Is my leopard beginning to pyramid?

[Laura]

How about real sunshine?

growing too fast... that is something I wonder about... in the wild.. they wouldnt have the amount of good food we have for them.. some days it would be sparse, some times of the year it wold be as well.. with a really good spring when the grass is growing... so?????

 

[Neal]

Another question for you - do you have pictures of when you first received him so we can compare to these recent ones?

Another thing to consider is that the pyramiding you are seeing now, even though it's minimal, may have been a result of the environment he was in before you received him.

 

[Tortus]

All interesting points. I was thinking about putting the plastic shoe box, or whatever I use, upside down like the container I have now that it hates, and then just lifting it up to get the tort out. But I'm getting another perspective here.

I've heard a few times to put a CHE over the hide, but has anyone done anything with heat mats and a thermostat? That's what I have now under the enclosure with the hide area over top. I have the thermostat set at 80 degrees, so when it goes above that it shuts off and the tort won't burn itself.

I could do heat mat or CHE since I have both and a bunch of fixtures.

Too much food is also something I've been wondering about. It eats a lot. After the morning soak it eats. Then basks/sleeps. Then eats. Repeat. I usually fill the dish up a second time in the evening and it eats all that.

But then I thought in the wild it would have plants and grasses around it all the time, so wouldn't it know when to stop eating?

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Another question for you - do you have pictures of when you first received him so we can compare to these recent ones?

Another thing to consider is that the pyramiding you are seeing now, even though it's minimal, may have been a result of the environment he was in before you received him.

Yes, if you look at one of my first threads called "I just bought a month old leopard hatching", or something like that, you'll see pics of when it was first hatched that the breeder sent as well as other pics. It's the thread I'll be updating every month on the 15th.

I will say the breeder mentioned nothing about humidity, humid hides, or anything like that. If you look at that thread you'll see his care sheet in the first post and that may give you some idea.

I'm fairly certain he doesn't come to this forum. He's a really nice and helpful guy though and his torts are priced right for the beginner. But he may need to learn a few things. James, of Woody's Reptiles.

 

[Tortus]

Well I made some changes. I found a 12" x 15" x 6" container and made a larger humid hide. I took out all the driftwood and left a bark "arch" hide up by the hot end.

Tort doesn't seem happy. It's been running all around and is now just sitting in a corner. It won't go in the humid hide again. I put it in and it came right back out. It won't use the arch. I think if I put the wood back in it will just hide in that like before and the humid hide will be wasting space. It doesn't seem to like any type of hide. It prefers to wedge itself under something than to go in a hole.

The only thing I can think of to do is trap it in there at night. The temp inside is over 80 degrees.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I did read once a suggestion by Tom to block the tort inside if it was showing signs of pyramidying. I remembered that specific point should I ever need to do it. (but I recently removed the humid hide)

What if you put the drift wood inside the humid hide? your tort could wedge himself under the wood like he wants to BUT inside the hide?? is that an option??

 

[Tortus]

Unfortunately the wood is too big to fit in the hide. I think I have some smaller pieces in the attic I can try.

It really doesn't seem to like the change. I think I just messed up its whole routine and now it doesn't know what to do. It's normal hiding spots are gone. I don't want to stress it out too much and make it sick, especially since the weather is getting cold.

 

[Tortus]

Meh, I give up on trying to force it. I tried blocking it in the hide and turning off the light. I look back in and it pushed its way out and is across the enclosure in a corner.

This is the most stubborn thing I've ever seen.

 

[DesertGrandma]

Give it some time. I have noticed that mine doesn't like change. I recently put a larger hide in Humphrey's enclosure and he stomped around for a couple of days and wouldn't go in it. He finally gave in and now he goes to it all the time. They don't like it when you move their furniture around.

 

[jtrux]

Mine wouldnt go into his hide for the first month or so but now its his fav place.

 

[Tortus]

You know, I'm beginning to wonder if the humid hide is too humid. I picked it up this morning and condensation rolled off the plastic. Is that normal? It was 82 degrees inside but really, really humid.

But I'll give it time. If the tort pyramids a little I really don't mind since before I came here I thought that's how leopards were supposed to look. I think a little is kind of cool looking, actually. Some people seem obsessed with not having any pyramiding but if it's natural for them to have a little I don't see a problem with it.