My official p.pardalis leopard tort page

[diamondbp]

It sure looks like you'll have a number of females; my male was looking way more male than any of those by the time he was 5 inches or so, but things can change quickly. Here's hoping...

I like your thinking! I feel I have many young females but I'm always afraid that things will change overnight and bam males lol. I think by next April-May I should know for sure on most of them. My older P.P. all showed their sex right at 6.5-7.5inches

 

[diamondbp]

Probably my two smoothest of the whole group

 

[MichaelS]

Here is my best guess on the sexes of your Leo's :

1. F
2. F
3. F
4. M
5. F
6. ?
7. M
8. M
9. F
10. M

If I'm correct on all these, I get one of your future hatchlings right

 

[diamondbp]

If I'm correct on all these, I get one of your future hatchlings right

You get one just for guessing. Two if you get it right lol.

I'm thinking by this upcoming May at the rate they are growing I should know the sexes on a few of them.

 

[diamondbp]

@MichaelS I forgot to post my official guesses. And yes there may be a hint of wishful thinking here, but based on what I saw early on with my two oldest males and their development, this is what I think I currently have.

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #7 are female
#6 is the most likely candidate for male so far

and of course #8 & #10 have been confirmed males along with #9 being a confirmed female.

Like I stated before, I think within the next few months I should have a good grasp of what sex ratio I have.

 

[diamondbp]

This will likely be the last mild winter days for a while so I took a few random pictures this morning. Enjoy

 

[diamondbp]

Legs back and relaxin during the adults soak,,,,, and the juvies were able to enjoy a sunny mild winter day.

 

[diamondbp]

It's hard to show in pictures how big this guy is getting and the rate in which he is getting there. He is always exhibiting fresh white growth and is a total tank. I honestly think he will surpass 18" in the next 2 years. It'll be real interesting to see what his final size ends up being. So here is a few pictures of Boss Man taking a soak so you can see how much he fills up the cement tub now .

 

[diamondbp]

A few from Mazuri Monday madness lol

 

[diamondbp]

This is a tough update for me. But I lost one of my juvies in the the craziest sudden decline I've ever seen. It's been hard to wrap my brain around.
A quick back story. Martha(the one who died) was given outside time this past Thursday because the weather was in the mid 70s. They have a heated retreat when outside with the adults. I haven't had any issues allowing the juvies to graze with the adults.

Well that day they were picked up back into their enclosure at 3:45 PM by my son.

Friday was normal and I didn't notice anything strange during their daily morning soak. But Saturday after their soak I noticed she seemed quite lethargic which was really puzzling and had me worried.She seemed "dried up" so to speak and was reluctant to walk.

Well Sunday morning she was the same way but her eyes had become very " sunken in" and I knew this wasn't good. I gave her a warm shallow soak by herself and turned the temps up a few degrees (from 82 to 86)

Monday morning I found her stiff . After a long conversation with my tortoise best @Elohi we contemplated what on earth could have caused such a rapid decline in an obviously heathy GROWING juvie. I boiled it down to two possibilities.

1: physical internal trama perhaps from an adult somehow roughing up Martha. Which I've never once witnessed and my adults aren't massive individuals.

2. A bite or sting from something poisonous like a spider.

I considered a URI but she showed no signs of that before Friday. She was even pictured eating this past Monday on this very thread. And also a URI wouldn't kill a healthy juvie leopard in that short of a time in a heated sealed chamber.

I'm at a total loss of what happened. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. It's been a rough few days for me. Martha (#2) was a special juvie destined to be a beautiful adult. She will be missed. Here are a few pics of her rapid decline :/

 

[diamondbp]

 

[Elohi]

I'm still shocked and baffled by Martha's rapid decline and death. Very sad.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I'm sorry buddy... I hope someone has some insight for you. Losing a tort is tough but it's even harder when you don't know the cause.

 

[Lyn W]

So sorry for your loss, she was indeed a beautiful little tort.

 

[diamondbp]

I'm sorry buddy... I hope someone has some insight for you. Losing a tort is tough but it's even harder when you don't know the cause.

It's been difficult. It's really tough to not know what on earth would cause such a rapid decline in such a healthy specimen. I just pray it doesn't happen again. I'll be watching everything closely to see anything seems off with any of the others.

 

[MichaelS]

I'm sorry for your loss Byron... thanks for sharing the sometimes not so pleasant side tortoise keeping.

 

[diamondbp]

I'm sorry for your loss Byron... thanks for sharing the sometimes not so pleasant side tortoise keeping.

It's tough but I said from the start of this threads this would be a honest thread. The "ups" in tortoise keeping are fantastic but man the "lows" are rough. Thanks for the support everyone

 

[Lincoln Michal]

Your care is outstanding. You animals are getting the best of care. I can see by looking at them. I agree it is probably not respiratory since you did not notice discharge or wizzing. You give a good description of dehydration possibly due to a Kidney problem. However, I don't think you can be certain. I lost a young greek tortoise showing similar signs. Rapid decline over two days and dead in the morning. I felt bad for a while. I know what you mean by the ups and downs

 

[Markw84]

Overheating is another possible cause that could present itself this way. Perhaps Martha flipped over in the sun - got too hot before she could turn back over, but you or your son wouldn't have known it happened.

 

[Lincoln Michal]

Mark, That sounds right-overheating. It fits. Diamondbp, Your large male leo looks really good.