Need advice on a rescue.. this leopard has been hibernating!

[terracolson]

This couple is losing there home in Yucapia. That have a leopard tortoise that i am going to pick up in a week or two.. Not sure if i am going to bring it up to sac with me, or leave in in Yucapia with my sister since it is adapted to that environment.

They have had him for 6 years, he might be a total of 10 or 12 years?

he is 12inches long and currently hibernating under the mulberry bush.

We are going to go dig him up and move him a couple blocks to my sisters house and put him in the dog house.

He has been hibernating for many years.. YES this is horrible, but we need to get advice on how to handle this touchy situation.

I am not planning on waking him...but outside of that.. please fill me in on this mystery

My Sister currently takes care of a 150 lbs sulcata and plans on trying to keep him, I am going to stay down there for a week and see how it goes... She can provide the correct care for him as long as the sulcata and the leopard will mix.. We dont know how shelly (male) will great a male leopard. Ideas?


A lot will be going on... thoughts?

 

[Yvonne G]

I haven't weighed Dudley in about 3 years, but he's probably close to 120lbs or so. He will NOT TOLERATE another tortoise to be within breathing distance of his pen. If he smells that I have brought a new rescued sulcata into the area he paces furiously, and rams the fence.

About waking up the leopard. The act of pulling it out from under the bush wakes it up. Whether he can move yet or not is another question, but have no doubt, he's awake.

I really think that 150lbs is way too big to try to keep the two tortoises together in the same back yard. The smaller tortoise is sure to get hurt.

The other day I was looking around at pictures on the African Tortoise site and saw pictures of a sulcata about 50lbs that had been rammed in the side by a bigger sulcata. The ramming was so hard that the carapace split from the plastron on that side. It was an horrific sight to see. Believe it or not, the tortoise survived after much $$ and vet visits.

 

[terracolson]

About waking up the leopard. The act of pulling it out from under the bush wakes it up. Whether he can move yet or not is another

What kind of damage has been done to this little guy?
Should he be moved up north with me, or should he stay in the life style he has down there?
will he want to hibernate again?

 

[Yvonne G]

Its probably not the best of circumstances, but I doubt he's suffered any damage from it. Its a wonder he hasn't come down with a respiratory infection from being rained on during the cold weather, but if that's what he's been acclimated to, what the heck.

The decision is up to you and the tortoise's owner, but if you decide for your sister to keep him I really strongly suggest a separate pen.

 

[terracolson]

Well i will see what is going on with Shelly, the sulcata, and if its any trouble my sister wont deal with it, so either i will take him, or maybe i can get cory over that way.....

 

[spikethebest]

Well i will see what is going on with Shelly, the sulcata, and if its any trouble my sister wont deal with it, so either i will take him, or maybe i can get cory over that way.....

possible possible

 

[Tom]

They don't hibernate, so he's just been surviving extremely cold temps. That he is still alive makes me wonder if its a pardalis subspecies from South Africa. They tolerate the cold much better. I would bring him inside and do a room temp soak. Then I'd put him in a warm area with a 160watt MV flood bulb for even heat over a greater area, and give him the choice to warm up. Keep the bulb higher than usual, as you don't want to hot of a spot too soon. A few days in a 72 degree house with the option of a mild basking source should bring him back up to speed. I'd make the soak a little warmer each day and I wouldn't offer food for a few days after he starts moving around and acting "normal". Just do everything gradually. He's been alive in those conditions all this time, so don't rush to "fix" it all at once. Treat him like a tortoise that IS coming out of hibernation. Slow changes and gradually warmer and warmer.

I whole-heartedly agree with Yvonne. Do not put him in with a sulcata. The stress alone from visual intimidation across the pen could send this poor guy over the edge, not to mention any contact. Also, because of his poor care, he's likely ill and it could easily spread to the other torts.

 

[terracolson]

I will update my sister.. thx guys!

 

[-EJ]

sweetheart... let me give you a clue. I'm hibernating my Leopards... and Redfoots... and Sulcatas... and... Aldabras.

These are reptiles. Their physiology is based on temperature.

Most tortoises adapt. Their georaphical origin is a moot point.

 

[Nay]

Ed, I am not quite getting it. I thought some species don't hibernate???
Am I dense? Should I be hibernating my Redfoots? and my Leopard?
Na

 

[-EJ]

That's exactly the point. It's not a matter of should but could. It's not a nacessity but an ability by design..

I don't recommend this to other keepers but I use my experience as an example.

Again... look at reptiles in general.

Ed, I am not quite getting it. I thought some species don't hibernate???
Am I dense? Should I be hibernating my Redfoots? and my Leopard?
Na

 

[Tom]

Hibernation and surviving a cold spell is not the same thing. I don't hibernate my sulcatas, but they certainly tolerate cooler temps during the winter months.

The tortoise referred to in the OP wasn't hibernating either. It was above ground in an area with temps that occasionally drop below freezing.

 

[N2TORTS]

They don't hibernate, so he's just been surviving extremely cold temps. That he is still alive makes me wonder if its a pardalis subspecies from South Africa. They tolerate the cold much better. I would bring him inside and do a room temp soak. Then I'd put him in a warm area with a 160watt MV flood bulb for even heat over a greater area, and give him the choice to warm up. Keep the bulb higher than usual, as you don't want to hot of a spot too soon. A few days in a 72 degree house with the option of a mild basking source should bring him back up to speed. I'd make the soak a little warmer each day and I wouldn't offer food for a few days after he starts moving around and acting "normal". Just do everything gradually. He's been alive in those conditions all this time, so don't rush to "fix" it all at once. Treat him like a tortoise that IS coming out of hibernation. Slow changes and gradually warmer and warmer.

I whole-heartedly agree with Yvonne. Do not put him in with a sulcata. The stress alone from visual intimidation across the pen could send this poor guy over the edge, not to mention any contact. Also, because of his poor care, he's likely ill and it could easily spread to the other torts.

EXCELLENT information! .... I couldnt have stated it any better!
Boy ... you all are whitty , this site rocks! Its amazing the wealth of knowledge you can read at a press of a button. The old days.. was trial and error,lots of trips to the library and letters to diffrent countries that very rarely got answered.
^5 to all ......:shy:

 

[Tom]

EXCELLENT information! .... I couldnt have stated it any better!
Boy ... you all are whitty , this site rocks! Its amazing the wealth of knowledge you can read at a press of a button. The old days.. was trial and error,lots of trips to the library and letters to diffrent countries that very rarely got answered.
^5 to all ......:shy:

I feel the same way JD. I stumbled around, alone in the dark for soooooo many years. I learned quite a bit, but it was all at a price. That price, unfortunately was paid by the animals in my care. Nothing too disastrous, but if I'd had this forum starting out, things would have gone much better for them.

I especially love it when two or more experienced people contradict and disagree with each other. So much can be learned this way when you get to the bottom of why each one does things the way they do. The sharing of ideas and different experiences that goes on here is fantastic!

 

[-EJ]

How are they different?

Hibernation and surviving a cold spell is not the same thing. I don't hibernate my sulcatas, but they certainly tolerate cooler temps during the winter months.

 

[N2TORTS]

That's exactly the point. It's not a matter of should but could. It's not a nacessity but an ability by design..
I don't recommend this to other keepers but I use my experience as an example.
***********************************
Heres my input!
Reptiles are both poikilothermic and ectothemic, but are not cold-blooded. Moreover, some larger reptiles, such as large crocodilians, sea turtles, tortoises and large monitor lizards approach a level of homeothermy. That is, their temperature does not fluctuate as much based upon the environment. This results from a physiology process known as gigantothermy, where a very large animal will maintain a constant body temperature with little input from the environment.

 

[-EJ]

Eloquently put... but what is your point?????

I'm gonna disagree with you on the tortoises and monitors

I have seen reports on crocodilians and pythons.

As to large body mass... that's kind of a common sense kind of thing.

That's exactly the point. It's not a matter of should but could. It's not a nacessity but an ability by design..
I don't recommend this to other keepers but I use my experience as an example.
***********************************
Heres my input!
Reptiles are both poikilothermic and ectothemic, but are not cold-blooded. Moreover, some larger reptiles, such as large crocodilians, sea turtles, tortoises and large monitor lizards approach a level of homeothermy. That is, their temperature does not fluctuate as much based upon the environment. This results from a physiology process known as gigantothermy, where a very large animal will maintain a constant body temperature with little input from the environment.