Those babies are GORGEOUS! I'm jealous!
Just bought a month old leopard hatchling
- Thread starter Tortus
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The seller said he can ship Wednesday so she'll be here Thursday. Should I do a soak as soon as she arrives or go straight to the enclosure? I read somewhere not to touch them for the first couple days so they can get acclimated.
Soak the tortoise in lukewarm water when you first get it for 20-30 minutes. Then put some food on his plate in his enclosure and then put him next to it and then he will decide what he/she wants to do from there, whether thats eating or sleeping.
The tortoises look awesome. I'm new to the forum as well and I just recently bought two hatchling leopards and have had some of the same questions as you. I've been following toms set up that he posted about preventing pyramiding and it seems to be keeping them healthy so far. I can't wait to see your setup and hear how it's been working for you!
dcwolfe said:
Thanks, I'm anxious. What kind of set-up do you have? I've been scrubbing the house, bought an air purifier, etc. lol. Everything should be set up by Wednesday and the delivery will be Thursday.
I'm just hoping he ships the right one (not the end of the world) and it arrives in good condition. Luckily the weather will be mild this week so it shouldn't get too hot or too cold. He said his survival rate is 98% but I can't help but worry. It'll be a month old on the 15th and it seems like a little one like this could get shaken around easily.
I have a 20-gallon long terrarium that I am able to keep humidity level of roughly 90% give or take 4% and a temp in the hide of average 78 degrees. When the night lamp turns on it is about 76 and when the day basking lamp is on its about 80 in the hide. My hot side is about a 98 with a basking of 105 roughly, (I’m still working on recording temp because this setup has only been going on for about two weeks now). I also have the top coated with tinfoil to keep my heat and humidity in although I have heard on a tom’s post from Kristina that she uses Plexiglas on the top of hers and I am very interested in looking into that instead of tinfoil, but when I didn’t have anything on top my humidity levels were low as well as my temp because the terrarium is inside the house with a thermostat set at 74 all the time. The substrate I use is simply just sod. I cut out a spot for the water dish so they could climb in and out easily. I have been very happy with the sod so far because unlike sand or pellets it doesn’t get in the dish very much except for in the picture they came in from outside and carried a little bit of mud with them. I have however been thinking about changing the hide because most of the forums I see here don’t use the log hides, they use upside down Tupperware or boxes, but not sure yet. You can also see that I use a double lamp fixture and a 15W 10UVB Repti Glo because when I had a basking bulb for just the day my temps at night stayed at 74 and were too low. I am definitely no expert and I am new to this style of enclosure, but for from most of what I see in the forum humidity plays a big role in pyramiding. I raised one Leo before and that’s why I have the terrarium because it was what the “Pet store†had recommended with a dry enclosure and my old leopard started to show signs of pyramiding after a year, so hopefully it will work out better this time. Do you have any pictures of your setup yet and did you decide on how you were going to do it? Its funny too on how your in the home stretch of starting everything, from now to Thursday is going to seem like an eternity, cant wait to see how everything works out for you. Keep us posted.
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Great setup!!!!! i love it!!!
Be careful using those repti glow uvb coil bulbs....known for blinding torts
Be careful using those repti glow uvb coil bulbs....known for blinding torts
Nice looking babies, dcwolfe! At first I thought you planted grass in there. The sod makes it look natural. I may try that eventually. Is 74 really low for night temps though? I've read it's good to let them drop to the lower 70's at night. I'm learning few things are set in stone when it comes to raising torts.
I ordered the same light fixture with the zoo med lamp stand, but the exo terra 10.0 coil bulb since that's what was recommended on the breeder's care sheet. The other side of the fixture will have a 100 watt basking bulb (if that's too hot I'll use a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter). I may not use that exo terra very long since I'm not hearing good things about coil UVB bulbs. I was considering mercury vapor since it would fit my fixture but I read too many bad reviews on them, saying they don't last long for being over $40 a pop. I also have the same log and I may use it as an entry point to a more secluded hide. Like an archway leading up to it.
Since it gets cold in here at night during the winter, I have a thermostat that I will either use with a heat mat (directly under the substrate...it's an in or under tank model) or a ceramic heat emitter. I'll set it at 75 and put the probe in the substrate. It will only come on when the temp drops below that. I'm sort of thinking the mat will produce more humidity. And I'd be able to leave the enclosure partly closed at night, where it would have to be open with the emitter.
I still have something due to arrive tomorrow and need to get a couple other minor things before I put it all together. I was going to build a terrarium a while back and have a bunch of stuff from that I can use, so I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out until some time tomorrow. For now I'll be using the biggest under-bed container I could find (39x20x7).
As far as better UBV goes, does anyone know if this would be too bright for a Leo?
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22t5hofihouw2.html
Also, should we be looking for the "desert" UVB bulbs? I hear they live in grasslands.
I ordered the same light fixture with the zoo med lamp stand, but the exo terra 10.0 coil bulb since that's what was recommended on the breeder's care sheet. The other side of the fixture will have a 100 watt basking bulb (if that's too hot I'll use a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter). I may not use that exo terra very long since I'm not hearing good things about coil UVB bulbs. I was considering mercury vapor since it would fit my fixture but I read too many bad reviews on them, saying they don't last long for being over $40 a pop. I also have the same log and I may use it as an entry point to a more secluded hide. Like an archway leading up to it.
Since it gets cold in here at night during the winter, I have a thermostat that I will either use with a heat mat (directly under the substrate...it's an in or under tank model) or a ceramic heat emitter. I'll set it at 75 and put the probe in the substrate. It will only come on when the temp drops below that. I'm sort of thinking the mat will produce more humidity. And I'd be able to leave the enclosure partly closed at night, where it would have to be open with the emitter.
I still have something due to arrive tomorrow and need to get a couple other minor things before I put it all together. I was going to build a terrarium a while back and have a bunch of stuff from that I can use, so I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out until some time tomorrow. For now I'll be using the biggest under-bed container I could find (39x20x7).
As far as better UBV goes, does anyone know if this would be too bright for a Leo?
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22t5hofihouw2.html
Also, should we be looking for the "desert" UVB bulbs? I hear they live in grasslands.
I tryed growing grass in my Twin Enclosure.... waste of time! Sod is a much better idea! I hope you used it out of your yard and not from a hardware store.... Hardware store use ALOT of chemical fertilizers and the gress should not be eaten by torts for atleast a year. (2 is better)
Zamric said:
I ended up getting the sod from a local home depot here because I contacted the guy who distributes it in AZ and he said he doesn’t use any form of pesticides and that he uses local soil that is fertilizer free.
Also about the temp been high at 75. I believe that in toms post he had talked about keeping his around 80 and I try to aim for that because with all of the humidity and moisture in their enclosure I try to keep them as warm as possible to prevent any respiratory infections.
Welcome
Well I got the enclosure ready last night. I plan on changing things up a little, like adding a UVB tube instead of the coil and getting a stand for the heat emitter. Also something better to contain the food. Maybe some fake plants.
I went with the coco fiber/peat mixture for soil and spread a little sphagnum on top. The wood is all made for humid/moist environments (cypress, wormwood, etc.) so moisture shouldn't affect it negatively.
The hide up by the light is around 85 degrees inside. The basking spot is 100. The cooler area ranges from 75-80 degrees. The container came with a lid that can close the entire thing or only half, but I'm not sure how I'd pull off closing half with the heat emitter unless I moved it to the basking side. The mat I had didn't work out.
Any suggestions before it arrives? Should I add or take away from the sphagnum layer? I'd like to make the tortoise feel as relaxed as possible so it can get adjusted. Right now it has two relatively enclosed hides as well as an archway and some other little crevices it can use.
I went with the coco fiber/peat mixture for soil and spread a little sphagnum on top. The wood is all made for humid/moist environments (cypress, wormwood, etc.) so moisture shouldn't affect it negatively.
The hide up by the light is around 85 degrees inside. The basking spot is 100. The cooler area ranges from 75-80 degrees. The container came with a lid that can close the entire thing or only half, but I'm not sure how I'd pull off closing half with the heat emitter unless I moved it to the basking side. The mat I had didn't work out.
Any suggestions before it arrives? Should I add or take away from the sphagnum layer? I'd like to make the tortoise feel as relaxed as possible so it can get adjusted. Right now it has two relatively enclosed hides as well as an archway and some other little crevices it can use.
Its so cute
And its new so its gonna take time.get.use to but good.luck
And its new so its gonna take time.get.use to but good.luck
she's cute! and mine took a week to explore his enclosure completely. and it took her a couple days to eat/drink.....but she pooped right away! must have been holding it the whole shipment haha. carefully not to have too many things that she can climb and tip herself over!
I was concerned about that too, stinax. She doesn't seem inclined to climb too high. She'll lay on the wood closest to the light to bask and climb up just a little bit, but is always looking down to get proper footing. I'm keeping a close eye on it to make sure. She's more interested in staying on the ground and hiding under the moss.
She's been pretty active this afternoon, always in a different spot when I peep in (hasn't gone down to the cooler end yet). Most of the food is gone but I didn't see her eat it.
She's been pretty active this afternoon, always in a different spot when I peep in (hasn't gone down to the cooler end yet). Most of the food is gone but I didn't see her eat it.
Thanks, dc. Some of the stuff in the close-up was dirt. I scrubbed the shell with a tooth brush during this morning's soak. It was really on there.
One more thing I added last night was that heat mat under the enclosure between the basking and cool side. It's the Fluker's model and rated safe for plastic (unlike zoo med). The directions said it won't work with more than a centimeter of substrate. I've got at least 3 inches and it gets the surface temp in that spot to 90 degrees according to my temperature gun. I then pour some water on the substrate over the area so it will evaporate and create humidity. My humidity without any type of cover is around 70% at night, but drops down to 60% after the lights are on for a while.
One more thing I added last night was that heat mat under the enclosure between the basking and cool side. It's the Fluker's model and rated safe for plastic (unlike zoo med). The directions said it won't work with more than a centimeter of substrate. I've got at least 3 inches and it gets the surface temp in that spot to 90 degrees according to my temperature gun. I then pour some water on the substrate over the area so it will evaporate and create humidity. My humidity without any type of cover is around 70% at night, but drops down to 60% after the lights are on for a while.
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