I've been looking around at Leopard tortoise pictures. I see a lot with what appears to be pyramiding. I really haven't seen any with a smooth shell. So my question is do Leopards naturally have a shell with scutes that are raised? I want a Leopard really bad!
Smooth Shells, Pyramiding, or Normal Growth?
- Thread starter austinl01
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Some leopard tortoises pyramid in the wild, it seems more prevalent in the east African variety based on what I've seen in pictures. Specimens from South Africa do not seem to be as prone to pyramiding though. It is possible to raise both types with smooth shells though with good overall husbandry. Here are a couple of examples:
East African
South African
East African
South African
Neal said:
Neal, those are perfect specimens! You are the man!!!
austinl01 said:
Leopards are notoriously difficult to grow smooth. Here on TFO we have several members that seem to have figured it out, but you won't see too many smooth ones outside of that. I was so disgusted with the hatchlings that I saw at the last show that I had to come home and look at pics of Neal's to make myself feel better.
It does not have to be this way, but the rest of the tortoise world just isn't catching on very fast.
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austinl01 said:
No, they should grow smooth like Neal's photos
Take a look at this thread, these are also smooth grown leopards.
Shows you from hatchlings and as they grow
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-The-End-Of-Pyramiding-II-The-Leopards#axzz1eISjY0h8
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