Hello all, bellow is my story
December 2014, Me and my girlfriend (who are living together) decided to adopt out first tortoise! After going to a reptile expo, we fell in love with the only leopard tortoise in the entire expo. Upon taking him home we started to notice small deficiencies in his shell and his lack of enthusiasm. His shell was almost like it was caving in, especially near his tail. Near his legs and tail his shell was chipped. Naturally, we thought this was due to a new location. We provide him with daily 90 degree baths (10-15 mins daily), this usually stimulated his ability to eat. Which of course he was only taking a few bites of his food and then walking away to hide in his hay or lay under his hollowed out log. After a month of reading and trying to provide a more suitable environment we ended up with :
our enclosure was open 3'x4'
1 100watt basking light for heat (Daytime) mid 80's, middle of spot light area 95
1 100watt infrared bulb for heat (Nighttime) lows 80's/high 70's
1 UV 10.0 bulb for UV B
Cyprus mulch for bedding
Timothy hay on one side. (Which he loved to sleep in)
A water bowl (fresh once a day, treated)
Food bowl (Started to fine chop greens: Kale, spring mix, carrots, spinach, chard)
A moisture cave. (a water jug, that we soaked the mulch every two days)
A hollowed log for climbing and hiding.
During January we noticed he was scratching his eyes often and still not eating enough compared to other peoples baby leopards. We decided to take him to the local reptile expert vet. She said that our Leo (His/her name) was looking small and with a vitamin A shot it should boost his appetite and to monitor his weight. (he was 26 grams, at 4 months) Also, we received eye drops for his constant scratching of his face. I was almost in tears when we took Leo home and he would not move his leg due to the shot.
A few days after the trip to the vet, we noticed that he was more active, he was eating not only once a day but he would do loops: taking a few bites of food (which now was always powered with calcium), walking through his water bowl, and climbing his log/falling off his log. We started talking him out of his enclosure for exercise, somewhat of him exploring a larger distance for 10 minutes a day. Things were looking up.
About a week ago I started to notice that Leo was a little wet on the nose, which I assumed was wet due to his morning bath. Near his eye lids were lighter as if his skin was peeling around the eye. Also, he had a slight smell, something i though was just normal and I only noticed it because I was lying on the floor and he crawled right to my nose. No thoughts were given to his health; he was still eating and crawling around.
About two days ago (22Feb) I noticed he did eat much during the day. I had the day off so I would watch him for half hours through the day. I did notice that he didn't move much and he would go to the corner of his box and hide under the hay. I checked that specific area of heat (with infrared thermometer around 77 degrees) I assumed he was just sleepy. The next day my girlfriend said he did eat today after work, so as soon as I came home I found him inside his shell, very abnormal for Leo. That’s when I knew I lost Leo. I'm still in tears about his loss. My girlfriend who is a teacher, cried at work due to the fact her entire class room is turtle themed.
Things i may have left out of the story, I noticed his mouth was always green and white due to eating his food. Also, he would make bubbles with his face in the water. Leo's stool was no longer solid, gooier tar like.
My method to judge his room temperature air was taking the ground temperature with an infrared thermometer
Within time, and re convincing my girlfriend I want another Leopard, This time with a closed enclosure during his infant years. Also, I'm looking to hear any comments about things that might help me and my girlfriend this second time around. Also, different possible reasons for his passing. Thank you for reading this long post.
-Tony
December 2014, Me and my girlfriend (who are living together) decided to adopt out first tortoise! After going to a reptile expo, we fell in love with the only leopard tortoise in the entire expo. Upon taking him home we started to notice small deficiencies in his shell and his lack of enthusiasm. His shell was almost like it was caving in, especially near his tail. Near his legs and tail his shell was chipped. Naturally, we thought this was due to a new location. We provide him with daily 90 degree baths (10-15 mins daily), this usually stimulated his ability to eat. Which of course he was only taking a few bites of his food and then walking away to hide in his hay or lay under his hollowed out log. After a month of reading and trying to provide a more suitable environment we ended up with :
our enclosure was open 3'x4'
1 100watt basking light for heat (Daytime) mid 80's, middle of spot light area 95
1 100watt infrared bulb for heat (Nighttime) lows 80's/high 70's
1 UV 10.0 bulb for UV B
Cyprus mulch for bedding
Timothy hay on one side. (Which he loved to sleep in)
A water bowl (fresh once a day, treated)
Food bowl (Started to fine chop greens: Kale, spring mix, carrots, spinach, chard)
A moisture cave. (a water jug, that we soaked the mulch every two days)
A hollowed log for climbing and hiding.
During January we noticed he was scratching his eyes often and still not eating enough compared to other peoples baby leopards. We decided to take him to the local reptile expert vet. She said that our Leo (His/her name) was looking small and with a vitamin A shot it should boost his appetite and to monitor his weight. (he was 26 grams, at 4 months) Also, we received eye drops for his constant scratching of his face. I was almost in tears when we took Leo home and he would not move his leg due to the shot.
A few days after the trip to the vet, we noticed that he was more active, he was eating not only once a day but he would do loops: taking a few bites of food (which now was always powered with calcium), walking through his water bowl, and climbing his log/falling off his log. We started talking him out of his enclosure for exercise, somewhat of him exploring a larger distance for 10 minutes a day. Things were looking up.
About a week ago I started to notice that Leo was a little wet on the nose, which I assumed was wet due to his morning bath. Near his eye lids were lighter as if his skin was peeling around the eye. Also, he had a slight smell, something i though was just normal and I only noticed it because I was lying on the floor and he crawled right to my nose. No thoughts were given to his health; he was still eating and crawling around.
About two days ago (22Feb) I noticed he did eat much during the day. I had the day off so I would watch him for half hours through the day. I did notice that he didn't move much and he would go to the corner of his box and hide under the hay. I checked that specific area of heat (with infrared thermometer around 77 degrees) I assumed he was just sleepy. The next day my girlfriend said he did eat today after work, so as soon as I came home I found him inside his shell, very abnormal for Leo. That’s when I knew I lost Leo. I'm still in tears about his loss. My girlfriend who is a teacher, cried at work due to the fact her entire class room is turtle themed.
Things i may have left out of the story, I noticed his mouth was always green and white due to eating his food. Also, he would make bubbles with his face in the water. Leo's stool was no longer solid, gooier tar like.
My method to judge his room temperature air was taking the ground temperature with an infrared thermometer
Within time, and re convincing my girlfriend I want another Leopard, This time with a closed enclosure during his infant years. Also, I'm looking to hear any comments about things that might help me and my girlfriend this second time around. Also, different possible reasons for his passing. Thank you for reading this long post.
-Tony