Need advice (new leopard)

Stacey1234

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
Spain
322F8BCB-2C8A-458F-87DF-417183389C38.jpeg D40828F8-4720-45C5-9688-2F3C305BAD0B.jpeg Hiyah iv just got givven my mates dead dads tourtoise i dont no nothing about it nor does she i am in spain she is in england and we no the tourtoise lived in the villas back garden with a tub of water and strawberrys lettece and tomatoes i dont no how old it is or whats the best thing for it im absolutly besotted by it i want to give it the best life possible
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
The diet you mentioned is awful and should not be fed. She needs to live outside when its warm, 75 and above and will need to be able to bask either in the hot sun to warm upto 95-100 or under a basking light.
She needs water 24/7 and check out the tortoisetable.org.uk for edible safe items
 

TheKB

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Messages
22
Location (City and/or State)
Finland
Hi! This tortoise is probably close to 20-years-old, however it's quite impossible to know the exact age. Feed it right and it will live to +70 years.
Strawberries and tomatoes should not be in their diet - maybe a little once a month. Feed the tortoise 70% grass and 30% weeds&flowers. The edible grass is very important for their gut to work properly. Check some Spanish tortoise forums if they have list of edible weeds local to you - you don't want to feed it anything that is poisonous. Good luck!

EDIT: The working link for the edible plants list that wellington suggested is https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/
 
Last edited:

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
And don't forget heat. This tortoise species comes from a country where it doesn't get cold. If your weather is cold, the tortoise will need a heated shelter.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Hi and welcome.
I have a leopard in the UK.
Please read the caresheets
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
and
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/leopard-tortoise-care-sheet.63792/
They have lots of up to date advice and will be a good start for you and tell you all about diet, temps, substrate and humidity etc.
As others have said his diet needs to be changed because fruits (incl tomatoes) are not good for torts - their digestive systems can't cope with the sugars.
Lettuce and cucumber etc has very little nutritional value.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe plants. Weeds like dandelions, ribwort and broadleaf plantain sow thistle etc are good as long as they are from a safe chemical/car fume free area. Shop bought potted plants have probably had fertilizers and pesticides etc so try to avoid those, unless you have repotted and allowed about a year for the chemicals to have grown out.
He will enjoy a good soak a few times a week in luke-warm water and needs access to fresh water in a container large enough for him to self soak in - large terracotta plant saucers are ideal.
My tort lives indoors as the UK is pretty cold often in the summer too and he goes out when the ground temps are 70F+
He has a ceramic heat emitter for night use and for when the extra heat is needed; a basking bulb and a mercury vapour bulb (for essential uvb), but it is probably warmer in Spain and if he is getting plenty of sunshine you won't need a uvb source.
The Beginners Mistake thread is also a good place to learn and the Enclosures thread will give you some great ideas to stop him wandering off.
 
Top