Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
On virtually all of the care sheets I have read they reccomend a diet of almost entirely grasses. However I have recently been e-mailing a breeder on the kingsnake classifieds and he told me that when the Leopards are young their jaws are not developed enough to eat grasses so he feeds them mostly Romaine Lettuce. I am kind of suspicious about this so tell me what you think about this and what you think I should feed my Leopard (when I get one) when it is hatchling and when it is older. Thanks in advance.
-Drew

I have two small (less than 5 inch) leopards, and I feed them a varied diet.

When the weather is warm and I have the time, I put them out on the lawn (no chemicals) under a screen-topped frame and let them eat what they find. Mostly they like clover and weeds, and maybe a little grass.

When they are indoors and there are no weeds to feed them, I use a variety of grocery greens and some tortoise pellets mixed with chopped timothy hay. The greens include collards, endive, mustard, kale, spring mix, etc. Maybe a little carrot or squash. I've use Mazuri, Pretty Pets, and RepCal tortoise pellets, moistened and mixed with finely chopped timothy hay. I try to make the pellets a fairly small part of the diet, say once a week or so. And if you can find it, they really like cactus pads. With the spines removed, of course.

Also I supplement with RepCal Calcium with D3, especially when they do not get much time outdoors.

So my recommendation is to give them a varied diet. Don't try to find one magic food. And don't give them mostly Romaine Lettuce. It's OK as part of a varied diet, but it is not complete by itself. And it is too low in fiber. Your torts will produce runny stools on that diet.

Later, as they get larger, they may consume a higher percentage of grass in their diet.

Thanks,
That sounds great! Just one more thing when they are very little (hatchlings) is it true that they shouldn't be fed grasses because their jaws are not developed enough to eat them? Thanks.
-Drew

My leopards were about 2.5 inches when I got them, so I do not know about the jaws of hatchling leopards. I know that with my much smaller russian tort hatchlings, I never worry about them eating grass.

But you are the first person to every mention this.

Feed them some weeds, some greens, chop up a little grass, etc.

ok sounds good.
-Drew

I have been breeding leopards for over 25 years. I hatch and raise over 250 per year. My hatchlings stay on an all romaine lettuce diet with vitamins sprinkled on for the first 5 months then they can be started on grasses and pelleted diets with some yellow squash every once in a while(once or twice a week)