Need some advise, please :-)

[GeorgeUK]

Hello all,
I hope everyone has had a great Summer.
My Lady Dorothy turned 5, and she's doing just great. She's a real character.
As you can see from my "smallest leopard tortoise on TFO" thread, you can see that for her age, Dorothy is really small. She is, however, healthy & I assume happy. So her size isn't a massive concern for me. I've also managed to prevent her pyramiding from getting worse by regularly bathing her and daily mists.

My only problem is, I've really struggled to get Dorothy to settle outdoors. I planned to build her a big outdoor enclosure, however our contract on the house would prevent this at the moment (we are technically not allowed pets). Though the landlord has told us he doesn't mind - I'd rather not push that too far by transforming the garden.
I do however allow Dorothy to roam outside in the garden supervised as often as possible. For some reason, she runs to the corner of the garden & stays there for hours. She doesn't even attempt to explore or eat the grass or weeds (both of which she gobbles up happily indoors.)

When she's inside, she sleeps a lot, she basks a lot with her legs stretched out & she eats. Occasionally she will wonder around her enclosure.

Am I doing something wrong? Or can they really be this chilled out?

I'm about to spend a few hundred £ on her new indoor enclosure which will be double the size. Even if she doesn't make use of it, it'll give me peace of mind knowing she can wonder around more if she wants.

Also, she's currently on Orchid bark, however I was tempted with her new enclosure to buy some high quality top soil, and plant untreated grass in it - would this be a good idea? Or would a grass base have disadvantages?

Thanks in advance for any advise

 

[GeorgeUK]

Anyone?

 

[Anyfoot]

Hi George. I don't keep this species and not really comfortable giving advice, but in general with all torts when they are plonked in a new area that is not familiar they will seek hiding, also if it's too cold out she will seek hiding after a while.
Dont feed her before the next time you put her out, then give her some treats outside to see if it distracts her from the new surroundings. Also maybe if you keep an eye on her from a distance so not to scare her.
I noticed with all my redfoots when I moved them into their new enclosures this year, they all became wary of ME and the new surroundings. I think they are just about getting back to normal(4 months on). When you think about it they are naturally programmed to be wary of something new, I could be a predator.
Can't help with indoor other than be sure your temps are good and no cold spots, and torts can be comfortable and chill out.

 

[JoesMum]

I'm going to tag @Lyn W whose Leopard, a male called Lola, is bordering agoraphobic. She is in Wales, so in the correct time zone, but she's a teacher so in unlikely to be around for a few hours yet.

 

[klawran1]

My leopard did that when she was a hatching. I pretty much did what Anyfoot mentioned. I didn't feed her before taking her out, I just offered her things by hand that she liked once she was outside. When she discovered that her clovers and dandelions she loved so much could be found in bulk right in front of her, she eased up and actually started grazing on her own.

 

[Kasia]

Hello all,
I hope everyone has had a great Summer.
My Lady Dorothy turned 5, and she's doing just great. She's a real character.
As you can see from my "smallest leopard tortoise on TFO" thread, you can see that for her age, Dorothy is really small. She is, however, healthy & I assume happy. So her size isn't a massive concern for me. I've also managed to prevent her pyramiding from getting worse by regularly bathing her and daily mists.

My only problem is, I've really struggled to get Dorothy to settle outdoors. I planned to build her a big outdoor enclosure, however our contract on the house would prevent this at the moment (we are technically not allowed pets). Though the landlord has told us he doesn't mind - I'd rather not push that too far by transforming the garden.
I do however allow Dorothy to roam outside in the garden supervised as often as possible. For some reason, she runs to the corner of the garden & stays there for hours. She doesn't even attempt to explore or eat the grass or weeds (both of which she gobbles up happily indoors.)

When she's inside, she sleeps a lot, she basks a lot with her legs stretched out & she eats. Occasionally she will wonder around her enclosure.

Am I doing something wrong? Or can they really be this chilled out?

I'm about to spend a few hundred £ on her new indoor enclosure which will be double the size. Even if she doesn't make use of it, it'll give me peace of mind knowing she can wonder around more if she wants.

Also, she's currently on Orchid bark, however I was tempted with her new enclosure to buy some high quality top soil, and plant untreated grass in it - would this be a good idea? Or would a grass base have disadvantages?

Thanks in advance for any advise
View attachment 187387

It took my leo 2 months to start walking around my garden. He did the same thing as your Dorothy. Take her out daily and just leave her to whatever she wants to do, eventually she will feel safe and will start to roam around. You can put out in the garden something that she's familiar with like hide or her feeding dish. Be patient good luck and hugs for Lady D

 

[Neal]

How big were the producing adults? Do you have any information on her siblings that would lead you to think she is undersized? Unless your hands are tiny, her size doesn't look concerning at all.

What are the temperature high's and low's in her enclosure?

 

[GeorgeUK]

Thank you for your replies