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A friend at my job is giving me a 3yr old leopard tortoise. I want to make sure that she will have a good environment, food and lighting. Can you please tell me what I should have in her pen, what to feed and what should I keep her temperature at.
Thanks

I keep my leopards outside from May to early October sincce natural sunlight is much better for them. During the cooler months (I live in northern California) my leopards ar housed on either cypress mulch or a mixture of peat moss with sand and lizard bark. They need to have a basking temperature at ~90F with UVB lighting. Recently breeders believe humidity plays an important part in avoding tortoise pyramiding, provide them with a humid hide. I soak my leopards everyday or at least once every other day for about 10 minutes. Soaking ensures good hydration and they like to do their "business" while being soaked. I feed my leopards mostly grasses (Timothy & Bermuda, Blue Grass, etc.), clovers, dandelions, opuntia, endive, chicory, hibiscus flowers & leaves, no protein at all and very little to no fruit.

Good luck with your leopard, they make awesome pets!

Thank you for the information. Now for the next question. What is a humid hide? The food thing will be easy for me to do here where I live in Oregon. Lots of plants and hay that you mentioned are grown here. I will have my husband plant me some if it this next weekend. As for the weather I live in Central Oregon and will only have a short amount of months to have the tortoise outside and never at night. What would be the lowest temperature for them to be at? Do you give vitamin supplements?Thanks again, J4

Hi J4,

I made my humid hide by cutting a terracotta pot into half, flip the pot with the cut side down so it looks like a hide/cave. Then I use a mixture of peat moss, sand or organic soil with lizard bark on top of the mixture to put inside the hide. I spray the hide 2-3 times a day to keep the substrate moist not wet. Although leopard torts are from dry climate but recently most breeders believe a humid hide is good for their health and helps with pyramiding.

Even though the amount of time you can put him outside is limited, some natural sunlight is more beneficial than none. Make sure the tort is protected from predators like birds, raccoons, cats, etc. when he's outside. I try to avoid feeding too many grocery greens especially in the summertime so grow lots of wild edible flowers, grasses & weeds as you can. For supplement use calcium without phosphorous and without D3 in the summer if he spends time outdoor in the sun and with D3 in the winter. I personally don't use D3 since my torts spend a lot of time outdoor. Heprtivite multi-vitamin, small pinch once a week. I like to use Walkabout Farm's (www.herpnutrition.com) tortoise salad mix.

C