New leopard tortoise in AZ

[Txfight00]

Hi everyone! Just looking for some advice:
New leopard coming next week - couple months old.
My initial setup will be a concrete mixing tub with heat lamp/uv lamp, rheostat, small hide, terra cotta saucer for water, and coconut cuir substrate.
Planning to feed mazuri and some veggies.
Planning on taking the tub outside daily to take advantage of the AZ sun!

Soaks every day? Or every other is ok?

I already had a tortoise table on order. It is 4' x 2.5' - how long should this suffice? Until the shell is 5" or so?
There is a removable mesh top. After reading a little on here (wish I would have known about y'all earlier!) - I'm planning on trying to prevent as much heat/humidity loss as I can by overlaying the mesh with foil or something else and leaving openings for the lamp

Will build a large outdoor enclosure for when it's time to move outside

I'll continue to read up here but hopefully the above is a good start?

 

[Tom]

Tables and tubs are no good. There is no way to contain the necessary heat and humidity.

Also, where is the tortoise coming from? Most people do not start them correctly. Way too dry and they end up dying weeks or months later. Read this BEFORE you buy: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

Then read these for the correct care:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Skip the text and check out the food list:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
Less grass for a leopard, unless you are getting a South African.

 

[Neal]

How big is the tortoise? You may be able to get by with your set up with a tortoise that is a couple of months old, but you're going to want to cover a good portion of it to retain some humidity. If you haven't already, do a test run of your set up to make sure it will keep the temperatures and humidity to where you want them 24/7. This will allow you to make the adjustments before he arrives.

Soaking every day is what I would recommend for a young tortoise.

Taking him outside for a little while will be OK this time of year. Keeping him in the tub in the warmer months may cook him. Don't let him dry out too much outside.

I would say the table size is good up to 5 or 6 inches, provided you can maintain the parameters you want and he can get outside from time to time to stretch out.

 

[Txfight00]

Yep thanks for the above. Didn't know about tables/tubs being suboptimal but learned a lot from tom's prior posts. For now I have what I have so I'm going to try to work with it.
Got the tort from a breeder here in AZ. Comparing their methods with those described here, I feel confident it was started well and the tort looks very healthy.
If my setup just doesn't work at all I'll have to start from scratch but if that's what I have to do, that's what I'll do. Thanks!

 

[Neal]

What are the heat and humidity parameters you're thinking about keeping the tortoise at?

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Txfight00 and a very warm welcome to the forum!

I would suggest a daily soak in warm water; particularly if you live in a dry climate, so as to say.

Please do not forget to post pics of your tort.

 

[Txfight00]

What are the heat and humidity parameters you're thinking about keeping the tortoise at?

My plan is to try for 95-100 under the light and 80 for the rest.
Not sure how to calibrate humidity but will spray the substrate a couple times daily and a little extra under the hide

 

[Neal]

You'll have a bit of a battle with both the temperatures and humidity if you don't have most or all of the enclosure covered. Spraying will only temporary raise the humidity, you'll need a source of constant moisture to maintain consistent levels of humidity. Do you have some sort of a humid hide planned for the enclosure?

 

[Txfight00]

You'll have a bit of a battle with both the temperatures and humidity if you don't have most or all of the enclosure covered. Spraying will only temporary raise the humidity, you'll need a source of constant moisture to maintain consistent levels of humidity. Do you have some sort of a humid hide planned for the enclosure?

Was thinking soaking and squeezing either substrate or sphagnum moss and keeping that under the hide?

 

[Neal]

That should work good as long as the hide is kept warm.

 

[Yvonne G]

I have tort tables in my tortoises' sheds, one in the leopard shed, one in the Manouria shed and one in the YF shed. I don't have a problem keeping the table warm and humid, but that's because I built a framework over each table and have plastic film draped over the framework. The light fixtures hang from the framework.

 

[Txfight00]

Picked up today!!

 

[cmacusa3]

Great looking Leopard!

 

[Carol S]

Beautiful little baby Leopard Tortoise.

 

[Txfight00]

Beautiful little baby Leopard Tortoise.

Happy birthday! And thanks!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Beautiful little baby Leopard Tortoise.