I Just Inherited a Leopard Tortoise and...

[mark302]

Everything i read about tortoise food says to never feed lettuces? No nutrition, no fibre, low in calcium, 97% water etc. I would never reccomend using lettuce as a staple, and i think think many other people would either.

 

[Jerhanner]

Today was the first day he ate his pellet mash with no spring greens mixed in! And he pooped. Life is good.

 

[katesgoey]

Everything i read about tortoise food says to never feed lettuces? No nutrition, no fibre, low in calcium, 97% water etc. I would never reccomend using lettuce as a staple, and i think think many other people would either.

That's iceberg lettuce that's not okay. While it shouldn't be their main source, romaine lettuce is okay, but even better is Spring Mix (baby lettuces and radicio(sp?) but NO spinach in it). See my previous post on this thread for a great Leopard tortoise site that includes diet.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Mark-Welcome to the group! What do you feed your torts, and what breeds are they? I feed lettuces that resemble weeds such as spring mix. No iceberg and limited romaine. I think it's the next best thing to a natural grazing diet like weeds. I think lettuces and greens are better than veggies. That's my opinion. I did not agree with everything on that list posted above. Many foods I would not feed on that list.

 

[mark302]

Mark-Welcome to the group! What do you feed your torts, and what breeds are they? I feed lettuces that resemble weeds such as spring mix. No iceberg and limited romaine. I think it's the next best thing to a natural grazing diet like weeds. I think lettuces and greens are better than veggies. That's my opinion. I did not agree with everything on that list posted above. Many foods I would not feed on that list.

Hi Kate,
Thanks for the welcome. I recently got two baby leopards, 3 months old now. I am been reading constantly everything I could find online about them and diet etc. So i have decided on a nice chopped mix of Kale, Watercress and dandelion greens, sprinkled with zoomed grassland feed for extra fibre and 1% calcium supplement on top. In Ireland dandelion is everywhere so it's handy for me. I decided on this mix as it seems ideal going from everything I read. The 3 plants i mentioned above have good calcium to phosphorous ratios as well as low in protein. Plus they are getting nice mouthfulls of the high fibre zoomed grassland diet. I have decided against feeding veggies as they are too moist which can cause digestive problems. Shredded carrot as a sweet treat once a week at most. I have also decided fruit is a definite no no, too moist and sweet.
I have them only 5 weeks so hopefully I am doing everything ok so far. Lighting and heating, substrate, humidity are all per the 'leopard torts handbook'. They seem very happy, very active and eating a lot. Anyway, do let me know if I am doing something wrong.

Mark

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Jerhanner, have you found your camera yet? Can you borrow one from a neighbor? We'd love to see your newly beloved tortoise.

 

[Jerhanner]

I found the camera! You should have pics tomorrow evening. I spent some time really digging around on line about leos today, and I actually found some sites that say it's ok to feed leos fruit... I mean, I'm a total beginner here, but there was stuff posted some places that even I knew was BS.
One thing that still confuses me is the soaking. How much? How hoften? Every place I check has different info.

 

[Yvonne G]

I soak babies 3 or 4 times a week. When they get big enough to climb into the water dish on their own, I don't soak anymore. So I think your new tortoise can get her drinks on her own and you don't need to soak her. But if you think she's getting dehydrated, you can soak her once a week.

Yvonne

 

[katesgoey]

Jerhanner

The site I gave you is the best site for raising Leopards (www.africantortoise.com). I have three leopards ages 12+ years old, 5 years old and a yearling. The older two graze outside year round on grasses and weeds I planted from tortoise grazing seeds (www.carolinapetsupply.com). I supplement their diets occasionally with cactus, aloe, romaine, rose of sharon, roses, pumpkin, etc (see the list from the site above). Weekly I offer them moisten Mazuri over their greens but they don't seem to like it much. My yearling grazes the same outside in his/her pen when it is warm enough and indoors is fed Spring Mix, Rose of Sharon, and a bit of cactus once in a while - I also feed him a pellet or two of moistened Mazuri. I soak him once a week.

 

[mark302]

Jerhanner

The site I gave you is the best site for raising Leopards (www.africantortoise.com). I have three leopards ages 12+ years old, 5 years old and a yearling. The older two graze outside year round on grasses and weeds I planted from tortoise grazing seeds (www.carolinapetsupply.com). I supplement their diets occasionally with cactus, aloe, romaine, rose of sharon, roses, pumpkin, etc (see the list from the site above). Weekly I offer them moisten Mazuri over their greens but they don't seem to like it much. My yearling grazes the same outside in his/her pen when it is warm enough and indoors is fed Spring Mix, Rose of Sharon, and a bit of cactus once in a while - I also feed him a pellet or two of moistened Mazuri. I soak him once a week.

Hi Sandy,
what size are your 3 torts? I have 2, 3 month old hatchlings, and i was just wondering about what size they should be as they get older? I am interested to know the size of a 1 year 5 year and 12 years old leopards. Your 12 year old must be pretty big is he? Also I heard its better to soak hatchlings every day, i have been doing that but they dont like it much.

Mark

 

[katesgoey]

Hi Mark,

How big they get really depends on their environment, diet and care. Read more about the averages, care, etc., at my favorite "go-to" site: www.africantortoise.com. My torts info goes like this: Tank is about 15" - he did not receive the best care initially and had some pronounced pyramiding that has improved with healthier new growth over the nearly 4 years that I've had him. Bump is 5 years old about 8" and is doing well. Moose is just a hair under 4" and is the 1 year old (approximately). Moose is a Stig. pardalis pardalis Leopard which typically grows larger than pardalis babcocki. Tank and Bump are Stig. pardalis babcocki. The amount of soaking is, I think, a personal choice depending, again, on the environment, etc. I see Moose drink from his water bowl often, so I don't feel he's in jeopardy of being dehydrated. I soak him about once a week just to be sure - he doesn't really like it and doesn't stay in longer than 5 minutes or so (even if I keep rewarming the water). How often you soak is up to you and what you believe your hatchlings need - the point is to ensure they are hydrated. An important thing to remember is humidity and keeping it lower for Leopards than for other species - I keep Moose's humidity in his indoor enclosure between 40-60% (Leopards can't tolerate as much humidity as sulcatas so keep that in mind when you are reading about caring for tortoises - you'll hear/read alot about higher humidity for hatchlings - usually sulcatas or other species, but Leopards tend to get respiratory infections if you go much higher than 60%. I mention that because it was confusing for me when I first came to this forum to hear about the higher humidity. Your Leopards are younger than mine, so you'll have to adjust information to their needs. Hope that helps you - it can get confusing to hear different information so ask clarification questions any time, keep in mind the age/weight differences,the environmental set up differences and you should do great!!.

 

[mark302]

Hi Sandy,

Thanks very much for all your helpful input, i really appreciate it. I will take it all on board. My babies were actually very light and looked dehydrated when I rescued them from the pet where they were in a tiny glass tank with wood chip substrate. They have put on a lot of weight since i got them, have a varied diet, with calcium dusting once a day, and a cuttle bone they nip on sometimes. I have better heating, lighting, substrate and a much bigger habitat than the pet shop, and they seem really happy now. They run over towards me when they see me chopping the food, its so cute. Thanks again for the great advice!