Leopard tortoise physical traits

[Tortugaskontortugas]

So I have 7 leopard tortoises from 3 different breeders. My first 5 tortoises were all very similar. However, the last breeder, their leos have different physical characteristics vs the other leos. The leos bottom scutes are flared out. Like when I carry the new leos I can feel the shells edges, like a sulcatta how the shell flares out at the side. All other leos I’ve seen are smooth on the sides. Is this a characteristic of one of the 11 “clades” of leos? Is there a way I can find out more about the different clades of leopard tortoises? Also I’ve seen some very different shades of white for leos. Is this a trait of certain “clades”? Is there any place where they list certain characteristics of each clade?

 

[Yvonne G]

I'd love to see pictures if this guy. None of my 4.5 leopards' shells flare out.

 

[Tortugaskontortugas]

I'd love to see pictures if this guy. None of my 4.5 leopards' shells flare out.

Ask and you shall receive. I’ll take some right away with their daily soaking in a minute.

 

[Tortugaskontortugas]

It’s not very noticeable on camera. First two are normal. Last 3 are the “flared”. You can barely see the sides flare out just a little bit. You can feel it better then you can see it. They’re still small so I guess my question is will this enhance as they get larger or will it just fade away and they become like all others?

 

[Yvonne G]

I love that last little guy with his different-looking scutes.

I think the flaring you've noticed will go away as he gets more time living in a warm, humid environment.

 

[Tortugaskontortugas]

I love that last little guy with his different-looking scutes.

I think the flaring you've noticed will go away as he gets more time living in a warm, humid environment.

Thank you! That one is definitely different then his siblings.

Thanks for the info. I’ve had them for about 6 months…just got something to accurately read my temp and humidity. My temps are around 90 and 100 basking while my humidity is at 100%. Is there any harm with 100% humidity?

 

[Neal]

I've been falling down this rabbit hole for a long time now. Unfortunately, I've never truly found the sort of specific information you are looking for from an academic-like source. The first link on this post is the most educational explanation of the varieties of leopard tortoises I've found: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...-research-articles-and-case-study-list.58336/

Too bad the article doesn't detail physical characteristics. The best information I've been able to gather in my attempts to identify physical traits of leopard tortoises is from pictures here and there of wild leopard tortoises. It's not a truly academic way to go about it, but it's entertaining. There are a lot of physical traits that differ from leopard to another and some of those can appear to be consistent with some localities. Flaring of marginal scutes, elongated shell shapes, size, facial and limb structure are a lot of the variations I've tried to note consistencies with.

As far as color goes though, I've never been able to find any consistencies. From my own observations over the years I believe that environment and care greatly impact the color patterns they can produce, even clutch mates would look completely different from each other if given different care. The egg development process seems to influence how a leopard tortoise looks and grows as well.

 

[Tortugaskontortugas]

I've been falling down this rabbit hole for a long time now. Unfortunately, I've never truly found the sort of specific information you are looking for from an academic-like source. The first link on this post is the most educational explanation of the varieties of leopard tortoises I've found: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...-research-articles-and-case-study-list.58336/

Too bad the article doesn't detail physical characteristics. The best information I've been able to gather in my attempts to identify physical traits of leopard tortoises is from pictures here and there of wild leopard tortoises. It's not a truly academic way to go about it, but it's entertaining. There are a lot of physical traits that differ from leopard to another and some of those can appear to be consistent with some localities. Flaring of marginal scutes, elongated shell shapes, size, facial and limb structure are a lot of the variations I've tried to note consistencies with.

As far as color goes though, I've never been able to find any consistencies. From my own observations over the years I believe that environment and care greatly impact the color patterns they can produce, even clutch mates would look completely different from each other if given different care. The egg development process seems to influence how a leopard tortoise looks and grows as well.

Awesome links! Seems like you had the same questions I had about leopard tortoises! I’ll read all the links and see if I can’t find my answer there. Thanks a million!

 

[wellington]

Thank you! That one is definitely different then his siblings.

Thanks for the info. I’ve had them for about 6 months…just got something to accurately read my temp and humidity. My temps are around 90 and 100 basking while my humidity is at 100%. Is there any harm with 100% humidity?

I would lower the over all temp to no lower then 80 day and night, 90 is a bit high for over all temp. Your basking temp is good.
100% humidity is not going to hurt them but I would try to let it drop to no lower then 80%.