Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby leopard that just turned 1 year old - Although he seems to be healthy - most of his growth has been in his marginal scutes and I'm wondering is this is due to a possible deficiency in his diet??? He eats chopped up grasses and weeds and some masuri on occassion. His diet is supplemented with a multivitamin (recently changed to Herptivite) and calcium. His other scutes have grown proportionally but they don't seem to be as spaced out as the marginal ones. This is unlike another younger hatchling that I have that seems to be expanding a little bit everywhere. They get to go outside, but also have an uva/uvb bulb available when inside.

Does anyone have some insight they can share on healthy shell growth and how to achieve it??

When you say you feed Mazuri occasionally, how frequently is that?
Do you provide a humid hide?
What is the temperature range at which it is kept?
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

The yearling eats a softened pellet or two of the mazuri tortoise diet usually twice a week - and it is almost always mixed with chopped grasses and weeds that I pick in the morning for them. They also has access to pansises, geraniums, and some succulents.

They are kept in a 4x2 ft tortoise table with edible plants and bed-a-beast for a substrate - that ranges from mid to upper 90's in the hot spot (100 watt uva/uvb bulb) to low 70's at the other end where they choose to sleep in a little wooden shelter that is has oxbow hay for them to burrow into.

When it gets too cool in the house - I turn on a ceramic heater overhead for them - and that heats the whole enclosure into the 80's.

I'm afraid that maybe it is too dry for them - they definitely drink when I soak them (and they have water available to them at all times in the tortoise table) It can be difficult to keep plants happy in the enviroment - so I have been thinking that I need to figure out a better way to moderate the temps and add humidity. Colorado is super dry so maybe they need a tad more moisture..???

Any suggestions are welcome - and I can certainly take a digital picture of him and they enclosure if that would help diagnose his growing style.

Thanks for you help. I really appreciate it. I enjoy them so much - I just want them to be as healthy and happy as possible.

I have an adoption that is doing the same thing and I thought it might be the Mazuri but after reading your post I'm convinced it is the humidity. I'm going to increase the humidity of mine and I'd suggest you do the same. Everything else you describe sounds perfect. Just be careful that when you increase the humidity that you make sure to keep it warm in that area.
I'd like to see pictures of the little guy.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Hi,

I have two small leopards too. I'd like to see a picture of the growth you are talking about. I'm having the opposite problem with humidity. They've been outside all day and the humidity in their pen was 84%. I bring them in at night and they just moved to a 6x4 on soil/sand mix and it's staying around 75%, some areas higher. SO far I haven't had any respiratory problems but it does worry me. But www.africantortoise.com says that many of the leos imported into the US come from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania which is reporting 100% humidity at the moment (at 6:00am).

I?d also like to see a picture of your setup. Do you give them a night time temp drop? If you do what do you let them go down to? Now that we aren?t running the heat, I?m dealing with the temps dropping lower at night than they were in the winter with the heat running.

Thanks,
Troya

I have images I'd love to post - but no url that I can make them accessable through... but I can email them if you'd like to see them. Just let me know...

.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

What is your email Ed?? - I'll send you some pics...

Sure, you can email me - Tyoder2@cs.com. Thanks,
Troya

Is it possible that you UVB/UVA is to insufficient??? You said all that you had was a (100 watt uva/uvb bulb) right? This is not nearly enough for Pardalis to maintain a healthy growth rate.

I give my leopards filtered sunshine with 4' Reptisun UVB/UVA.(like a lot of us Northerner's have to do) Along with vitamin D3 added to there fiber supplementation. This helps keep up with there natural ability to produce there own D3. Which makes even growth. I think humidity plays a role in how domed your leopards individual scutes will be.

Please post a picture of you set up if possible to get an Idea of your lighting. Thanks

Scott C

Scott,
That's a nice looking leopard you have their. I'd wonder if he'll keep the weird pattern. Hopefully he will. Keep us posted on his growth. I have raised several leopards using a humid hide and uv heat bulb with great results. If your intersted I'll give you the details.
CW

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