier for you and better for the tortoise. Uses just a fraction of the electricity too.

Finally: These will help too.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Ignore all the sulcata and grass talk and just skip to the food list:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/


Hello, welcome, and good luck!

 

[Oplais]

Thank you very much everyone!! And thank you especially for the links!! They're so helpful.

I live in Oregon, and we have a lot of rain and colder temperatures during the wintertime, which is why I'm so concerned about getting the proper lighting. I'll also look into getting a closed top enclosure!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Get the set up right and you and your tortoise will have many happy years ahead of you.