Hello!

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Hi, :) I'm George. I live in Northern England. I'm in my twenties & I have been keeping exotic animals since I was 15. I have worked seasonal & cover at a Reptile store for the past 5 years.
Unfortunately due to housing issues I had to rehome my entire collection in 2009.
Since 2010 I have been living in a stable home with family & have decided to keep exotics again.
Santa arrived early for me this year, and today he brought me a beautiful Leopard Tortoise. She is 4 years and 6 months old, and looks to be in perfect health. I have named her Lady Dorothy.
Although I have already read through vast amounts of care sheets, and have done a lot of research, I look forward to learning even more about these wonderful shelled beauties.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my introduction.

George :)




Lady Dorothy (Just arrived! She's now getting used to her new home. I have the temperatures perfect and have her on a mixture of play sand and top soil with terracotta plant pots as hides. She's been munching on some Dandelion leaves & Timothy hay!)
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1448030525.538909.jpg
 
Last edited:

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
Hi and welcome! Play sand well mixed in? What % ratio of sand to top soil? She is a lovely animal (Santa did good).
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Thank you both :)

Hi and welcome! Play sand well mixed in? What % ratio of sand to top soil? She is a lovely animal (Santa did good).

Thank you :) Yeah I got my hands in and mixed it up good, it was like being a kid all over again haha. I've mixed it at a ratio of about 75% Soil & 25% Sand as I didn't want there to be a risk of impaction.
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Any suggestions on alternative substrate is welcome though, as I have questioned myself regarding the Sand/Soil mix. Though I have kept Tortoises on it previously, I have always found it to be very messy and earthy. I know some people frown upon it, too. :)
I do find conflicting answers though, whenever I research alternatives.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Hi George, and welcome to the Forum!

I like to use orchid bark and my second choice is cypress mulch, but many here on the Forum use coco coir.

One thing that struck me when I got my first glimpse of Lady Dorothy was that she looks a bit on the thin side. I can't really say why, but that's what I thought as I looked at her picture. Maybe because she's able to pull so far into her shell??? Who knows. At any rate, feed her as much as she wants. It doesn't hurt to have left over food sitting at the feeding station at the end of the day. But when you turn her lights out, clean it all up and start fresh tomorrow.

She's a very pretty leopard tortoise. Glad to have you and Lady Dorothy here with us.
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Hi George, and welcome to the Forum!

I like to use orchid bark and my second choice is cypress mulch, but many here on the Forum use coco coir.

One thing that struck me when I got my first glimpse of Lady Dorothy was that she looks a bit on the thin side. I can't really say why, but that's what I thought as I looked at her picture. Maybe because she's able to pull so far into her shell??? Who knows. At any rate, feed her as much as she wants. It doesn't hurt to have left over food sitting at the feeding station at the end of the day. But when you turn her lights out, clean it all up and start fresh tomorrow.

She's a very pretty leopard tortoise. Glad to have you and Lady Dorothy here with us.

Thank you for the warm welcome :)
& for the substrate suggestions. I will see if my local store stocks these/and have a look online.

I am not quite sure how big she should be at this age, but she seems well proportioned to her shell size in person. I'm glad you mentioned that though, I will definitely keep an eye on her size and be providing her with lots of fresh food to munch on :)
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Hi George and welcome from another UK leopard keeper. Not the cheapest species to keep in our climate because of the high temps they need, but still lovely!
Mine is called Lola - but a male - originally thought to be a female. He was found and unclaimed so he adopted me. I thought my tort was about 4 too and he is almost 11 inches long (this is based on a 7 year old I saw that was twice as big as mine). So its not easy to age them.
Lola has his own room with coco coir and orchid bark substrate - Pets at Home are selling 2 bags for £14 of OB. Sphagnum moss was cheaper at the Range which is where I have bought my CHE, thermostat and wide dome hoods etc too, but they don't sell MVBs so got that at PaH too. Lots of people use Amazon though so you may pick it up cheaper there.
There's a good caresheet for Leopards and Sulcatas under Species Specific, Beginners mistakes is also great to avoid making the same mistakes as others and the Enclosures threads has some great housing ideas.
Don't know if you've already seen www.thetortoisetable.org.uk but that's excellent for IDing tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
Anyway have a good look around, read, search and ask as many questions as you like there's always someone here to help.
Looking forward to hearing more about Lady Dorothy.
 

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
A very warm welcome to the forum George!:tort:

And what a cute tort Lady Dorothy is.:) GOD bless.
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Hi George and welcome from another UK leopard keeper. Not the cheapest species to keep in our climate because of the high temps they need, but still lovely!
Mine is called Lola - but a male - originally thought to be a female. He was found and unclaimed so he adopted me. I thought my tort was about 4 too and he is almost 11 inches long (this is based on a 7 year old I saw that was twice as big as mine). So its not easy to age them.
Lola has his own room with coco coir and orchid bark substrate - Pets at Home are selling 2 bags for £14 of OB. Sphagnum moss was cheaper at the Range which is where I have bought my CHE, thermostat and wide dome hoods etc too, but they don't sell MVBs so got that at PaH too. Lots of people use Amazon though so you may pick it up cheaper there.
There's a good caresheet for Leopards and Sulcatas under Species Specific, Beginners mistakes is also great to avoid making the same mistakes as others and the Enclosures threads has some great housing ideas.
Don't know if you've already seen www.thetortoisetable.org.uk but that's excellent for IDing tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
Anyway have a good look around, read, search and ask as many questions as you like there's always someone here to help.
Looking forward to hearing more about Lady Dorothy.

Thank you all for your warm welcome :) & for the information, it's appreciated. :)
It's great reading through everything.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Thank you all for your warm welcome :) & for the information, it's appreciated. :)
It's great reading through everything.
It's a lot to take in - I had a very steep learning curve when I accidentally became a tort keeper but it's very worthwhile learning how to do things properly. I'm sure its saved me a fortune in vets bills already!!
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Thank you for your warm welcome! :) I have been reading through the forum and talking to some people & what a blessing this place is!

I have since changed my substrate to Orchid Bark, and have provided a larger soaking/water dish. I have also ordered an MVB which arrives tomorrow morning & have created a humid hide for Dorothy too.

The information available on here is like no other forum I've been on before (so if anyone is reading this, and they haven't yet signed up, I'd recommend doing so!)

Thanks all, have a lovely day! :)
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Thank you for your warm welcome! :) I have been reading through the forum and talking to some people & what a blessing this place is!

I have since changed my substrate to Orchid Bark, and have provided a larger soaking/water dish. I have also ordered an MVB which arrives tomorrow morning & have created a humid hide for Dorothy too.

The information available on here is like no other forum I've been on before (so if anyone is reading this, and they haven't yet signed up, I'd recommend doing so!)

Thanks all, have a lovely day! :)
You are so right George I would be lost without all the help given here.
You have a good day too.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
She's lovely and not much pyramiding. I've managed to stop Lola's getting any worse by giving luke warm soaks each day (I struggle with humidity in his room and because I don't see him drink when I'm at work I like to make sure he's hydrated).
Its hard to tell from that angle but her beak may need trimming. I put the food on a piece of slate for Lola to help keep his beak trimmed. if they get too long they have trouble eating.
I bought it from The Range about £2. It was supposed to be a heart shaped chalk board I think but removed the string and its now a plate.
 

GeorgeUK

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
United Kingdom
Thank you Lyn :) I have bought some slate now, and got some more cuttlefish too. She loves the daily baths... She stretches her legs right out & soaks :)
 
Top