My New Baby Leopard

[OllieInAZ]

I just bought my first baby leopard tortoise last night and was very happy to find this community. Thanks for all the useful information!

As a first time tort owner I wanted to check with the experts to make sure I'm doing the right things. Here is a summary of his new home,
- a 30 gallon glass tank with screen lid
- average temperature ~80 in the day time and ~70 at night (when the light is off)
- basking temperature ~95
- the light I purchased is a 125W "solar glo" mercury vapor bulb that says it provides UVB, UVA, visual, heat all in one
- most of the substrate is what I'd describe as "fluffy" soil that the pet store recommended
- I'm also working on a humid hide made of an inverted terracotta pot that I'll keep with damp cypress mulch
- I saw some recent pictures with live plants so I bought a wheatgrass (Pet grass from Petco) and a parsley plant from Home Depot -- I've read both of these can be part of a healthy diet. I put these in the corner of the tank. Hopefully they'll survive the 12-hours of near direct light.

From what I've read here I plan to soak the little guy (or girl) once or twice a day and also mist the shell a couple times a day.

Does this sound about right? Any suggestions?

 

[Seiryu]

Sounds great. Your little one looks good!

Only thing I can add is to keep the substrate moist.

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the forum looks good your night time temp is 70 ? I would up that a little maybe get a CHE for the night

 

[yagyujubei]

Nice job. Looks like you've done your homework. I might up the temps 5 degrees or so. Your setup looks great.Your little leopard looks great also. Good Luck.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi OllieInAZ:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?

 

[ticothetort2]

Congrats on your little guy, he looks great! Everything looks great, just follow the advice you get on here and your lep should grow up happy and healthy...

 

[Mao Senpai]

Very cute

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Really impressive! Your Leo is adorable and lucky to have a great tort parent like you!

 

[Laura]

Where did you get it from? Do you know how they were raised or kept before you?
oh,, and welcome to our family!!

 

[OllieInAZ]

Yes, the night time temp is hovering just above 70 -- the night time temp in my house. I'll definitely look into a CHE. How urgent do you think this is? Do I need to run out and get one ASAP or will it be okay if I order one and it takes a couple of days?

Also, is 70 just for the babies? Can adults tolerate a broader range?

Welcome to the forum looks good your night time temp is 70 ? I would up that a little maybe get a CHE for the night

---

My name is Charles ... and my new addition's name is, 'Ollie'.

Hi OllieInAZ:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?

---

I bought it from a reputable local pet store (Pets, Inc) that got him from a local breeder. There were four siblings sharing a 30 gallon tank in the store. The substrate was the same as what they sold me and they said the diet was a variety fresh leafy vegetables varied daily.

Is there something in particular I should keep consistent? Or, that I should have looked for or asked when I got it?

Where did you get it from? Do you know how they were raised or kept before you?
oh,, and welcome to our family!!

---

Everyone, thanks for all the welcomes & suggestions!

Charles

 

[Badgemash]

Hi Charles,

There has been a lot of debate on the forum about the role of substrate humidity and shell growth/formation at an early age, which I suspect is why Laura was asking. Many leopard keepers on the forum (myself included) are finding empirically that high humidity appears to prevent pyramided shell growth, and the first few weeks and months are a critical period. I liked Pets Inc, last time I was in there they let me play with the pancakes, and Ollie is a cutie!

-Devon

 

[Tom]

The CHE is not critically urgent, but keep the substrate dry-ish until you get it. Cool and damp at the same time is not good. Warm and humid is great.

 

[OllieInAZ]

Devon,

Thanks for the explanation. I've been reading up whatever I can find on pyramiding. I'm glad that Ollie appears, to me, to be fairly smooth up to this point. I've yet to get a Hygrometer but that's definitely on my short list.

Charles

Hi Charles,

There has been a lot of debate on the forum about the role of substrate humidity and shell growth/formation at an early age, which I suspect is why Laura was asking. Many leopard keepers on the forum (myself included) are finding empirically that high humidity appears to prevent pyramided shell growth, and the first few weeks and months are a critical period. I liked Pets Inc, last time I was in there they let me play with the pancakes, and Ollie is a cutie!

-Devon

 

[Neal]

Good set up. Keeping it a little warmer during the night would be good. The basking spot temperature is perfect. When he gets big enough (about 4+ inches) you can keep him outside year round in AZ. When the temps dip to the mid 60's and below you should make sure he has a warm place to go for the night...don't need to worry about that for a couple of years.

Pets Inc is a really good place. They have nice little surprises from time to time. They've had pardalis for sale a few times and a couple years ago they had a bunch of indian stars.

 

[TLL]

aww how i love baby leopards, i wish they kept that same kind of shell after they matured.

 

[OllieInAZ]

Okay, here's a question that didn't occur to me earlier... How and how often should the substrate be changed/cleaned?

 

[Seiryu]

Okay, here's a question that didn't occur to me earlier... How and how often should the substrate be changed/cleaned?

Depends on how well you spot clean. If you spot clean the poops on a daily basis then it can easily last a year or more.

I use cypress and haven't had to change it yet in many months because I spot clean whenever I can.

 

[OllieInAZ]

That makes sense. But he's such a little guy with little poops it seems like it'd be hard to track them down.

I'm assuming tortoises just go wherever is convenient? They don't pick a corner as their 'restroom'?

 

[Seiryu]

That makes sense. But he's such a little guy with little poops it seems like it'd be hard to track them down.

I'm assuming tortoises just go wherever is convenient? They don't pick a corner as their 'restroom'?

It's pretty random, although mine definitely have pooped more in certain areas than others. You should be able to easily see the poop, depending on what substrate you use I guess. That is if you can get to it before your tortoise does

 

[Tom]

Since I soak mine everyday, they all poop in the water. Its pretty rare for any of mine to even poop in the enclosure.