Leopard personalities

[Jenminer]

Evening all, I was reading a prior(heated) discussion about Leopard shyness. I got a little lost, but I think what I walked away with was that they tend to be more reserved than Sulcatas. After an adjustment period do Leopards recognize that their owner is not a threat or just tend to ere on the side of caution by nature?

 

[motero]

Generally yes, Leos are less outgoing then Sulcatas. But it varies greatly from tortoise to tortoise. I have some leos that scoot out of sight when i enter their pen. and some come up to me looking for the food like most Sulcatas do. I have one little leo about 4 inches that still winters in a tank inside. always has his nose to the glass looking right at me begging for his food like turtles do.

 

[Tom]

You read the discussion. The same people are going to say the same things.

Regular leopards are generally shy. South African leopards are generally more outgoing, especially males. Mixes, which make up the majority of the ones you'll see, run the full spectrum.

 

[Robber]

You will have individual variation and also some environmental influence(how much contact/attention they have, how secure they feel in their enclosure, etc), but I would say on average, if you walk into a pen of 10 leopards and pick them all up, I would expect at least seven of them to withdraw all the way in their shell, whereas I would only expect two or three out of a group of redfoots or sulcatas.

 

[Greg T]

Out of my 3 adults, 2 are curious and one is shy. All of them know me by sight. The shy one is an adoption, but the other two I have raised since babies which may be one reason they are much more friendly.