LEOPARD TORTOISES CANNOT SWIM !!

[yagyujubei]

Really?

All were very calm, bobbing like corks, and swimming quite well
Coming next : Leopard tortoises cannot fly.

 

[Tom]

Well that's two species. Leopards and sulcatas. Whose next?

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh, please, please, PLEASE tell me the "fly" comment was a joke!

 

[im461n3]

I heard some guys said the torts in the wild can swim across the river before, but I had reservation until I saw these unbelievable photos.

 

[Robert]

Wow! Pretty amazing!

 

[Laura]

I wouldnt trust that around a swimming pool in someones back yard.. or pond with no easy access in/out.
but the pics abd supervised this way.. kinda cute!
the higher domed ones seem to float better??

 

[ticothetort2]

Thanks for letting your little ones be the guinea pigs on this one! Could be a good way to keep them nice and hydrated...

 

[Tom]

I found that when they start to feel water they do a big instinctive inhale to fill their lungs and make them more buoyant. Just like people. I don't think they could swim indefinitely, so I think Laura is right about protecting them from falling into swimming pools. I would just feel terrible if someone took this all the wrong way.

 

[yagyujubei]

I talked to a breeder in South Africa, and here's what he says on the subject "Leopard tortoises can swim well and will cross rivers or lakes. They swim rather slowly and falling into water does not stress them as they float with their heads out of the water for hours on end."
This is a use your own judgement thing, and I haven't tested the adults yet. I doubt if I would put them in a deep bucket and leave the room for an extended period, but they can maneuver well and really swim. I don't know yet if they float under all circumstances, or if they sink, if they can swim back up to the surface, but I suspect that they're more at home in the water than we think.

 

[DeanS]

I've seen my baby sulcatas swimming now this leopard, but I won't be impressed until I've seen Lonesome George hit the surf! Did anyone see the adult Yellowfoot swimming in a NGW segment?

 

[onarock]

Like your bulletproof sulcata comment? Still waiting for the retraction and from the looks of it, I'm not the only one.

I would just feel terrible if someone took this all the wrong way.

 

[Yvonne G]

Years ago I belonged to one of Joe Heinen's YAHOOgroup listservs about African tortoises. Someone posted a video in the photo album section of their adult leopard tortoise swimming. The only name that comes to mind is Richard Fife, but I really don't think he belonged to that group. I've tried to find the video, but without the fellow's name, its hard to wade through all the pictures.

---

Boy, was I ever way off base. It was Steve Spitzer's leopard tortoise:

http://africantortoise.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=50

(click on the picture to make it bigger)

 

[Robert]

Wow. That's very cool! Does anyone have experienc with having a koi pond as part of theirntort enclosure? I've always wanted a koi pond.

 

[Mao Senpai]

This makes me wonder if their dome shape or the lungs being on the upper portion keeps them ... right side up.

 

[Robert]

This makes me wonder if their dome shape or the lungs being on the upper portion keeps them ... right side up.

You mean they can't backstroke?.

 

[Tom]

Yvonne, I loved those pics. Wow! All of them. Nice photo of the wild SA Leopard too.

Do you recall in the text if the leopards swam on their own or did he put them in the water. What a new concept. I never thought about offering a "desert" species tort the OPPORTUNITY to swim. Since we have clearly discovered the benefits of soaking and spraying, I wonder how good it must be for them to be immersed like that from time to time. I know Dean has done some things along these lines and that South African care sheet we saw the other day (you know, the one that was FROM South Africa) mentioned them NEEDING a "swimming pool". So much of that sheet was non-sense that I, and I think some others too, might have dismissed ALL of it a little too quickly. Mine sure like their mud wallow in summer. What if it were deeper, but still had gently sloping sides for easy haul out? Hmmm...

 

[Robert]

Giving them the 'option' to swim would be pretty interesting. As a new tort owner, I'm sure it would take me a while to feel comfortable leaving her unsupervised around water deep enough for her to swim in. Still very interesting.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Not to change the subject...but I so want that dog!

 

[Balboa]

I think you're right on with giving them the option to swim guys. As we've come to realize they don't live in the sandy sahara desert it comes to reason they likely have bodies of water they frequent.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Nice pictures.