I have a 13 year old female leopard tortoise. She has a large indoor run with a heat lamp and is kept at 20+c during the day.
Over the last 2 weeks she has stopped eating and is very restless, walking round her enclosure constantly. Is it possible she could have eggs waiting to be laid? she lives alone but I know tortoises do not need to mate to lay.
Are there any other reasons why she has gone off her food?
Hi Jill,
it certainly does sound as though she is gravid, has she put on any weight and have you noticed her digging with her back legs?
Do you have a suitable nest site set up?
I'm afraid I don't know if she's put on weight as I don't check it very oftern. We did weigh her recently and she was 9kg. I can't say I've noticed it being harder to pick her up.
I haven't seen any digging motions but we are out at work all day. I will keep an eye on her at the weekend and will have to wait and see if anything happens.
She has eaten a little today and done the fist 'flood' of the week so maybe things are on the move.
(10-17-2008 08:25 PM)Jill Wrote: [ -> ]I'm afraid I don't know if she's put on weight as I don't check it very oftern. We did weigh her recently and she was 9kg. I can't say I've noticed it being harder to pick her up.
I haven't seen any digging motions but we are out at work all day. I will keep an eye on her at the weekend and will have to wait and see if anything happens.
She has eaten a little today and done the fist 'flood' of the week so maybe things are on the move.
hi Julie i keep and breed leopard tortoises as Josh has said there is a chance she has eggs ,can i ask is she still paceing or has she stopped.unfortunately egg retention is a serious problem with leopard tortoises they can be really fussy with the nest site particularly if it is her first.
terry
Yes she has stoped pacing now and has started eating normally. I think I was worrying in unecessarily but take your comment on board. There is no real reason to think she may have eggs but it is the one thing that I remember my spur thigh tortoise did when she wanted to lay.
Thanks for your help.
Jill
she chould be laying but i dont know any thing about that cus all my torts r male but im studying animal manegmant and im no vet but its giving me the feeling that your tortoise chould be bord and depressed so try and give it a change of cenry and a mix of different food it might cheer it up if it mite be bordom and experiment with different enrichment objects.
They do sometimes get periods where they could just be narky and get as though they are eggy. Yanni has done it once or twice in the past, but only for a day or two then stopped.