I have a leopard named Ivory. She is just over a year old now.
History:
Last August I got tortoise crazy and ordered 3 leopard hatchlings, I had ordered 2 more but they had to be sent 2 wks later due to their age. When I got the first 3 they was kinda odd looking. Little rough I guess you could say. Ivory was one of these 3. The care sheet that was provided with them gave instructions on how to set up their housing and give them daily care, all of it what we would consider wrong, dry open top enclosure, hay for substrate, a 10 minute soak once weekly, no water bowl, etc. Now I will own my part in this, I knew very well what Questions you should ask a person before purchasing a tortoise, and well, I didn't ask any of them. I was excited and got ahead of myself and for that I can't answer some questions about how they was raised before they got to me. I do know that the person I got them from had just picked them up that day so I assume he did not hatch them. So I'm basically doing what I know to do to provide proper care, Everything was moving along fine. My other two came 2 wks later and off we went. Well in October (I think, I'm bad with time frames) the leopards started acting odd. One by one they died. Ivory was the only one that made it. Now when I got her she was 1.75" and 26 grams. She was growing nice and steady until the others started dieing. After all the others was gone and she was the only one left I paid very close attention to her, weights and measurements almost daily. The daily stuff was bugging me because I didn't really see any change and I felt like perhaps it was too stressful on her so I cut back to weekly. I follow the care sheet tom provided for leopards and sulcatas. I have closed chamber enclosures, provide all the recommended items, I do daily enclosure cleanings, daily soaks, we go outside when weather permits, we have a varied diet. She basically gets the exact care that my Sulcata hatchlings do and their thriving, growing like machines. Poor Ivory is not. She measured at 2.5" in October and She did continue to put on weight, she finally made it to 70 grams this past April and that's where she stopped. Perhaps hatchling failure? She isn't growing anymore but she is active, eating like a machine. In every other way besides growing she seems to be a normal tortoise, doing the same thing all my others are doing. We pushed through winter and once spring arrives we started going outside again. I noticed that all my hatchlings was much bolder now, more active outside then last year. I guess their
Older, they would start eating just as soon as they hit grass. Ivory ate all the time, she would explore some but always stop every couple steps to munch on whatever was in front of her. She had everything provided she needed, sun, shade, water, food, and safety from predators so I would let them stay out for a few hours a day, we always soak for 10 minutes before going into the outdoor enclosures and again another 15 minutes at the end of their outside time, I would adjust these times depending on the weather due to fear of maybe overheating them or dehydrating them. So Ivory is doing great and I'm thinking maybe she is just not going to grow. Ok.
This is Ivory back in October. Active, climbing her rocks.
Ivory in November, her last day outside before winter came.
December measuring
This is her basic look if her food dish is empty. Also December.
This is March, one of the first spring weed offerings she got. She was very very happy about the better weather and variety of weeds available after the winter months. She ate every bit of them right up.
Mid July, a little swim in the kiddy pool. She loved it.
Now at the end of July I noticed something weird. She was staying in her water bowls. I have a dish for drinking water and one larger one for her to self soak. She was staying in one or the other practically all the time. So I start monitoring her very closely and find that the only time she's getting out of these dishes is when she is eating. I continue to soak her daily even tho she is living in water. I do a check off list in my head, nothing in her routine or environment has changed. Why is she sitting in the water like this? Besides the 20-30 minutes she is eating she is in the water. She is even sleeping in the water.
This is basically how she stayed all day and night except if she was eating.
The living in the water went on for about a week, maybe 10 days and then I started noticing another thing
She wasn't eating real well. She would nibble this or that if I offered weeds, she ate only half the portion of mazuri I gave when usually she eats it all. Over about a 3 day period she went from this behavior to not eating at all.
The same time the eating thing was happening I also noticed a decline in her activity level. That has slowly declined over about a week, she hasn't moved for the last 2 days. Yesterday while outside she buried up under a plug of crabgrass and that's where she stayed until we went back in. Once inside she went straight back to her spot and didn't move.
She has also dug out a little spot that she is staying in. She has never dug, she has always slept on top her log hide in the greenery. It's not a deep spot, just enough that she sinks in a bit. Her top layer of bark is dry and then just below that her substrate is damp, it's like once she hit the dampness she quit digging and that's where she is now staying.
Her humidity is at 92%, her temps are all good. I see no signs of RI.
As of today she is still 2.5" and has dropped to 65 grams, she has not moved or ate today.
Could this be hatchling failure? Am I possibly going to loose her?
Any advise/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
History:
Last August I got tortoise crazy and ordered 3 leopard hatchlings, I had ordered 2 more but they had to be sent 2 wks later due to their age. When I got the first 3 they was kinda odd looking. Little rough I guess you could say. Ivory was one of these 3. The care sheet that was provided with them gave instructions on how to set up their housing and give them daily care, all of it what we would consider wrong, dry open top enclosure, hay for substrate, a 10 minute soak once weekly, no water bowl, etc. Now I will own my part in this, I knew very well what Questions you should ask a person before purchasing a tortoise, and well, I didn't ask any of them. I was excited and got ahead of myself and for that I can't answer some questions about how they was raised before they got to me. I do know that the person I got them from had just picked them up that day so I assume he did not hatch them. So I'm basically doing what I know to do to provide proper care, Everything was moving along fine. My other two came 2 wks later and off we went. Well in October (I think, I'm bad with time frames) the leopards started acting odd. One by one they died. Ivory was the only one that made it. Now when I got her she was 1.75" and 26 grams. She was growing nice and steady until the others started dieing. After all the others was gone and she was the only one left I paid very close attention to her, weights and measurements almost daily. The daily stuff was bugging me because I didn't really see any change and I felt like perhaps it was too stressful on her so I cut back to weekly. I follow the care sheet tom provided for leopards and sulcatas. I have closed chamber enclosures, provide all the recommended items, I do daily enclosure cleanings, daily soaks, we go outside when weather permits, we have a varied diet. She basically gets the exact care that my Sulcata hatchlings do and their thriving, growing like machines. Poor Ivory is not. She measured at 2.5" in October and She did continue to put on weight, she finally made it to 70 grams this past April and that's where she stopped. Perhaps hatchling failure? She isn't growing anymore but she is active, eating like a machine. In every other way besides growing she seems to be a normal tortoise, doing the same thing all my others are doing. We pushed through winter and once spring arrives we started going outside again. I noticed that all my hatchlings was much bolder now, more active outside then last year. I guess their
Older, they would start eating just as soon as they hit grass. Ivory ate all the time, she would explore some but always stop every couple steps to munch on whatever was in front of her. She had everything provided she needed, sun, shade, water, food, and safety from predators so I would let them stay out for a few hours a day, we always soak for 10 minutes before going into the outdoor enclosures and again another 15 minutes at the end of their outside time, I would adjust these times depending on the weather due to fear of maybe overheating them or dehydrating them. So Ivory is doing great and I'm thinking maybe she is just not going to grow. Ok.
This is Ivory back in October. Active, climbing her rocks.
Ivory in November, her last day outside before winter came.
December measuring
This is her basic look if her food dish is empty. Also December.
This is March, one of the first spring weed offerings she got. She was very very happy about the better weather and variety of weeds available after the winter months. She ate every bit of them right up.
Mid July, a little swim in the kiddy pool. She loved it.
Now at the end of July I noticed something weird. She was staying in her water bowls. I have a dish for drinking water and one larger one for her to self soak. She was staying in one or the other practically all the time. So I start monitoring her very closely and find that the only time she's getting out of these dishes is when she is eating. I continue to soak her daily even tho she is living in water. I do a check off list in my head, nothing in her routine or environment has changed. Why is she sitting in the water like this? Besides the 20-30 minutes she is eating she is in the water. She is even sleeping in the water.
This is basically how she stayed all day and night except if she was eating.
The living in the water went on for about a week, maybe 10 days and then I started noticing another thing
She wasn't eating real well. She would nibble this or that if I offered weeds, she ate only half the portion of mazuri I gave when usually she eats it all. Over about a 3 day period she went from this behavior to not eating at all.
The same time the eating thing was happening I also noticed a decline in her activity level. That has slowly declined over about a week, she hasn't moved for the last 2 days. Yesterday while outside she buried up under a plug of crabgrass and that's where she stayed until we went back in. Once inside she went straight back to her spot and didn't move.
She has also dug out a little spot that she is staying in. She has never dug, she has always slept on top her log hide in the greenery. It's not a deep spot, just enough that she sinks in a bit. Her top layer of bark is dry and then just below that her substrate is damp, it's like once she hit the dampness she quit digging and that's where she is now staying.
Her humidity is at 92%, her temps are all good. I see no signs of RI.
As of today she is still 2.5" and has dropped to 65 grams, she has not moved or ate today.
Could this be hatchling failure? Am I possibly going to loose her?
Any advise/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
