A great big "Thank You" to TFO for teaching me the importance of humidity/hydration for baby torts. Without you guys, my little Leopard tort and I would never have made it, lol! 
Ok--so the reason for my giddiness, starting with a little bit of background...
In July, I agreed to pet-sit some tortoises and turtles for a local guy for a couple months. He didn't have enough money to pay for my services on top of supplies, etc (especially since I talked him into letting me do caging upgrades and get everyone UVB bulbs), so, instead, he offered me his little leopard tortoise. Which, naturally, was an offer I couldn't resist...
This little dear, when I got him at the start of July, weighed in at 43 grams and the guy says he's at least a year and a half old. Considering, last I heard, Leopard hatchlings usually weighed in the 20 gram range, I've been pretty concerned!
Well, in the last week, he's made incredible progress. On October 28, he was 58 grams. He hadn't gained any weight since his last weigh-in at the beginning of that month. I'd been having trouble keeping temperatures and humidity up, so it wasn't an especially big surprise... Well, at about the same time as his last weigh-in, I stumbled across this very cool front-opening, all-glass terrarium. 36x18" floor space, and 30" tall. Got a shower curtain rod to mount his lamps inside, a shower curtain to cover the top, and moved him in that weekend. And, just like that, Voila! Heat! Humidity! His temps haven't dropped below 79 all week, staying pretty steady in the low 80s on the cool end and 95-100 on the basking spot, and his humidity has been fantastic--condensation and everything!
So today, just over a week from his last weigh in, he weighed 65 grams... A 7 gram increase in a WEEK, when he didn't gain a single gram in almost a month! And the only difference is the good, consistent heat and humidity! I am a VERY happy mama!
The point is, I am a full believer in the "heat and humidity/hydration" system. It's sure as heck working for my baby, so far...
(And here's where you guys are going to hate me, because I don't have any pictures to share... Lost my memory card reader in the move a few weeks ago, and it hasn't turned up yet... But here's some older pics of him to make up for it!)
Here he is when I got him, at the start of July...
Here he is at the end of September, when he first started getting lines of new growth...
And I promise to hunt down that darn card reader so I can post some new pics, of him and his new enclosure!
Thanks for reading!
Ok--so the reason for my giddiness, starting with a little bit of background...
In July, I agreed to pet-sit some tortoises and turtles for a local guy for a couple months. He didn't have enough money to pay for my services on top of supplies, etc (especially since I talked him into letting me do caging upgrades and get everyone UVB bulbs), so, instead, he offered me his little leopard tortoise. Which, naturally, was an offer I couldn't resist...
This little dear, when I got him at the start of July, weighed in at 43 grams and the guy says he's at least a year and a half old. Considering, last I heard, Leopard hatchlings usually weighed in the 20 gram range, I've been pretty concerned!
Well, in the last week, he's made incredible progress. On October 28, he was 58 grams. He hadn't gained any weight since his last weigh-in at the beginning of that month. I'd been having trouble keeping temperatures and humidity up, so it wasn't an especially big surprise... Well, at about the same time as his last weigh-in, I stumbled across this very cool front-opening, all-glass terrarium. 36x18" floor space, and 30" tall. Got a shower curtain rod to mount his lamps inside, a shower curtain to cover the top, and moved him in that weekend. And, just like that, Voila! Heat! Humidity! His temps haven't dropped below 79 all week, staying pretty steady in the low 80s on the cool end and 95-100 on the basking spot, and his humidity has been fantastic--condensation and everything!
So today, just over a week from his last weigh in, he weighed 65 grams... A 7 gram increase in a WEEK, when he didn't gain a single gram in almost a month! And the only difference is the good, consistent heat and humidity! I am a VERY happy mama!
The point is, I am a full believer in the "heat and humidity/hydration" system. It's sure as heck working for my baby, so far...
(And here's where you guys are going to hate me, because I don't have any pictures to share... Lost my memory card reader in the move a few weeks ago, and it hasn't turned up yet... But here's some older pics of him to make up for it!
)Here he is when I got him, at the start of July...
Here he is at the end of September, when he first started getting lines of new growth...
And I promise to hunt down that darn card reader so I can post some new pics, of him and his new enclosure!
Thanks for reading!
