Hello,
I have been following this forum for almost a year..
It all started when I "tortoise-sat" my friend's Russian for 3 weeks in the beginning of this year. The whole family enjoyed watching him. After he went home we started our own search for a Russian. I've had a rather large collection of animals over the years ( I trained them and did educational presentations to schools etc.) but NEVER kept a tortoise because I always thought they were boring. LOL. I am pleased to have discovered I was wrong In my research of tortoises I stumbled upon this forum. After a few weeks of reading up on the different species and their varied care I came across The End of Pyramiding II thread. The Leopard tortoise was a much better fit for me and I felt up to the challenge of raising a leopard hatchling smooth with a hot, humid, hydrated method. Now that I knew what species I wanted and had read up extensively on their specific care I searched for a breeder. I found a lady fairly close to me who had a few clutches available. Finally after almost 3 full months of research, I met the lady and chose one of her babies. We have named him Leviathan (a large Biblical monster) but since he is still small we call him Levi. If "he" becomes a "she"...well..we will cross that bridge when we get there.
Levi is today 6months old. He is our perfect pet and we couldn't be happier. When kept inside he is in a 40gal with the top covered. His humidity is at 80% his low temps are 81 and up to 105 for basking. When kepts outside he has his own garden built and grown just for him. It is 20'x6' or 120sq ft. My husband's tool shed makes one wall, our back block wall makes one wall and the other 2 wall are built up of brick. When we older/larger/stronger we will mortar the brick retaining wall but for now they are simply stacked. I have grown different grasses and weeds in there from seeds and purchased a few cultivated plants/succulents native to Africa and it is his perfect paradise. He loves it, I love it and I literally can sit and watch him cruise around for hours. Not so boring anymore
Thank you Tom for your educational information about raising this species. Levi is still completely smooth and growing beautifully.
Thank you Moderators and Administrators for running this forum so people like me can give the best to their torts.
I will be posting pictures of Levi and his set ups in the appropriate sections.
Heather
Heather
I have been following this forum for almost a year..
It all started when I "tortoise-sat" my friend's Russian for 3 weeks in the beginning of this year. The whole family enjoyed watching him. After he went home we started our own search for a Russian. I've had a rather large collection of animals over the years ( I trained them and did educational presentations to schools etc.) but NEVER kept a tortoise because I always thought they were boring. LOL. I am pleased to have discovered I was wrong In my research of tortoises I stumbled upon this forum. After a few weeks of reading up on the different species and their varied care I came across The End of Pyramiding II thread. The Leopard tortoise was a much better fit for me and I felt up to the challenge of raising a leopard hatchling smooth with a hot, humid, hydrated method. Now that I knew what species I wanted and had read up extensively on their specific care I searched for a breeder. I found a lady fairly close to me who had a few clutches available. Finally after almost 3 full months of research, I met the lady and chose one of her babies. We have named him Leviathan (a large Biblical monster) but since he is still small we call him Levi. If "he" becomes a "she"...well..we will cross that bridge when we get there.
Levi is today 6months old. He is our perfect pet and we couldn't be happier. When kept inside he is in a 40gal with the top covered. His humidity is at 80% his low temps are 81 and up to 105 for basking. When kepts outside he has his own garden built and grown just for him. It is 20'x6' or 120sq ft. My husband's tool shed makes one wall, our back block wall makes one wall and the other 2 wall are built up of brick. When we older/larger/stronger we will mortar the brick retaining wall but for now they are simply stacked. I have grown different grasses and weeds in there from seeds and purchased a few cultivated plants/succulents native to Africa and it is his perfect paradise. He loves it, I love it and I literally can sit and watch him cruise around for hours. Not so boring anymore
Thank you Tom for your educational information about raising this species. Levi is still completely smooth and growing beautifully.
Thank you Moderators and Administrators for running this forum so people like me can give the best to their torts.
I will be posting pictures of Levi and his set ups in the appropriate sections.
Heather
Heather