Male or female?? LEA or Leo??

[LeaCrystal]

curious to see if your answer is the same as mine plus I’ve asked about 6 years ago lol I love her!!

 

[wellington]

Looks female too me. How big is she though? I have a male who's growth was slowed due to poor keeping from its previous owner. It looked female and was about 3-4 at the time. After proper care, she turned out too be a he and finely grew to the size he should have been.
I'm not trying too say you have given bad care. She just looks small for being 6 years. If she is very small for her age, she is either very slow too grow and could still turn male like mine did or she's just going to be a smaller female.
My female at that age was around 9 inches.

 

[LeaCrystal]

Looks female too me. How big is she though? I have a male who's growth was slowed due to poor keeping from its previous owner. It looked female and was about 3-4 at the time. After proper care, she turned out too be a he and finely grew to the size he should have been.
I'm not trying too say you have given bad care. She just looks small for being 6 years. If she is very small for her age, she is either very slow too grow and could still turn male like mine did or she's just going to be a smaller female.
My female at that age was around 9 inches.

I feel as if She is a smaller female. I take her to the vet yearly and every time they tell me she is very healthy little torti. But they also told me she was male at first lol as I know it’s hard to tell. How do I measure?

 

[wellington]

Measure the bottom shell from head too tail.

 

[Yvonne G]

Female

 

[LeaCrystal]

Female

Thank you!

 

[LeaCrystal]

Like this??

 

[Markw84]

It does look female, but that is a very small leopard tortoise for 6 years old. It looks to be about 6" long, and at that size, I normally would be hesitant to guess. But with the age and stunted growth, it could indeed be female.

 

[LeaCrystal]

If it’s growth is stunted then why doesn’t my vet tell me this??

 

[LeaCrystal]

If the growth is stunted what stunts leopard torti growth??

 

[teresaf]

Vets don't want you to know that they don't know everything. Especially when you're going to pay out of your pocket a hundred bucks a pop.

 

[teresaf]

Humidity helps them grow faster but if you raise the humidity you have to keep the temperature above 80 in every corner of the enclosure. I say enclosure because you would need to enclose the area with a plastic sheet or something in order to be able to hold / trap humid air in her enclosed area

 

[teresaf]

Vets don't know about this technique either since it's a newer technique. Raising tortoises in their growing years High humid and high heat makes it so the shell grows smooth and larger than the pyramid bumpy shells that a lot of leopards have that are raised in dry areas...

Daily warm soaks don't hurt either. But you could probably get away with two or three a week to help the humid issue. Keeping her hydrated and making sure she has the proper nutrition and she should grow really good....

 

[LeaCrystal]

I do soak her a few times per week and make sure it’s warm water. So I don’t believe that is a issue

 

[LeaCrystal]

I also have a repti ramp in her enclosure making her have full day access to a room temperature soak

 

[teresaf]

Are you talking about the water bowl? Those are known tripping hazards. Clay terracotta pot saucers work well and they can't tip over upside down into the water.

 

[wellington]

I also have a repti ramp in her enclosure making her have full day access to a room temperature soak

She is very small for her age. As stated, most vets know nothing or very little about tortoises.
If you can post pics of the enclosure and the size of the enclosure and includ a list of her diet , we might be able to help you tweak things to get some growth on her.
A too small of an enclosure and a bad diet will stunt their growth. That's what happened to the male I rescued. It can be corrected. At least it was corrected with mine and he grew to the size he should have been. Yours should be around 11 inches.

 

[LeaCrystal]

Okay I’ve also heard if you grow them too fast it will hurt the heart

 

[LeaCrystal]

Anyways I’m just wanting to know what you feed a 9 year old leopard tortoise?? I know what I feed her but I am curious what everyone else feeds theirs at this age??

 

[teresaf]

I've NEVER heard that growing too fast is bad for their heart...that's a new one.