Leopard Tort Enclosure

[Jriedy85]

Hi all, I'm Josh. This is my first tort. I got him and another one back in may with my girlfriend. Well long story short. We broke up and she kept the torts and neglected them badly. Her mother called me cause she was worried about them so I went and took them and took them straight to a vet. They kept both for 2 weeks. One of the poor lil guys died and the other one made a recovery. I'm just here to get some helpful info. He is probably about 10 months old. I want to build him a new enclosure and was wondering if anyone had any good recommendations. Right now he is in a tank and seems to be doing well but I feel like he needs a nice large enclosure so he can wander and be happy. I'm gonna go to Lowe's today and pick up some lumber so I can start building him a nice habitat. Basically it would be nice to see some pics of enclosures you are having success with leopard torts in.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Josh...welcome to the Forum!

You've neglected to tell us the most important fact...what kind of tortoise is it? For example, a redfooted tortoise requires different care from a sulcata. Here's a good article for new tortoise keepers:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-22635.html

When we learn what kind of tortoise you have, we can give you more specific info.

 

[Jriedy85]

Sorry, I put it in the title of the thread. He is a Leopard tortoise!

 

[pfara]

Hi Josh...welcome to the Forum!

You've neglected to tell us the most important fact...what kind of tortoise is it? For example, a redfooted tortoise requires different care from a sulcata. Here's a good article for new tortoise keepers:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-22635.html

When we learn what kind of tortoise you have, we can give you more specific info.

Silly Yvonne.. the thread topic says "Leopard tort enclosure". To the OP, I'm sure someone will post some of Tom's threads or I'll probably try to find it, myself, for ya. Welcome to the forum and my sincerest thoughts to the tort you lost.

Here's a thread from Tom. It has a picture of a closed chamber he uses for leopards. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html

I'm sure if you do a couple searches through the enclosure section, you'll get more ideas.

 

[wellington]

Toms threads are below in my post for raising leopards healthy and smooth. Also you can look in the enclosure section to find some pics of enclosures. Also, the big plastic tubs sold this time of year for storing artificial Xmas trees make good enclosure. You can even combine two or more together to make it bigger. In the warm summer weather, it would be nice to get him outside for at least the day hours and bring him in at night. Glad you were able to get them and at least save one. Sorry about the loss of the other one.

 

[Jriedy85]

Toms threads are below in my post for raising leopards healthy and smooth. Also you can look in the enclosure section to find some pics of enclosures. Also, the big plastic tubs sold this time of year for storing artificial Xmas trees make good enclosure. You can even combine two or more together to make it bigger. In the warm summer weather, it would be nice to get him outside for at least the day hours and bring him in at night. Glad you were able to get them and at least save one. Sorry about the loss of the other one.

Thanks for the info. I just read that thread Tom made about enclosed chambers and that's exactly what I'm looking for. I need a better way to control the Humidity. I live in Ohio and the winters here are quite cold and dry. I was getting him outside during the summer here but that's out of the question here in the winter. It's about 19 degrees out today, haha.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Where in the world are you?

Here in SoCal I have great success raising leopards in closed chambers combined with large heavily planted outdoor enclosures.
You can search through my threads to see lots of examples.

Hope this helps!

 

[Yvonne G]

***Smacks herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand***

Sorry about that! I sometimes fail to read the subject line. My fault, not yours.

You have been given the link I would have given you. There's good info in those links. If you still have question after you read those threads, ask away. I don't use a closed chamber, but I DO use the humid hide. I pour a pitcherfull of water over the substrate in the tort table whenever it gets too dry, and I have the hiding place packed with sphagnum moss. Every so often I remove the hide and spray the moss with warm water to keep it moist. So far, the three SA leopards I've raised this way are happy, healthy and smooth.

 

[Jriedy85]

***Smacks herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand***

Sorry about that! I sometimes fail to read the subject line. My fault, not yours.

You have been given the link I would have given you. There's good info in those links. If you still have question after you read those threads, ask away. I don't use a closed chamber, but I DO use the humid hide. I pour a pitcherfull of water over the substrate in the tort table whenever it gets too dry, and I have the hiding place packed with sphagnum moss. Every so often I remove the hide and spray the moss with warm water to keep it moist. So far, the three SA leopards I've raised this way are happy, healthy and smooth.

Haha. no worries. Any help I can get is appreciated! I want this lil guy to be happy.

 

[Jriedy85]

Also.... As far as substrate goes... Right now I have that repti-bark in his enclosure. I'm not sure if this is ideal or not. I guess I should look for some substrate threads.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I used to use clean yard dirt. Then plain top soil. Now I use fine coco coir with areas topped with sphagnum moss and love it.