Hi there, so my leopard moved outside full time about a year ago. He's adjusting well but ever since moving, I've noticed his nails getting worn down A LOT and occasionally the skin under his feet get worn too. We are currently in Fresno CA where we've been getting hit my heat waves multiple times a month (116-117 F this past week) and I'm worried the hot ground might be exacerbating this issue. He has an insulated shelter underneath the covered patio that stays really cool but doesn't use it. He prefers to hang out on the concrete of the patio instead. Which I feel is fine since it's only warm and definitely not hot to the touch. He is pretty active most of the time and wanders all over our yard (mainly hard soil, concrete, and artificial turf) and knows how to get in his water bowl to cool off (he soaks in it almost every afternoon). I never worried about him being in the heat until now when I took a look at his feet (see pics). The nails of his front feet and the inner nails of his back feet are really worn down (to the pulp?) and the skin looks pretty raw. It's still hard to the touch but softer than the surrounding skin. Is it possible this is heat related or he's just walking around too much? I figured I'd just wrap his back feet with some sports tape until the skin looks better. But now I'm worried about how his nails are getting worn down, esp in the back where it's worn down only on the inner nails. Is it just the way he walks? Or vitamin deficiency causing poor nail growth?
