Growth

[klinej50]

My torts have only grown 2g in two months[FLUSHED FACE] I have seen pictures of hatchlings and they are growing like weeds. Do mine seems to be growing slow 1 is 44 and the other is 35 (one was always smaller) I've had them for about 3 or 4 months

 

[RuthJanice]

Can you post a picture? What kind of hatchlings do you own? What is your set up for them?

 

[klinej50]

I have two leopard hatchlings and they are soon to be in a closed chamber my mom is fixing the doors today. View attachment 57816View attachment 57817View attachment 57818View attachment 57819View attachment 57820

 

[Tom]

Something is amiss. How were they started before you got them? What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night? What do you feed them, how much how often? Do they get sunshine? What is your UV source? How often do you soak?

 

[klinej50]

Something is amiss. How were they started before you got them? What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night? What do you feed them, how much how often? Do they get sunshine? What is your UV source? How often do you soak?

Well for starters I'm not 100% sure how they were started and all my temps are just like your tread say they should be and the humidity is 60% but that will go up once the doors are on. I feed them zoomed pellets twice a week and sprinkle calcium once a week but they get lots of grass and different weeds plus hibiscus and every now and then kale and cactus. And I give them a good size pile and more if they finish it which they rarely do. They also go outside for about an hour almost everyday which they can graze on grass and weeds. And I soak everyday for 30 min and I soak them in the bathroom during a shower because it is hot and humid in there.

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I feel like I'm doing everything right but then again I feel like I'm doing everything wrong!

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

What you've described sounds about right to me. Some things that I may suggest that has worked for me and has helped with growth is I like to soak my Leopards outside that way they're getting natural sunlight at the same time. What are your water temperatures? I also like to spray them directly on their shells when I pass by their closed chambers, this will happen anywhere from 3-7 times a day. I would only feed kale every so often, for grocery store food my favorite has been tulip greens and escarole. Have you looked into Mazuri Tortoise Diet? I offer this daily about 4 pellets soaked in a little water to soften them up. For some reason in my experience Mazuri has helped a lot of tortoises grow other than Zoomed Grassland. I offer both and they always go after Mazuri. As long as your temperatures are around 95-110 degrees basking, 85-95 warm end, 80-90 cool end, 85-90 ambient, 80-85 nighttime and humidity 90%+ ambient day and night, I wouldn't worry too much about basking areas, but I try to shoot for 70-90% your Leopard will be fine. Then again there's still a question that remains unknown, how were they raised before you got them? If they're active, eating and pooping they're most likely healthy.

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Another thing I noticed when I took another look at your pictures, I recommend making a humid hide for a nighttime retreat. Your hide log and slate rock cave with sphagnum moss doesn't look like it would be sufficient enough to keep humid, the topsoil in your chamber looks dry. If you decide to make a humid hide keep it in the warmest areas of your enclosure. These are essential to growth and will keep them smooth.

 

[klinej50]

What you've described sounds about right to me. Some things that I may suggest that has worked for me and has helped with growth is I like to soak my Leopards outside that way they're getting natural sunlight at the same time. What are your water temperatures? I also like to spray them directly on their shells when I pass by their closed chambers, this will happen anywhere from 3-7 times a day. I would only feed kale every so often, for grocery store food my favorite has been tulip greens and escarole. Have you looked into Mazuri Tortoise Diet? I offer this daily about 4 pellets soaked in a little water to soften them up. For some reason in my experience Mazuri has helped a lot of tortoises grow other than Zoomed Grassland. I offer both and they always go after Mazuri. As long as your temperatures are around 95-110 degrees basking, 85-95 warm end, 80-90 cool end, 85-90 ambient, 80-85 nighttime and humidity 90%+ ambient day and night, I wouldn't worry too much about basking areas, but I try to shoot for 70-90% your Leopard will be fine. Then again there's still a question that remains unknown, how were they raised before you got them? If they're active, eating and pooping they're most likely healthy.

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Another thing I noticed when I took another look at your pictures, I recommend making a humid hide for a nighttime retreat. Your hide log and slate rock cave with sphagnum moss doesn't look like it would be sufficient enough to keep humid, the topsoil in your chamber looks dry. If you decide to make a humid hide keep it in the warmest areas of your enclosure. These are essential to growth and will keep them smooth.

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Yeah my mom is supposed to order Mazuri this weekend. I'm really trying with the humidity but I have to wait for my mom to build the doors to make it closed chamber. The substrate looks really dry because I just got home from school and took the picture before I sprayed the substrate. Thanks for all the recommendations and info!

 

[Tom]

There is some room for improvement there, but what you are doing sounds pretty good.

To help solve this mystery, I would try to contact whoever you got them from and get some background. Most leopards are started far to dry and the chronic dehydration can kill them months down the road, no matter how well taken care of they are. If yours were started dry, on rabbit pellets, with once a week soaks, no water bowl, no humid hide, and possibly left outside all day, you might have a problem that is/was totally out of your control.

Read this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-23493.html

And this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-45180.html

There might be something in there that will help you.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

It has to come down to how they were started.

I have 2, 4mo old hatchlings right now. They came to me at 2 months old weighing 34 grams and 32 grams. 2 months in my care and the 34gram baby is only up to 38grams and the other baby has dropped to 25 grams. My care is exactly where it should be and where it was when I raised my first Leopard. It has to be the difference in the start because that is the only different factor.
Because your care conditions are good and you see no/ slow growth then I'd think yours were started drier than they should have been, too.


Sent from my TFOapp

 

[klinej50]

But that's the thing I got mine from tortoise supply and I don't know exactly how they were raised but I do know you guys sometimes recommended them. So them not growing does show a problem? Would getting the humidity up help? I just feel like there is nothing I can do...

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

Tortoise Supply, are local breeders here out in Las Vegas. I have bought from them multiple times and have raise healthy tortoises. They raise their tortoises with lots of TLC. No, them not growing doesn't all exactly mean there's a problem. Getting the humidity up would be a good start, like I mentioned before the substrate looks fairly dry. The sphagnum moss does too. Try to get a humid hide in there as well. If you need to boost your humidity try covering your closed chamber with left over plastic sheeting or get a couple of trash bags in the meantime until you've got your windows. You're doing everything as told and recommended, there's always room for improvements even for the more experienced. Everything will be fine and before you know it, you'll see a growth spurt. Do you use any UVB sources?

But that's the thing I got mine from tortoise supply and I don't know exactly how they were raised but I do know you guys sometimes recommended them. So them not growing does show a problem? Would getting the humidity up help? I just feel like there is nothing I can do...

 

[klinej50]

Tortoise Supply, are local breeders here out in Las Vegas. I have bought from them multiple times and have raise healthy tortoises. They raise their tortoises with lots of TLC. No, them not growing doesn't all exactly mean there's a problem. Getting the humidity up would be a good start, like I mentioned before the substrate looks fairly dry. The sphagnum moss does too. Try to get a humid hide in there as well. If you need to boost your humidity try covering your closed chamber with left over plastic sheeting or get a couple of trash bags in the meantime until you've got your windows. You're doing everything as told and recommended, there's always room for improvements even for the more experienced. Everything will be fine and before you know it, you'll see a growth spurt. Do you use any UVB sources?

But that's the thing I got mine from tortoise supply and I don't know exactly how they were raised but I do know you guys sometimes recommended them. So them not growing does show a problem? Would getting the humidity up help? I just feel like there is nothing I can do...

They get to go outside for about an hour plus I have a zoomed UVB light if you look at the enclosure picture it's the one in the middle

 

[klinej50]

Closed chamber well sorta!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Hmm... I replied to you after you mentioned your supplier was Tortoise Supply. Was my comment deleted??

well, I basically said that if your supplier wasn't keeping them dry from the start then maybe the slow growth has to do with how you housed them first. You used an open top tort table at first right? The closed chamber is new and maybe after some time in the humid conditions you will see a growth spurt

 

[klinej50]

Hmm... I replied to you after you mentioned your supplier was Tortoise Supply. Was my comment deleted??

well, I basically said that if your supplier wasn't keeping them dry from the start then maybe the slow growth has to do with how you housed them first. You used an open top tort table at first right? The closed chamber is new and maybe after some time in the humid conditions you will see a growth spurt

That is a good point but I did half close is so it's was always above 80% humidity... And that's mainly where they stayed. I guess now that I have a complete closed chamber they might start to grow. I will let y'all now in about 2 weeks or a month if they gain anymore weight. Thanks for all the advice[WHITE SMILING FACE]️