Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay first of all I never meant to start a huge debate. EJ I really appreciate the advice you have given me.

BUT I AM SOOOOOO CONFUSED NOW! I bought this mulch in the pet section and it had a turtle on it! I thought I read that it would be fine. Tell me what everyone THINKS is the best substance and then I will make my decision. I need answers from people that have had experiences with torts and can tell me what to use and not to use.

Also-little confused about the tank situation-EJ you had commented that if I feed it right, have the correct lighting, that it might get tooo big-well what in the world should I do-get a smaller tank (don't really want to do that) I am just so confused I thought I was doing fine until I read the forum this morning~~now I feel like I did before I even got a my tortoise. I feel that care sheets help, but sometime contradict themselves and I get very confused. I trust this forum becuase people have had real experiences with tortoises!

Now tell me what you would tell someone who just purchased a Leopard Tortoise-feed, substance, lighting, and housing-please

I have a couple sub-4" leopards.

This is what I do:

Housing: 42"x24"x6" plastic storage container. Newspaper substrate. Water bowl. 2 48" fluorescent UV bulbs. One 60-watt basking bulb. Ambient temps about 70-80F, depending on season. Basking temps about 90-100F for 12-14 hours a day.

They also spend 10-20 hours a week outdoors during the day. I have a small, portable pen with a screen top that I place over a grassy spot. I also lay a piece of tile over one corner to provide a shady spot. I also soak them 2-3 times a week.

Food: During the summer it's mostly weeds and grass from when they are outdoors. I also supplement with grocery greens, and in the past I've used pelleted foods mixed with chopped timothy hay. Dust food twice a week with plain calcium when they have outdoor time, and with calcium/d3 when always indoors.

With anything larger than a hatchling I'm reluctant to use natural substrates for indoor enclosures. The poop gets mixed into substrate and creates a horrible mess. I think that if you can provide a couple hiding spots for your leopard, one dry and one humid, you could use an easy-to-clean paper substrate.

If you have a glass tank -then use it. Just don't put a solid lid on it. It's just a box made of glass. The big problem with glass tanks is that they are heavy and hard to clean. They also don't come in practical sizes for larger tortoises and are expensive. A plastic tub or a homemade wooden enclosure are easier and cheaper to deal with. Maybe a horse watering trough, concrete mixing tub, wading pool, etc.

Let them graze on grass and weeds if you can provide it. Otherwise try to provide a large variety of greens. Get some timothy hay from the pet store. The greens don't have enough fiber, so mix in some finely chopped hay. Supplement with calcium or calcium/d3 powder as needed. Make sure they are warm (minimum of 75 or so, with a hot spot in the 90s) and well hydrated by using water bowls, soaks, and a humid hide spot.

Hello,

I normally do not say much on here, but I thought maybe I could help you out a bit and ease your confusion.

I have several Leopards right now and a few of them are babies. Which, I believe is what you have also.

A glass tank is fine as long as you can provide the proper temperature gradient and proper venilation, which means using a screen top. If you are using a 10gal. tank, I would say that is not good and you should go bigger, but if you are using somethinglarger, then please disregard the last comment.

Anyways, here is my set up and what I feed. My Leopards are housed in a custom built 4x8 enclosure. My substrate is white beach sand. I have 2 100w UVB lights and 1 infrared heat lamp placed in different areas of the eclosure. I have 2 hide boxes and several rocks, etc for climbing and hiding. I keep orchard hay in one corner that they can eat or what not. I provide a water bowl at all times, but I do regular soakings every other day.

During the summer months, I feed grasses, dandelion greens, weeds, etc. During the winter months, I feed dark leafy greens and about every 2 weeks, a small protion of mazuri tortoise diet.

My guys have a smooth, slow grow and solid feces so I guess I am doing something right.

As far as the cedar mulch goes, I would have to agree with everyone else and avoid it, just as a precaution.

I hope this helps in some way. If you have anymore questions you need answered you may email me at kelly.wood@frontiernet.net and I will try to help as much as possible.

Good luck to you.
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Kelly Wood

1.3 Cherry Head Redfoots

1.2 Brazillian Redfoots

1.1.4 Leopard tortoises

1.1.2 Sandfire Bearded Dragons

0.2 Dogs

1.3 Parakeets

If you have any reservations about the advice given... don't use it.

I tend to follow advice that seems practical to me.

As far as the substrate... if it is pink and white shavings get rid of it. If it is a chocolate brown, don't worry about it or if you are still not sure, change it to something you are comfortable with.

I tend to spell out worse and best case scenarios sometimes. I know this confuses people sometimes. I hope to get the point across that because you are dealing with a reptile there are many 'depends'. (sorry)

Here's an example that I hope will make it clearer on the size issue. I have a 4-5 year old Sulcata that is just over 7 inches. I know Sulcatas can get to breeding size (24 inches) in 2 years. This shows how variable growth can be. Leopards, on the average, grow slower.

That 75 gal tank should be able to house your tortoise for quite a few years. During that time I'll be willing to bet you will figure out what you need to do next.

I'm not adding anything else because I think you have some excellent suggestions from the 2 posts to this thread before mine.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care