Kimberly P
Member
Oh the mistakes I have made.....
I'm sure quite a few of you can spot some of them right away just from this pic. Meet Espresso and Java Bean, my newly acquired Leopard Tortoises. I've always wanted to get a tortoise, every time I'd go to the pet store and see the tiny hatchlings, so cute with such sweet little faces my heart would burst. But, not knowing much about their care and needs have always (until now) been smart enough to back away slowly and leave them to someone that knew more than I.
Lately the topic of getting a tortoise has been thrown out there to my hubby more often and I've been doing a little reading here and there about the different kinds and a little about their care etc... Hubby came home from picking up food for our snakes and was excited to tell me the local pet shop had tortoises and asked if I wanted to go have a look see. Of course I said "No way" NOT! So, we were off to go have a look. We got there and they had the a/c on (it was frigged inside the shop) they had little hatchlings in a tank out on the counter top. By now I knew two things, I preferred a juvenile to a hatchling and really like what I had read and the look of the Leopard tortoise. So, we looked around in the other enclosures and there in this 24" x 18" x 18" expo cage was two juvenile Leopard torts with only a tiny basking light. One was twice the size of the other, moving around and looked pretty alert but, breathing looked labored. While the smaller one was just sickly in the corner with bubbles coming out of it's nose. I knew their set up wasn't right and the temps were way too low and figure I'd have better luck saving the bigger one than the little one so we asked to purchase the larger of the two. We got it home and when I removed it from the box it felt like it was made of Styrofoam! I put it on my scale, here's this tortoise about the size of a softball weighing in at 4.3 oz.! I put him in the bathroom in a warm tub plugged in a space heater set on high, closed the door and started reading. After a good long soak it ate a mountain of chopped Kale, collard greens and mustard greens. After a guilt filled, sleepless night thinking about the little one I had left behind, we went back the next day and brought it home as well. Tennis ball sized and weighing in at 1.2 oz. We got the basking and heat lamps and a temporary tank to house them in for now. I've had them for 4 weeks and take them outside for a few hours daily to graze and get natural sun light. They eat quite a lot and during both day and night. Since I've had them, Espresso (the larger one) weighs in at 14.2 oz. breathing is no longer labored and Java Bean is now 6.8 oz. and no longer has fluid bubbling out of his/her nose.
I've been reading around this forum the last few days and have learned quite a lot so far.
I know that although the set up I have for these guys now is better than what they had, it's still not adequate enough and riddled with mistakes and I'll be making changes to address some of these ASAP. I look forward to learning so much more from you all and with all the help here, know if I follow the advise and guidance I find, my tortoises are sure to thrive. Thank you.
Kudos to you and your hubby for saving these two. They don't look too bad for the condition they were being kept. Toms threads below in my post are a must read for you. They will explain how to raise a healthy and smooth leopard. The sulcata threads will apply too. Good luck, glad you found us and them.
