Tortoise-world Forum

Hellooo!!

I'm a new tortie owner, i've now had my Leopard 2 years and i think he is around 6 years old,

I'd like a bit of help with keeping as i want to make sure i'm doing everything right.

He is kept inside in a tortie table with heat lamp and uv strip light which i have on 10 hours a day through winter/cold times and the past week or so i've had him out on the back garden for 10 hours a day ish.

When i 1st got him he wouldn't eat hardly anything except cucumber and then it was onlt tiny ammounts. Now i feed dandelions and grass, mainly but he wont eat hay etc.

I also would like to know what he should way for his length etc, i can measure him up and post it if anyone is willing to share some knowledge with me!

Thanks Marie

Hi Maz, and welcome to the forum. The best way to measure your tort, is to put a piece of paper down on flat surface with ruler and gentle push the torts head against something sturdy and the put a pencil mark at its tail then just measure from the top of the paper to the line on the paper! God i hope I have explained that well enough. lol

If you look at http://www.tortoises.net there is a brilliant guide to getting your torts SCL. There is no correct ratio for leopards but so long as your tort feels dense rather than an empty shell I wouldn't worry. Leopards are really easy to over-grow, too, so keep an eye on how much he is eating.

Can't wait to see pics of him!

Right i will weigh and measure again in a bit.
heres a pic from when i 1st got him


15cm and 631g
he was 10cm 2 years ago.

awww what a little sweetie
i just want to say i think your doing a great job with him from your husbandry description
his weight-length ratio is fine

ah thanks, i don't have the heat on when it's warm, i kind of judge it on how active he is!

I use soil and sand as subsrate (can't spell) and i just saw thats what most people use so i'm glad there. I'm hoping to go buy some new plants on the weekend as our garden is currently slabbed , the front is grass but i daren't leave him out there when im not watching, but i'm going to get some tray plants etc to put in the tortie run for the back. We are hoping to turf it soon and i will fence off a bit for him.

Any ideas what else i can feed to get him tempted?

I use the calcium powder,

b&q got about the cheapest plants at the moment, they've got pansies, petunias, mimulus all edible
try morrisons for snap dragon, lavatera, stock, hebe, honeysuckle and hibiscus
wilco's have 3 hostas for £2

Sedum, lavender fuchsia all good plants shrubs that come back every year also phlox another one.

i will have to write a list and take it with me. I was at wilkos the other day too , i'll have to have a trip back into town. wonder if he will be able to get up into the trays?
And i can't believe i spelt leopard wrong on the topic heading! Doh!!

hi Maz i keep leopards and also record their weights as they grow over the years.if your scl measurement is accurate i would say he is a little light.although it can be difficult to sex some of them even at that size ,with others it is very obvious from body shape alone which are male and which are female .males tend to be more elongate than females therefore lighter for the scl.this is why it is so difficult to construct a graph to check the weight to length ratio ,believe me i have made so many and then destroyed them.as has been said they should feel full and be active and bright eyed.
terry