First timer here :-)

[MrsJelly85]

Hello,

My name is Samantha, but everyone just calls me Sam. I am a first time owner of an adorable lil leopard tort, who we have named Master Oogway (the sad part of that is that we don't have any kids, yet we still loved that movie Kung Foo Panda...) anyway, I just received my lil baby this past Wednesday from TortoiseSupply.com - shout out! We live in MA so it's pretty frickin cold here now and "The Master" will be an indoor dweller for the time being. So far everything is going well, but my only concern is that he hasn't <<ahem>> ... pooped yet :-( I know he could be pretty mixed up and stressed from the traveling, so I am not going into panic mode or anything yet, but since one usually follows another, he hasn't seemed to eat much these past 2 days either. He has nibbled some, but I guess I'm just not sure how much he should be eating...? I have him on a spring mix diet as it is really hard to find grass and other weeds and safe plants here this time of year, but am open to suggestions.. As a matter of fact I am open to any thoughts, suggestions and constructive criticism so please don't hold back!
A thought I did have was should I offer a little fruit... Or should I wait and see if nature takes its course?

Hopefully these pics upload okay and you can see the indoor enclosure we have set up- let me know how I did and any way to make it better!

Looking forward to getting to know you all!!!

Sam
Proud mom of
Master Oogway, baby leopard tortoise
Louie, 1 year old mixed breed monster dog
And Shamrock, my orphaned rescued snuggle-pup (7ish year old pit bull)

 

[coreyc]

Hello Sam welcome to the forum what part of Mass you from?

 

[jaizei]

Welcome

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[dmarcus]

Hello Samantha and welcome to the forum...

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Hi Sam! welcome!!

 

[Tony the tank]

Welcome...

 

[wellington]

Welcome Sam. I also have a leopard, approx. 9 mo. Look at and follow Tom's thread below
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-The-End-Of-Pyramiding-II-The-Leopards

Also do not feed any fruit. Soak him at least every day or other day for 20-30 minutes in warm water. I feed mine, mixed greens, bok choy, endive (not the Belgian kind, although that is fine also) dandelion greens and I also grow grass and clover in his inside enclosure. If you have a Whole foods or a Marianos super market they may have the other greens. Most are pretty easy to find except for the dandelions. I am in Chicago so it might be easier for me to find. Temps 80 and 95-100 in basking spot. He probably is settling in. I hope this helps you out until the more experienced on here tune in. Enjoy your little one, they are great little cuties.

 

[bubbles01]

Welcome to you Sam... Lovely looking Tort you've got there!

Helen x

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[pdrobber]

welcome

 

[l0velesly]

What a cutie leo!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Sam:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

 

[MrsJelly85]

Thanks for the welcome everyone- and all the advice! So good news is the day after writing that post the Master did poop (in his water dish) and then today, he went again- such a relief!!! Now our two new concerns are that he is constantly burying himself under his sand/coir subtrate directly under his basking area. That area stays at a constant 95-100, so I cannot fathom him being cold. The humidity seems a bit low (in the 30-40 region) but I am constantly spritzing with water... And our other big concern is that he hasn't really eaten much in the past two days...? Oh and I am located in Waltham, MA and yes there is a Whole Foods close by so I can look for the other foods mentioned... Any thoughts as to why the burying and the lack of appetite?

 

[Katherine]

Thanks for the welcome everyone- and all the advice! So good news is the day after writing that post the Master did poop (in his water dish) and then today, he went again- such a relief!!! Now our two new concerns are that he is constantly burying himself under his sand/coir subtrate directly under his basking area. That area stays at a constant 95-100, so I cannot fathom him being cold. The humidity seems a bit low (in the 30-40 region) but I am constantly spritzing with water... And our other big concern is that he hasn't really eaten much in the past two days...? Oh and I am located in Waltham, MA and yes there is a Whole Foods close by so I can look for the other foods mentioned... Any thoughts as to why the burying and the lack of appetite?

Yay for tortoise poop, always a good thing.

Warm temperatures will encourage your new baby to eat; so first I would double check and make sure s/he is nice and toasty and give a long warm soak. In new set ups it can take some time to figure out the strength and distance your heat sources need to be for optimal outcome; so don't be afraid to play around a little bit and continually check the temperatures of different areas in the enclosure. Maybe contact the people you got him from and see what diet he was maintained on prior to coming into your care. I find my tortoises are reluctant to try new foods at first and it can take some mixing, weaning and straight trickery to get them to experiment with new foods; so knowing what s/he is familiar with may help.

I agree with you that the humidity is a little low (easy to adjust that). If his substrate is moist from the misting perhaps he is burrowing for that reason. I have healthy active leopards who love to burrow in leaf piles or loose dirt so the burrowing alone shouldn't be a concern; I'd work on stimulating a healthy appetite and not worry too much about the burrowing. Good luck, it is always exciting getting to know a new tortoise!

 

[MrsJelly85]

Katherine-
Thank you so much for getting back to me! You're probably right about the moisture in the subtrate because I can actually see it through the plastic walls... Now I'm getting a sneaky suspicion that the sand is just sucking up all my moisture and leaving the top layer of coir to dry out... Hmmm (I'll have to investigate this further). This morning I am going to give the Master a much longer soaking and then really encourage some eating right after, if I have no luck then I'll send an e-mail to tortoisesupply.com and see what they were using for food. You really set my mind at ease about the burrowing and gave me some great ideas about eating... I'm wondering, should I try probiotics? Or is it too soon? We're now going on Day 4 for lack of appetite even though in my stubbornness I can get him to take 2 bites a day...

Thanks again for all the help!
Sam

 

[MrsJelly85]

More good news! The Master is currently eating! More than I have ever seen him eat before- perhaps it was the longer soak? I also fed him differently than I had the past few days. To be clear, I was just putting a plate of food in his enclosure and he didn't pay it any attention. Today, I put him in a high sided bowl and now he has to focus on eating... Maybe that's the trick? I don't want to stress him out, but I guess it isn't if he's eating...? I am one relieved torti momma right now :-D

Thanks again for all your help!

Sam