My official p.pardalis leopard tort page

[cmacusa3]

Awesome! Thanks

 

[diamondbp]

Here are my two newest additions . Absolutely stunning 4month olds from SierraView ranch. These are hands down the healthiest young leopards I've been fortunate enough to purchase. They are clutch mates but very different so far. Here are some pics from their arrival today and their first Louisiana soak.

 

[Elohi]

Here are my two newest additions . Absolutely stunning 4month olds from SierraView ranch. These are hands down the healthiest young leopards I've been fortunate enough to purchase. They are clutch mates but very different so far. Here are some pics from their arrival today and their first Louisiana soak.View attachment 121814View attachment 121815View attachment 121816View attachment 121817View attachment 121818View attachment 121819View attachment 121820

Omgosh I totally saw these two on fb!
How are the pp personalities? I've been spying the Sierra View Ranch hatchlings.

 

[diamondbp]

Monica the darker one (Mary) was more outgoing out of the box than the lighter one (Grace) but I'm sure they will settle in and I'll be able to really get a gage of their personalities.

They were HEAVY rock solid beauties. I've been waiting since December for it to warm up to receive them. They were incubated for females.

Sue and Dan from SierraView are really fantastic and I've become good friends with them. They raise up some truly impressive leopards that blow most other breeders quality out of the water. I know for a fact that they are committed on a daily basis to doing the very best for their babies ......and IT SHOWS!

 

[cmacusa3]

Those are Awesome looking!

 

[gingerbee]

Beautiful!!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Byron, they are stunning! What's your total leopard count now?

 

[diamondbp]

Byron, they are stunning! What's your total leopard count now?

16...... Unfortunately I had some babies from a breeder who kept them on rabbit pellets that didn't do well and eventually didn't make it . I strongly advise that if anyone sees rabbit pellets in the background of whoever you're considering buying from to strongly consider buying elsewhere. I've definitely learned my lesson.

 

[puffy137]

Get thee behind me Satan!!! I am tempted to get a couple like you diamondbp, but the distance & the risks to those babies really put me off , but they really are beautiful.

 

[diamondbp]

Get thee behind me Satan!!! I am tempted to get a couple like you diamondbp, but the distance & the risks to those babies really put me off , but they really are beautiful.

lol My apologies. What do you mean by the distance & risk? Shipping risk?

 

[puffy137]

Yes I live in the Middle East , shipments not reliable & leopards need a lot more specialist care than my greeks .

lol My apologies. What do you mean by the distance & risk? Shipping risk?[/QUOTE

 

[MichaelS]

Very beautiful specimens. Quit round and high domed for SAs. Do you have their weight?

 

[diamondbp]

Very beautiful specimens. Quit round and high domed for SAs. Do you have their weight?

I haven't weighed them yet Michael. They are pardalis/babcocki mixes. I have 3 mixes from different parents and these will be put with them eventually. I'm keeping my pure p.pardalis together for future breeding and the mixes will be kept together (but separate from the pure).

They almost look pure but the mom was a blonde babcocki. If you look on the first page of this post the other 3 mixes are the last ones listed with pictures. But these new ones are just very large for their age thanks to Sue and Dan's(sierraview owners) husbandry skills. I'm dead serious when I say they are by far the healthiest I've ever received.

 

[MichaelS]

Got it...that explaines the high round carapace then

 

[Tom]

Hijacking is forgiven . As far as my slow growers, I think several different factors come into play. I think the primary factor, at least is my group, is how dry some were started and I honestly think that that's really hard to overcome.

In two or three years I will start getting babies out of my herd. Then we will be able to answer this question. Whenever I buy groups of hatchlings of any species from breeders, I get wildly variable growth rates. No so with the eggs I hatch myself.

Is this because they were transported to a new area? Sometimes it was just a short car ride. Other times they were shipped across the entire country.
Are the differing growth rates due to incubation technique? Hatchling care techniques? Early humidity and hydration? Diet? Time will tell...

I'm going to guess that when we, the participants of this thread with SA leopards, start hatching our own babies and start them with warm temps, humidity and daily soaks, we will see much more homogenous growth rates.

One more thing to consider: Early on my males grew much faster than my females. At around year four, the males have slowed their pace a bit and the females are now on appetite and growth overdrive.

 

[diamondbp]

In two or three years I will start getting babies out of my herd. Then we will be able to answer this question. Whenever I buy groups of hatchlings of any species from breeders, I get wildly variable growth rates. No so with the eggs I hatch myself.

Is this because they were transported to a new area? Sometimes it was just a short car ride. Other times they were shipped across the entire country.
Are the differing growth rates due to incubation technique? Hatchling care techniques? Early humidity and hydration? Diet? Time will tell...

I'm going to guess that when we, the participants of this thread with SA leopards, start hatching our own babies and start them with warm temps, humidity and daily soaks, we will see much more homogenous growth rates.

One more thing to consider: Early on my males grew much faster than my females. At around year four, the males have slowed their pace a bit and the females are now on appetite and growth overdrive.

This is true with my own sulcata hatchlings as well. They grow nice and steady, in a uniform fashion. In 3months they are triple a hatchlings size.

I've considered that if a female hasn't eaten a consistent nutritious diet that her hatchlings could possibly suffer from that. I would imagine that that's the case with some breeders who feed mainly hay and don't provide proper grazing grounds or supplemental foods.

But my gut tells me the main culprit is the lack of hydration and humidity in the first 12weeks of life.

Here are my personally hatched sulcatas , one a fresh hatchling, the other 3months old. All my hatchlings from the same clutches are remarkably similar in size and growth rates

 

[Tom]

All my hatchlings from the same clutches are remarkably similar in size and growth rates

I'm so glad you said this. This is a topic that I have thought a lot about, but not discussed much. So you and I are seeing the same thing with our own babies that we bred, incubated and hatched ourselves. I strongly suspect that we will get the same results with our SA leopards when we start getting babies.

If that turns out to be the case, then we will have to discuss where the problem(s) lie with other breeders babies or techniques.

 

[puffy137]

I'm so jealous I've got my own leopard / sulcata !

 

[diamondbp]

Few grazing photos early this morning. Enjoy

 

[Sheldon the russian tortoise]

Here are my two newest additions . Absolutely stunning 4month olds from SierraView ranch. These are hands down the healthiest young leopards I've been fortunate enough to purchase. They are clutch mates but very different so far. Here are some pics from their arrival today and their first Louisiana soak.View attachment 121814View attachment 121815View attachment 121816View attachment 121817View attachment 121818View attachment 121819View attachment 121820

Goo louisiana torts!!