I have questions about my tortoises habbits

[kristen3]

My leopard tortoise has a few strange things that he does. A family friend found him a couple days ago and I braught him home. He has some damage to the back part of his shell but it's healed. He taps his nose on walls, food, and some toys. The other odd thing he does is he won't eat grass or weeds just veggies like broccoli and celery. We live in louisiana and he spends the mornings and nights inside but most of the day outside where it's warm.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

You only just found him? Did you try to find his original owners? Some of his behaviour may be him trying to get back to his old territory.

 

[kristen3]

We did but with the way he's been beat up he's been on his own for a while and when he goes outside he doesn't go anywhere or burrow or anything I've come to expect.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Is this the large male leopard with the burned carapace?

Tapping his nose on things. He could be smelling it. My leopard will smell new things.

Not eating the good stuff and wanting the "junk food" isn't any weirder than a kid choosing flavored fruit snacks over carrot sticks! LOL
Don't offer the stuff you don't want him to eat. Can't eat what isn't there and he won't starve

Hopefully you get a nice secure outdoor enclosure set up for him with a temperature controlled house for him to retreat to. Best to keep him in a "tortoise approved" spot and not loose in the house.

Here's the heated house I built my tortoise. I live in southern Oregon. Levi lives outside all year long. Goes into his house each night and stays in it when it's cold out. He comes out and grazes in the yard when it's nice out.
It's heated with an oil filled radiator and set on a thermostat for 80°

 

[kristen3]

Yes that's him. I keep him inside at night because it's very humid. I thought having high humidity is bad for them is there any way to keep the humidity out?

 

[Jodie]

High humidity is good for them as long as you don't let them get cold. 80F is the minimum temp.

 

[kristen3]

Oh OK well that changes everything. And it's good to know they can have above burrows.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Humidity with proper temps is very important.

My heated tort house ranges from 50-80% humidity. I add water to the substrate when it hits 50% and for a week or so it stays close to 80%. Keep in mind, my thermostat keeps temps close to 80° at all times.

 

[kristen3]

Well he may not need extra humidity here its always above 50% even in a drought. But about extreme temperatures it's been well over 95 here lately. Would temps of over 100 effect him?

 

[Jodie]

He will need deep shade for hot days. By deep shade I mean a hide in the shade. I don't know how to explain it. Read this thread.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-importance-of-deep-shade.123288/

 

[kristen3]

That makes a lot of sense thank you.

 

[mchong9606]

Just to add to the great post about deep shade you'll find that when torts want shade they will always favor shade under a plant or bush, rarely under a board or something similar. My feeling is they want that little micro climate that just feels better to them when they hide under and push up against a dense plant or bush.