Leo ID

[kimber_lee_314]

I was recently given a leopard tortoise that is much larger than the other three I have. She is ten years old. I wonder if she is a p. pardalis. She has severe pyramiding due to being fed cat food for the first few years of her life, so it may be hard to tell. I'm actually not keeping her because she is too big for me to handle, but I am really interested in whether she is a babcock or pardalis. Anyone have an opinion?

 

[Neal]

Oh oh me first!!

I'm going with babcocki. What a shell!

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Oh oh me first!!

I'm going with babcocki. What a shell!

Sad, isn't it? What kind of moron feeds an herbivore cat food????? By the way, she is MUCH bigger than the babcocks. Her head, legs, and features are all much larger. It's weird, and supposedly she is still young and growing.

 

[Neal]

The first thing I consider when trying to distinguish between the two types of leopards is the age of the tortoises. This one is at least 10 years old...South African leopards are not too common today (though they are becoming more-so), let a lone 10 years ago. I have to imagine that anyone 10 years ago that purchased a South African will have known exactly what it is, and the odds that it would have been raised to turn out like this tortoise are not very high. So, that's primarily why I think she's babcocki.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

The first thing I consider when trying to distinguish between the two types of leopards is the age of the tortoises. This one is at least 10 years old...South African leopards are not too common today (though they are becoming more-so), let a lone 10 years ago. I have to imagine that anyone 10 years ago that purchased a South African will have known exactly what it is, and the odds that it would have been raised to turn out like this tortoise are not very high. So, that's primarily why I think she's babcocki.

Ahhh ... I see. Very smart!

 

[Melly-n-shorty]

poor thing. hope you find her a home that takes good care of her