Tort First timer!

[danipaul71]

Hi friends! Our baby leopard will be arriving on Tuesday. I am a first timer, and after reading a few threads on here, am wondering what I got myself into... and a bit nervous, to say the least!
I had planned on housing the babe (for now at least) in a 20gal long tank, with the wire reptile top, but after readjng, an figuring out that it may not be the best option?
Has anyone thought about an Exo Terra Terrarium? My next thought goes to the large (36L×18W×12H) size.... Thoughts?

Lighting: whats the norm to keep my guy (or gal) warm enough? I live in Omaha - so outside trips in the summer are a possibility, but yearly outdoor housing is not an option for me.

Humidity: How do you measure? And placement? Where do you typically measure the humidity?? Near the botton of the house? The top?

Pointers for this beginner?? I will gladly take and appreciate any tips, pointers, or bit of advice

 

[leigti]

Welcome to the forum. This is pretty handy to measure temp and humidity. You don't want the temperature to go below 80 Night and day. I would place this at the bottom of the enclosure farthest away from the heat source. Forget to and put one on each end. You want to measure the temperature in the humidity down low where the tortoise is.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. First thing when you get your leopard, is to give it a warm water soak for about a half hour.
The best set up is a closed chamber, you can read about them below in my post. Tom's threads will explain, the Sulcata threads will also apply to your leo.
Measure temp and humidty at tort level. You usually can get a digital that will read both fairly cheap too. A Mercury vapor bulb and a ceramic heat emitter are my favs for light, heat and uvb.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[danipaul71]

Thanks for the warm welcome! My 7 year old and I are really excited to become tort moms

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and welcome to the forum and congrats for your new torts.

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum. Where are you getting the baby from? Closed chamber is Definately the way to go. Ask any questions you have.

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[danipaul71]

I found Sarah and Tyler with Tortoisesupply.com through many searches for Torts and trying to find non-adult turtles in my area. Though they are in the Las Vegas area, if would be much shorter travels and stresses than coming from other, farther places. They have numerous good reviews and have been very quick to reply to my many questions and other requests.

 

[danipaul71]

Can anyone (or a few) post pics of their enclosures? (Indoors preferred)
I have an idea of what to get started with, but I would like to see others as well.

 

[danipaul71]

Welcome to the forum. This is pretty handy to measure temp and humidity. You don't want the temperature to go below 80 Night and day. I would place this at the bottom of the enclosure farthest away from the heat source. Forget to and put one on each end. You want to measure the temperature in the humidity down low where the tortoise is.
View attachment 137525

Where did you get such guage??

 

[leigti]

Where did you get such guage??

I ordered it off Amazon but I think Home Depot or Lowes has them.

 

[Jodie]

This is my enclosure for my trio.

It is just a table enclosure completely enclosed with plastic.

I really like the enclosures made using the raised garden beds.
Check out this link.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/leopard-enclosure-ideas.121591/#post-1122470

 

[danipaul71]

Here is what my 7 year old daughter came up with ☺

 

[Careym13]

Welcome to the forum. I got my Leopards from Tyler and they are awesome little monsters! You'll love yours...congrats!

 

[danipaul71]

Welcome to the Forum!

I saw that you had babies yourself (well, not yourself.... but you know what I meant, r

Welcome to the forum. I got my Leopards from Tyler and they are awesome little monsters! You'll love yours...congrats!

I'm super happy to hear that you'd gotten you're from Tyler as well. I've gotten the tracking number, so I know that it should arrive in the morning

 

[Careym13]

I saw that you had babies yourself (well, not yourself.... but you know what I meant, r


I'm super happy to hear that you'd gotten you're from Tyler as well. I've gotten the tracking number, so I know that it should arrive in the morning

You must be very excited! We will all be looking forward to lots of pics!!

 

[danipaul71]

I can't wait to see it, and post pics!!

 

[danipaul71]

I just want to make sure, before the turtle arrives in the morning, that the succulents are all OK for it, just in case it decides it wants a nibble or two.
I have: Aloe, Graptosedum "California Sunset", Haworthia Cuspidata, and Portulacaria Afra "Variegata"

 

[danipaul71]

It's HERE!!!!!
After a rather short night, and to be honest, just a couple of winks of sleep due to pure EXCITEMENT, our little tortie has arrived at 0930.
Took him out of the packaging, and I do have to say that Avery (our 7 year old) and I were both speechless when we first saw it. So cute, tucked all in like a little baby
put him in a warm bath for about 20 minutes. He drank about 6-8 gulps while soaking and found his hide first when in his enclosure, for about 10 minutes.
Now he's barely made it out of his hide, and he's graciously munching on one of the succulants that are planted in there. Lol. Guess those are a hit!!
Even took a video of his first snack
We definitely already love this little pal ❤