What species is this baby?

impdragon

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My friend found a baby tortoise wandering down the street this morning and we are trying to identify it so we can provide the proper husbandry! I attached a photo. What do you guys think?
 

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wellington

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Yes it is a leopard. Toms threads below in my post will tell you
How to properly care for him. The sulcata threads also apply to
Leopards. It's a Babcocki leopard
 

kimber_lee_314

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Yes - a leopard. How fun is that - finding a tortoise just walking down the street?!!!
 

Elohi

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Definitely a leopard.
And why aren't I finding baby leopards in my street dang it? Lol jk
Nice find! I would actually kind of freak out if I found that young of a tortoise wandering outside.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]
 

Jlant85

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You lucky monkey! Looks like a hatchling too! anybody in the street you found him has leopard tortoises? I bet cha, there is!
 

ascott

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anybody in the street you found him has leopard tortoises? I bet cha, there is!

Thinking this as well....hopefully they are not on their hands and knees searching under everything for it.....
 

Tom

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That was found recently? Or they found it some time ago and you are only just now asking what it is?

It is not the right time of year for those to hatch out of the ground, so someone has lost their pet, if your friend found it recently. Please encourage them to do their best to find the owner. That does not look like one that recently came out of the ground either. A baby that size would not have gone more than a few houses away. Shouldn't be that hard to go knock on a few doors.
 

impdragon

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She just found him this morning. She doesn't have proper equipment so she's dropping him off here tomorrow since I have some leftover items sitting around. And yeah, I think I'm going to try posting on craigslist and see if anyone bites. I would hate to lose a little baby like that and never see it again. If no one turns out to be the owner... than I might keep him. We have plenty of fresh veggies and lettuces in the house that I think it would be perfect. :)

Any recommendations for initial care/setup?
 

bouaboua

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How can I never found any tortoise wondering on my street?

Lucky you!!!

This is a great place to learn and share. You got to share some photo when you set-up the enclosure. remember to read Tom's threads.
 

diamondbp

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Pardalis babcocki . Make sure you hydrate him several times with warm soaks
 

Tom

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impdragon said:
She just found him this morning. She doesn't have proper equipment so she's dropping him off here tomorrow since I have some leftover items sitting around. And yeah, I think I'm going to try posting on craigslist and see if anyone bites. I would hate to lose a little baby like that and never see it again. If no one turns out to be the owner... than I might keep him. We have plenty of fresh veggies and lettuces in the house that I think it would be perfect. :)

Any recommendations for initial care/setup?

Here is a care sheet for how to properly set him up: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-79895.html

He will need daily soaks and should not be eating lettuce and veggies. Here are some diet suggestions:

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Do not let that baby get cold. 80+ day and night.
 

impdragon

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I have some nighttime bulbs - one blueish and one red. Are either of those okay, or can they see the color?

Also, what about lettuces? We get local produce every week, so we always have things like collard greens, radish/beet greens, lettuces (I'll avoid spinach, though) etc. Are those okay? Also, many care sheets mention hay. Is that not acceptable?

How come so many care sheets mention veggies? Are they absolutely unacceptable?
 

impdragon

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Hey everyone! I set up the baby's enclosure. I'll take some pictures soon but I'm waiting for the temps to regulate first. In the meantime, he's very active! Here's a picture in the meantime. :)
 

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Tom

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impdragon said:
I have some nighttime bulbs - one blueish and one red. Are either of those okay, or can they see the color?

Also, what about lettuces? We get local produce every week, so we always have things like collard greens, radish/beet greens, lettuces (I'll avoid spinach, though) etc. Are those okay? Also, many care sheets mention hay. Is that not acceptable?

How come so many care sheets mention veggies? Are they absolutely unacceptable?

Some people use those colored bulbs. I don't like them. Tortoises can see a broader spectrum of light than we can, so if you can see in there, they can too. I like it dark at night so I use a ceramic heating element and set it on a thermostat.

In general I avoid the typical grocery store greens when possible. They lack fiber and are not the best diet for our tortoises. Wild leopards eat a lot of different types of weeds and succulents. They don't eat lettuce or vegetables. Your type of leopard will eat grass sometimes, but it tends to not be their favorite. Try it and see. Likewise few regular leopards are going to eat dry grass hay. There is nothing wrong with spinach. Just don't feed tons of it every day. If grocery store greens are all you can do, then you can improve them greatly with some "Herbal Hay" or "Salad Style" from tortoise supply.com. It may seem expensive at first glance, but the stuff lasts a very long time for one baby leopard, and it improves your tortoises diet immensely.

These are good questions. Keep them coming.
 

impdragon

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Enclosure setup!

It looks like the temps are getting up to where they need to be. He's basking right now as you can see (yay!), and those thermometers are just thrown in there for now for me to check the temps. Right now the basking spot is getting up to 90 degrees and the far end of the cage is 80. The lower right has a pot holder under the soil to catch water, so the soil is wetter there. The substrate is mostly coconut coir with some soil, spagnum moss, and cypress mulch added in. Hopefully this is good for him!




Tom said:
impdragon said:
I have some nighttime bulbs - one blueish and one red. Are either of those okay, or can they see the color?

Also, what about lettuces? We get local produce every week, so we always have things like collard greens, radish/beet greens, lettuces (I'll avoid spinach, though) etc. Are those okay? Also, many care sheets mention hay. Is that not acceptable?

How come so many care sheets mention veggies? Are they absolutely unacceptable?

Some people use those colored bulbs. I don't like them. Tortoises can see a broader spectrum of light than we can, so if you can see in there, they can too. I like it dark at night so I use a ceramic heating element and set it on a thermostat.

In general I avoid the typical grocery store greens when possible. They lack fiber and are not the best diet for our tortoises. Wild leopards eat a lot of different types of weeds and succulents. They don't eat lettuce or vegetables. Your type of leopard will eat grass sometimes, but it tends to not be their favorite. Try it and see. Likewise few regular leopards are going to eat dry grass hay. There is nothing wrong with spinach. Just don't feed tons of it every day. If grocery store greens are all you can do, then you can improve them greatly with some "Herbal Hay" or "Salad Style" from tortoise supply.com. It may seem expensive at first glance, but the stuff lasts a very long time for one baby leopard, and it improves your tortoises diet immensely.

These are good questions. Keep them coming.

I bought some Mazuri tortoise food and wheat grass (a friend of mine raised a sulcata from a baby so I asked him for tips), and I have a bunch of locally grown produce that I can rip some greens off of. I'll do my best to offer more weeds (there is clover growing down the street, but I may find an alternative since dogs walk there) in general. I'll see what he seems to prefer.


So, I keep periodically checking on him to see how he's doing/how the temps are doing, and I notice he's still on the basking rock and not moving much, eyes closed. Should I just leave him alone, or is that something to worry about?
 

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Tom

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He needs a humid hide, and don't trust those clamps. They always fail and can can cause your whole house to burn down. Hang the lamp directly over the enclosure. I cant see the fixture, but make sure it is ceramic and not Bakelight for the same reason as above.

All else looks pretty good. I prefer to chop the wheat grass and sprinkle it over the food, but you can do it however you like. :)
 

impdragon

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Tom said:
He needs a humid hide, and don't trust those clamps. They always fail and can can cause your whole house to burn down. Hang the lamp directly over the enclosure. I cant see the fixture, but make sure it is ceramic and not Bakelight for the same reason as above.

All else looks pretty good. I prefer to chop the wheat grass and sprinkle it over the food, but you can do it however you like. :)

He has a humid hide on the bottom left - the soil there is completely moist. Unless you mean more like a cave and not a pot?

Yeah, I'd like to suspend the lights, too. This was temporary - do you have a suggestion for the best way to do that without a cover?

Also, how can I tell is the fixture is "bakelight" or not?


Oh, I forgot to mention I'm using a Powersun UV 100w bulb.
 

impdragon

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Light fixtures?

So last night my bulb kept the cage at an even 80 degrees. Yay! Since the tank is in an armoire I was also able to twist-tie the doors shut to protect the baby from my cats' curiosity. :)

I'd like to mount my lights above the cage, pointing down, as you recommended. Is there hardware at the store I can use for light fixtures like these? I've attached a photo of the fixtures so you can see what kind they are - I'd obviously like to make sure they're suitable first. What do you think, based on the photo?
 

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