Leopard Tortoise!

[Neal]

I would like a tortoise that will get used to his owner and not be afraid when I come around and also not bite lol

This will be up to the tortoise if he ever warms up to you or not. Since you don't have any available to you that you can actually see, try to talk with a breeder selling some and ask if they would be willing to search through their clutches for the most outgoing one. You're pretty safe with any type of african tortoise from not getting bitten. I think the only tortoises that might intentionally bite someone are the more carnivorous type like redfoots...that of course is just my guess.

 

[John]

I would like a tortoise that will get used to his owner and not be afraid when I come around and also not bite lol

This will be up to the tortoise if he ever warms up to you or not. Since you don't have any available to you that you can actually see, try to talk with a breeder selling some and ask if they would be willing to search through their clutches for the most outgoing one. You're pretty safe with any type of african tortoise from not getting bitten. I think the only tortoises that might intentionally bite someone are the more carnivorous type like redfoots...that of course is just my guess.

jersey tortoise's are known too bite neal,may be their rough upbringing

 

[Kennedy98]

is leopard sulpply a good place to get tortoises?

 

[Tom]

Yes. http://www.tortoisesupply.com/ Is a great place to get a tortoise from. Tyler is a friend of mine and he takes good care of all of his stuff.

 

[Robert]

As my wife said, we've been fortunate with our babcocki. She is very inquisitive and always wants to be involved with what we are doing.

Kennedy98: just in case nobody explained it, there are two sub species of leopard tortoise: pardalis babcocki and pardalis pardalis. Both would be considered a leopard tortoise, require the same care etc, but they have differences as well that you should be aware of prior to purchase.

 

[Kennedy98]

I was thinking baout getting them from there. Can someone tell me the diffrence between P.P leopard tortoise and P.B leopard tortoise

 

[Robert]

Others can fill you in on this more than I can, but for all intents and purposes, the big three seems to be:
Pardalis pardalis is more expensive than babcocki
Pardalis pardalis will be larger than babcocki
Pardalis pardalis is less prevalent in US husbandry than babcocki

I've heard others mention that pardalis is more cold hardy than babcocki as well as more outgoing. I'm not sure on these. My experience with my one and only babcocki is that she is very outgoing. As others mentioned, I would think personality might be more individualized to each tort, not necessarily representative of an entire sub species.

 

[coreyc]

Others can fill you in on this more than I can, but for all intents and purposes, the big three seems to be:
Pardalis pardalis is more expensive than babcocki
Pardalis pardalis will be larger than babcocki
Pardalis pardalis is less prevalent in US husbandry than babcocki

I've heard others mention that pardalis is more cold hardy than babcocki as well as more outgoing. I'm not sure on these. My experience with my one and only babcocki is that she is very outgoing. As others mentioned, I would think personality might be more individualized to each tort, not necessarily representative of an entire sub species.

and they have two spots on their top scutes

 

[Kennedy98]

Is one better than the other?

 

[Neal]

Is one better than the other?

Depends on what you're looking for. What I'll tell you is that if you want looks...go with a babcocki. If you want size go with the pardalis.

If you're looking for others opinions between the two, mine is that they are equal in every way except what I mentioned above. My babcocks have been exposed to as cold of weather as we get here in Arizona and have never had as much as a sniffle. They're pretty outgoing too. My pardalis are just hatchlings, but I don't see why they wouldn't be able to handle anything a babcocki couldn't.

 

[TylerStewart]

The babcocks are often called pretty rocks. They don't tend to have a lot of interest in what there keepers are up too. There are exceptions. (Happy Neal and Paul?)

Generally the pardalis subspecies are much more personable.

FALSE! LOL, come on, Tom, if you reallt think there's a noticeable difference in "personality" between the two, than I think the Babcocki that you're comparing to were beaten while they were children, making them exceptionally shy today. I have both types (admittedly more babcocki) and they act no different from each other. There's an old Japanese guy here in Vegas that has a half dozen large pardalis and he thinks my group (which is mostly babcocki) is much more active than his group is. Like Neal said, if you want good looks, go with Babcocki, and for size, go with pardalis. About the only justification for the higher price that I see is the lack of availability on the pardalis. Around the rarity, I'd choose a babcocki for the looks.

 

[68merc]

What is the average size of the adults for each?

 

[Neal]

What is the average size of the adults for each?

11 - 16 inches I would say for babcocks, 20 - 25 inches for pardalis. I'm not as sure with the Pardalis but 25 might be pushing it.

 

[Kennedy98]

Guys I am going to order a tortoise from Tortoise Sulpply I was thinking about getting one from there Grade B collection.. I wouldent mind having a tortoise that is a little bit diffrent

 

[Tom]

The babcocks are often called pretty rocks. They don't tend to have a lot of interest in what there keepers are up too. There are exceptions. (Happy Neal and Paul?)

Generally the pardalis subspecies are much more personable.

FALSE! LOL, come on, Tom, if you reallt think there's a noticeable difference in "personality" between the two, than I think the Babcocki that you're comparing to were beaten while they were children, making them exceptionally shy today. I have both types (admittedly more babcocki) and they act no different from each other. There's an old Japanese guy here in Vegas that has a half dozen large pardalis and he thinks my group (which is mostly babcocki) is much more active than his group is. Like Neal said, if you want good looks, go with Babcocki, and for size, go with pardalis. About the only justification for the higher price that I see is the lack of availability on the pardalis. Around the rarity, I'd choose a babcocki for the looks.

Absolutely yes there is a personality difference! This is what I have observed 100% of the time over the last 20 years. If others have seen something different, well that's okay with me. Doesn't change what I've seen and continue to see.

 

[Yvonne G]

It really does depend upon how you interact with your tortoise. I have beautiful, living rocks. If you peak around the corner at them, you might just possibly see some arms, legs and a head, but if they see you, all you're gonna' see is a pretty shell sitting in the grass. Even the one I raised from an egg is like that. He was raised without much human interaction. I think that Princess Leah (sp?) is probably the exception to the rule.

 

[Seiryu]

Both Thor and Sif (babcocki) come to me to see what's going on if i'm changing their water, changing things around etc.

I agree with Yvonne that a lot of it depends on how much you interact with each tortoise. Now even if you interact daily, you could still have one that wants to hide all the time. But my "pretty rocks" have some personality in them.

 

[onarock]

I have no doubt that Tom has seen more outgoing gpp 100% of the time ... often, we see what we want to see.

I love and keep both sub.sp, babcocki and the hobby's version of .pardalis. I tend to agree with Neal and Tyler on this one.

 

[John]

well i can't speak for all tortoise's everywhere as others feel they can. but my five are far from rocks thats my two cents.

 

[Tom]

You two just keep trying to needle me, don't you?

Its real simple. When you go up to a pen or yard of adult babcocks they don't come running over to see what you are up to, GENERALLY. When you go up to a pen of pp they do. My experience with dozens of babcocks is more like Yvonne's. My experience with dozens of pp is more like what happens when you walk up to a typical sulcata pen.

It great that you guys all feel that YOUR babcock has some personality. Wonderful. I'm happy for you. Really. But in general, from what I've seen, they tend to be less personable than the pp. Not always. Not every time. Not every day no matter what. Just GENERALLY.