Meet JUNO! My new Leo

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John

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PoisonOrchid said:
Oh ok. So It's acclimating. Phew. :) I thought she was like dying or something.
I get worried since I didn't read about that happening and I don't have much experience with Leos.
Thanks

does it have access to water and if so has it been drinking? have you soaked it?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Ivy:

I'm so glad that you got an older tortoise. Juno is very pretty. Her tail looks male, but her anal scutes look female. Sorry I'm no help there.
But, like was said in an earlier post, she has some deformity from being indoors with no sun and probably not getting the correct diet. (or humidity)

My advice to you is to allow her to eat all the grass she wants, but don't feed her any grocery store foods. I've seen leopards with this type of shell growth, and if you feed them too much other types of grocery store foods she will grow her body faster than her shell and soon be unable to walk up on her legs. Her body won't fit her shell.

So, grass every day, occasionally cactus, mulberry leaves and grape leaves.
 

PoisonOrchid

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Yes. I soaked her in some lukewarm water first thing when she came home :)
And she has a plant dish that she can get into to drink from :) She hasnt took a drink yet. But I will soak and mist her daily, and she has access to the water dish/bowl
Its ok lol. I shall call her a her :)

I actually formed a theory
The petstore closes at 7. This is when they turn off the lights. I'm thinking shes going to sleep, but everytime I go to her dog house, she has her eyes open and stick out her neck and stares me down. Its kinda cute though
I actually moved her and gave her another soak in her bowl, and she left and went back to her house and is in the dried grass we placed in there. I suppose she's sleepy. And stressed since she is moving from indoors to out
I guess I'll lock her up in 2-3 hours and move her into the porch and cover her up for a little bit. I'm using a towel to cover her up. :)
I plan on giving her lots of grasses for now. Fibrous foods, so grass and some hay. I don' plan on giving her much veges for maybe a week, just so then she gets to clear her system from the food from the pet store.
 

l0velesly

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What a beautiful colored leo. I'm glad it's in the hands of a caring owner!
 

Neal

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I'm with Yvonne in seeing some male in this one, it certainly looks MORE like a female. But the tail is wrong. I'm glad she/he is in a better home.
 

PoisonOrchid

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Thanks! :)
I moved her dog house into the porch and put a blanket over it.
We painted our living room, so that why she isnt sleeping in. It's gonna get 60 F tonight, but I think she should be fine with the blankets surrounding her :)
 

dmmj

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60 sounds a little cold to me for a leo, she ( I am just saying she not a guess) has great colors though, I like the lighter coloring. She is stunted but with time and proper diet she should outgrow it some and it should not affect her health as long as it is reversed, and the pet store definitely got the size wrong when I saw her in your hand I knew she was way bigger than 4 inches but overall a nice looking leo congrats.

Give her time to acclimate to her new surroundings, she will sooner or later start eating and exploring her new home. It is stressful on tortoises to move like that they like routine and when that routine is interrupted ( going to a new home) it takes time to readjust. Maybe you should give the pet store the TFO address so they can direct them to it? just a thought.
 

PoisonOrchid

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I just called the pet store and gave them the link. She said that she will join soon( the manager).
This morning, she was already awake. I gave her a 15 min soak, and then put her in her enclosure. She then roamed a bit, sat in a corner and started eating some clovers and grass. I think she loves being in the sun. She's been trying to stay in as much sunlight as possible.
It actually didnt get that cold last night. I woke up at 3, 5, and 6 to check the temps and to check up on her. It was only 65F. Only a 5 degree diff. but she seemed fine.

Is it normal for her to bob her head up and down? I noticed her doing that a bit...
 

Neal

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I see this sometimes. I notice it more when they are alarmed or maybe even nervous. Maybe I'm wrong but it appears they are breathing a lot heavier than normal and it causes their heads to bob up and down. She may still be adjusting to her new place, but I wouldn't worry about the head bobbing at all.
 

Fernando

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Neal said:
I see this sometimes. I notice it more when they are alarmed or maybe even nervous. Maybe I'm wrong but it appears they are breathing a lot heavier than normal and it causes their heads to bob up and down. She may still be adjusting to her new place, but I wouldn't worry about the head bobbing at all.

Yeah that seems fine. My sulcata and one of the Russians will do this when they are nervous. I agree with Neal, it's heavy breathing.
 

PoisonOrchid

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Oh ok. Like us hyperventilating :)
So I moved her to the food stone and she chomped away. She doesnt seem like shes drinking from her dish. I'm probably going to leave her alone for a few hours when I have to go shopping later on. SHould I let her be, or lock her up?
 

Neal

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I would say let her be as much as you possibly can. Even an adult tortoise will take awhile to adjust to new surroundings, moving them frequently will make adjusting a longer process I think.
 

Melly-n-shorty

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Congrats! I hope my daughter grows up to be as responsible and caring of animals! your leo is so cute and I love her name. I am still a new leo owner myself. I would just watch those cool evenings because i have read they can be more susceptible to respiratory infections then other desert torts. it sounds like Juno is going to be well taken care of!
 

yagyujubei

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If she were mine, I would feed her Mazuri everyday, liberally. I think that you can get her shell back growing on the right track, but it will take awhile, and I don't believe that just grass and greens will be enough. She needs that extra nutrition and calories to do the trick, in my opinion. I think that she has been on a woefully deficient diet for some time. She's a beauty, though, and I think her life has probably improved already. Good Luck.

To answer your other question, she is simply resting in the corner, it makes them feel like they're hidden somewhat. Does she have a hide box?
 

PoisonOrchid

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I actually came back a bit ago, but my internet was lagging.
I actually left her alone and when I came home, she was munching on some weeds.
I will look into getting her some Mazuri. Local pet stores dont carry it. But I got her some orchard grass and timothy hay, which she doesnt like. She seems to like her weeds MUCH more. But I will get her to eat the hay and grass. She's always been feed garden mixes and veges, so it might take time.
I don't think she likes me anymore lol. She hides when I pick her up, but thats cause shes new here. :)
But yes, she has 3 hiding places, her dog house, a little rock house thing I made, and this plastic thing.
She was out in the sun eating as usual.

But no, I can't really cover the enclosure with anything. But we dont get birds of prey. The only "predators" are my chihuahuas, but they dont really care about any other animals. They stick to each other and the family and ignore everything else. They hate cats and birds though. And there was a blue jay eyeing Juno, but they shoo-ed it away :)

Forgot to mention
I think she knows when bed time is. :) When it gets shady in her home, she goes into her house. :)
 

PoisonOrchid

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Just a quick update on Juno
She does go to bed on her own(she likes to bury herself under the hay) and gets warm soaks every morning.
She LOVES basking in the warm sun and eats like a piggy :p
I finely dusted her food with a 1/2 tsp of grounded cuttlebone. I wont do this often.

Thanks for all the help once again.
 
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