Hi everyone I have just purchased a 2 year old Leopard named Henry, and i just wanted to make sure im doing things right. He is housed in a 4ft x 5ft tort table with aspen bedding 3/4 cm deep, basking light with slate basking spot at 95 degrees, 10.00 uv strip light both of these are on a timer (on between 6:30am & 8:30pm) temp in middle of table is 75 degrees & 65 degrees in the cool end, he has a large habba hut hide which he loves! large water tray which is big enough for him to drink/bath and food bowl, I feed him 50/50 mix of timothy hay & greens/dark salad leafs/cabbage leafs, dusted with nutrabol. He doesnt seem to eat the timothy grass which is worrying me slightly! he also sleeps a lot of the time is this normal? cant take him outside yet i think it maybe a little too cold? he also sems to love his bath 3 times a week! Any feedback advice would be most welcome and it would be great to speak to some fellow leopard owners thanks!
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congrats on your leo can post some pic's of Henry ? I would get some cypress mulch in stead of the aspen bring the basking up a little are you just using the strip light for UVB if so I also would get a MVB the tubes do not put out enough UVB for a Leo.He probably wont eat the hay for a couple more years 
congrats on your leo can post some pic's of Henry ? I would get some cypress mulch in stead of the aspen bring the basking up a little are you just using the strip light for UVB if so I also would get a MVB the tubes do not put out enough UVB for a Leo.He probably wont eat the hay for a couple more years coreyc said:Welcome to the forum
For some reason i cant upload any pics!do they have to be a certain size/type thanks for the advise so far
Welcome to the forum! I also recommend a mercury vapor bulb as Corey suggested. As for the hay, they just don't usually have an interest in dry hay at a young age. If you want to try to get some hay into his diet, you can cut it up into small lengths and soak it in warm water for a few seconds, then sprinkle it over his greens when you feed him, he will probably still try to avoid it but will inevitably eat some, this will at least start to get him used to the taste of it.
Welcome to the world of Leopards. Sounds like your setup is pretty darn good for a newbie, so you must have done some research ahead of time. Like others have said, they won't eat the hay for a while, so you might consider changing to a lettuce/mazuri diet. Not sure where you live, so there might be other foods you can get also to put some variety in the menu.
I put my leo's outside when the temperature is above 60 and sunny, but mine are older and stay outside most of the year. You also mentioned sleeping a lot. Most leos are active in the morning and late afternoon while they are out grazing for food with nap breaks in between.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions, plus we'd like to see some pictures too!
I put my leo's outside when the temperature is above 60 and sunny, but mine are older and stay outside most of the year. You also mentioned sleeping a lot. Most leos are active in the morning and late afternoon while they are out grazing for food with nap breaks in between.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions, plus we'd like to see some pictures too!
they are a single bulb you get a Powersun off E bay where are you located are in the states ?
How are you trying to upload your pic's ?mazuri is tortoise food (chow)
Hello and welcome. Try using http://tinypic.com/ for your pics. Its really easy. No account, no hassles. Just upload any size pic and then copy/paste the IMG code into your forum post.
Your temps are too cool. For a two year old in a cold weather climate like yours, I'd shoot for no lower than 75 at any time day or night, with a basking spot of around 100 for 12-14 hours a day. Since he's not eating and adjusting well, I'd start out with ambient temps of 80-85 round the clock to "jump start" him.
Btw, A lot of leopards will never take to eating plain dry hay at any age. It would be pretty unusual for a young one to want to eat it at all.
Your temps are too cool. For a two year old in a cold weather climate like yours, I'd shoot for no lower than 75 at any time day or night, with a basking spot of around 100 for 12-14 hours a day. Since he's not eating and adjusting well, I'd start out with ambient temps of 80-85 round the clock to "jump start" him.
Btw, A lot of leopards will never take to eating plain dry hay at any age. It would be pretty unusual for a young one to want to eat it at all.
Hi Brieboy:
Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?
Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?
Hey Richard, you got a nice looking guy there! With a smooth shell like that at 2, you should be able to keep him nice and smooth very easily. I had a smooth one like that at 2 and he is still like that and growing like crazy. Try the suggestion to keep the tank warm and that should perk him up some. Some other foods to try are cactus pads (also called nopales) which can be found in some grocery stores, tempt him with some strawberry, or use a combination of lettuces (spring mix is one) and see if that gets him eating. Mine are on a schedule to eat first thing in the morning, then they will go scrounge in the yard for more food later.
Keep trying, he'll get hungry enough to eat eventually.
Keep trying, he'll get hungry enough to eat eventually.
Thanks! he eats salad like no tomorow and to be honest if thats all he needs thats fine! not sure if the cactus pads are readily available in the uk, the previous owner fed him on nothing but salad and greens with a dusting of nutrabol and he seems to be growing up nicely! I might try and put the timothy grass/hay in a food processor untill its almost dust and dust his greens with it?Greg T said:
Oh my gosh that is one healthy looking Leo!! Who ever you bought him/her from really knew what they were doing!! Welcome
Gpp have spots on there skin and two spots on vertebral scute you have a nice looking GPB
Wow! Beautiful Leo.
Good crap that's a good looking leopard. Sounds like your set up is pretty good, I wouldn't change much. If he's eating a lot then that's a good sign. Your temperatures are pretty good, at that size he can take those temps no problem. If you are worried about him being active raise your low temperature up to about 75 to 80 for a while and see if you notice any difference.
Thanks everyone I will relay your comments to him! give him an ego boost! i left his heat lamp on overnight for the first time (still had his uvb on timer) and he was already basking at 6:30 this morning and up and charging about! is this an improvment?
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