Joey B.
New Member
Hey everyone,
So, finally, after lots of going back & forth over what species to get & what setup to use, I finally got my baby leopard tortoise last Thursday. He arrived weighing 34.5 grams & he’s already gained 3 grams since.
I’m hoping his setup is ok, he seems to be thriving so far. He’s active & eats everything I put in front of him (except Mazuri, he’s not too impressed with that). I’m growing the grazing mix that Andrew sells at Arizona tortoise compound and I’m also adding in some Spring mix from the store on occasion (with the spinach taken out). Planning to start offering some hay soon. Also sprinkling calcium on it every few days. His container is 36” x 24” & I’m using a 24” Reptisun strip and a 65 watt flood lamp during the day. The area right under the light is right at 100 degrees & the rest of the enclosure is anywhere from 77-95. At night I switch on a 65 watt CHE that’s just to the side of his hide and that keeps the area around there at around 85 degrees overnight. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to keep the humidity up with this but I finally started using aluminum foil and even though I can’t quite get it to 80-90%, I manage to keep it between 70-76% most of the day (the room is usually at around 40%). The foil also does a good job at keeping the inside a few degrees warmer overall.
I’m looking to purchase a 48”x30” home from Arizona Plastics in the new few weeks. I know those take a while but I’m hoping this will do in the meantime.
Is this a good start? Anything else I can be or should be doing?
Thanks in advance!
Joey
So, finally, after lots of going back & forth over what species to get & what setup to use, I finally got my baby leopard tortoise last Thursday. He arrived weighing 34.5 grams & he’s already gained 3 grams since.
I’m hoping his setup is ok, he seems to be thriving so far. He’s active & eats everything I put in front of him (except Mazuri, he’s not too impressed with that). I’m growing the grazing mix that Andrew sells at Arizona tortoise compound and I’m also adding in some Spring mix from the store on occasion (with the spinach taken out). Planning to start offering some hay soon. Also sprinkling calcium on it every few days. His container is 36” x 24” & I’m using a 24” Reptisun strip and a 65 watt flood lamp during the day. The area right under the light is right at 100 degrees & the rest of the enclosure is anywhere from 77-95. At night I switch on a 65 watt CHE that’s just to the side of his hide and that keeps the area around there at around 85 degrees overnight. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to keep the humidity up with this but I finally started using aluminum foil and even though I can’t quite get it to 80-90%, I manage to keep it between 70-76% most of the day (the room is usually at around 40%). The foil also does a good job at keeping the inside a few degrees warmer overall.
I’m looking to purchase a 48”x30” home from Arizona Plastics in the new few weeks. I know those take a while but I’m hoping this will do in the meantime.
Is this a good start? Anything else I can be or should be doing?
Thanks in advance!
Joey