LEOPARD TORTOISE EATING HABIT

[yusufning]

Hi everyone,

This post will be a tad long but please bear with me. So I've had 2 leopards (approximately 8cm) for almost three months. I think their eating habit is a bit weird, namely with the following conditions:

1. They eat roughly the same amount compared to my 6cm sulcata, I assume they would eat more (they are 3 times the mass of my sulcatas). (note: food amount, 1 piece of lettuce for both of them). Is this normal?
2. One of the leopards only likes pellets and will not eat any vegetables unless being coated with mushed pellets. Why is this the case?
3. Compared to my other tortoises (redfoot, forstens, and sulcatas) their appetite are not as revenues. Is this normal?
4. Compared to my other tortoises, the leopards seem to be very shy (will not approach and eat from my hand).

Note: they have all the required needs (water, UVB light, Basking light, hides)

Thanks, if anyone can shed a light on this matter I will greatly appreciate it.

 

[wellington]

Feed them, all of them more. I give my leopards a pile of greens a bit bigger then the size of them. They would get this about 5 times a day.
Babies need to have food always available. They will eat/graze several times throughout the day. I like too make sure when they go to sleep at night there is a little food left over. I will clean that out in the morning if it's not gone.
I'm thinking your not feeding any of them enough.

 

[yusufning]

Feed them, all of them more. I give my leopards a pile of greens a bit bigger then the size of them. They would get this about 5 times a day.
Babies need to have food always available. They will eat/graze several times throughout the day. I like too make sure when they go to sleep at night there is a little food left over. I will clean that out in the morning if it's not gone.
I'm thinking your not feeding any of them enough.

Thanks for your reply. For the forstens, redfoot, and sulcata I always give plenty more more than the size of their body. But the problem is the leopards as I mentioned above. They eat very little (compared to other tortoises) and one of them will only eat veggies if is coated with mushed pellets even then its not much. Point being, it seems that their appetite is low compared to the other species.

 

[Tom]

First question: Are they all living together?
Second question: Are they in an enclosure with substrate or are they living on concrete or newspaper?

Leopards do tend to be shyer than some other species, but they should eat more than that. My leopards have always eaten just as much as any other species their size.

Lettuce is not a good tortoise food for any species.

 

[yusufning]

First question: Are they all living together?
Second question: Are they in an enclosure with substrate or are they living on concrete or newspaper?

Leopards do tend to be shyer than some other species, but they should eat more than that. My leopards have always eaten just as much as any other species their size.

Lettuce is not a good tortoise food for any species.

Hi Tom

Thanks for the reply.
1st answer: No they are not. The two leopard have their own enclosure. 2nd answer: they have substrate which is mix of mulch and organic top soil.

"but they should eat more than that. My leopards have always eaten just as much as any other species their size." Yes thats what I thought aswell. Thats why its weird because its only my leopards. Also, they seem to be less interested with food compared to my other species.

The lettuce was just a visualization aid hehe.

additional info: the two leopards are both 9cm, one is 170grams, the other is 156grams (this one requires mushed pellets to be mixed with the food, otherwise will just smell the food).

 

[Lyn W]

Have you seen the caresheet for leopards yet?
That will tell you about diet, temperature, substrate etc,
Also check their temps because if they are too cold they won't eat.
They also need uvb to help them digest their food.
If you can post pics of their enclosure and bulbs/heat sources members can tell you if you need to make any changes that may help.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom

Thanks for the reply.
1st answer: No they are not. The two leopard have their own enclosure. 2nd answer: they have substrate which is mix of mulch and organic top soil.

"but they should eat more than that. My leopards have always eaten just as much as any other species their size." Yes thats what I thought aswell. Thats why its weird because its only my leopards. Also, they seem to be less interested with food compared to my other species.

The lettuce was just a visualization aid hehe.

additional info: the two leopards are both 9cm, one is 170grams, the other is 156grams (this one requires mushed pellets to be mixed with the food, otherwise will just smell the food).

They should never be housed as a pair. This is very stressful for tortoises and is a likely contributor to their lack of appetite.

What kind of mulch? What is it made of?

I wouldn't use bought-in-a-bag soil because you can't know what composted material its made of.

These are the things I see so far. What size enclosure is it? What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low? What heating and lighting equipment are you using to maintain those temps? What are you using for night heat?
Were these tortoise previously exposed to other tortoise species before you got them?

 

[yusufning]

Have you seen the caresheet for leopards yet?
That will tell you about diet, temperature, substrate etc,
Also check their temps because if they are too cold they won't eat.
They also need uvb to help them digest their food.
If you can post pics of their enclosure and bulbs/heat sources members can tell you if you need to make any changes that may help.

Yes I have.

Temps never go below 26celsius. Basking temps ranges from 30-35. I have UVB source with correct distance. Ill post a pic soon.

 

[yusufning]

They should never be housed as a pair. This is very stressful for tortoises and is a likely contributor to their lack of appetite.

What kind of mulch? What is it made of?

I wouldn't use bought-in-a-bag soil because you can't know what composted material its made of.

These are the things I see so far. What size enclosure is it? What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low? What heating and lighting equipment are you using to maintain those temps? What are you using for night heat?
Were these tortoise previously exposed to other tortoise species before you got them?

Are you sure tortoise arent suppose to be house in pair? Ive seen many housed in pair

It is made of cypress mulch and organic top soil which we make airself mostly from deadleaf litter. Warm side is around 30, cool side approximately 26 (i live indonesia) warm allyear around, basking area ranges from 30-35, overnight is 26 aswell. Heating i use halogen bulb, i use no nightheat source.

No they were only exposed to their own species

 

[Tom]

Are you sure tortoise arent suppose to be house in pair? Ive seen many housed in pair

It is made of cypress mulch and organic top soil which we make airself mostly from deadleaf litter. Warm side is around 30, cool side approximately 26 (i live indonesia) warm allyear around, basking area ranges from 30-35, overnight is 26 aswell. Heating i use halogen bulb, i use no nightheat source.

No they were only exposed to their own species

Yes, I am sure about the pair thing. Seen it so many times over that last 3 decades.

Your substrate sounds like it should be fine, as long as the leaf litter you are using is all non-toxic leaves.

Your temps sound close enough, though I wouldn't use a halogen bulb for basking because they contribute to more pyramiding than regular incandescent bulbs.

What type of UB bulb are you using?

What size is the enclosure?

 

[yusufning]

Yes, I am sure about the pair thing. Seen it so many times over that last 3 decades.

Your substrate sounds like it should be fine, as long as the leaf litter you are using is all non-toxic leaves.

Your temps sound close enough, though I wouldn't use a halogen bulb for basking because they contribute to more pyramiding than regular incandescent bulbs.

What type of UB bulb are you using?

What size is the enclosure?

HI Tom,

Thanks again for you reply. Okay so they either need to be kept in a group or alone am I correct? Not as a pair.

I see, I will change it to regular bulb. UB bulb is a reptisun tube.

Also, for the leopard that wont eat anything other than pellets? should I just not give pellets at all? (with the idea that eventually he will have no choice but to eat regular food).

 

[Yvonne G]

I would soak the pellets until it's easy to get them to fall apart, then chop up some of the good greens into tiny pieces. Mash a few pellets up with a fork, then toss in the greens, mixing well until all the greens are covered with the mashed up pellets. If he eats the pellet-coated greens, then you can slowly, over time, decrease the amount of pellet and increase the amount of greens.

 

[Tom]

HI Tom,
Thanks again for you reply. Okay so they either need to be kept in a group or alone am I correct? Not as a pair.

Groups usually work with leopards, but if you get two males, sometimes they want to battle. You can try a group, but be prepared to house all of them separately if needed. Alone is best. Groups of females are always fine too. If there is an exception to this, meaning an aggressive, territorial female, I've never seen or heard of it.