newbie mommy of leopard tortoise

[josey143]

hello,
I am soo glad to have found this forum, I am a newbie mom of leopard tortoise. I am not sure how old our little josey is. We got her december 2010. I am worried that she is pyramiding. I am still figuring out how to take care of her. At first josey did not eat much the first two months we had her. For awhile I've been feeding her tortoise dry food and now I switched to mostly veggies. I found myself thinking, reading, and trying to do the best I can for her which is weird since I am not a pet person but josey is soo adorable when she does her little stretching and yawning soo priceless....I would like for her to grow healthy and surpass old age.... Please help.....I really need input of how to take care of her. Thank you soo much.

josey's pics:

josey's mom

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Josey143:


Welcome to the tortoise forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

I hope you will accept some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Josey is living in a habitat that is way too small for her. What is your weather like? She really would do much better in an outdoor habitat.

 

[Stephanie]

Welcome to the forum! You'll get plenty of help here. Josey is precious!
I agree with Yvonne, though. I believe the habitat is much too small. That's quite an easy fix though, and it's great that you are continuing your research!

 

[josey143]

Hi Josey143:


Welcome to the tortoise forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

I hope you will accept some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Josey is living in a habitat that is way too small for her. What is your weather like? She really would do much better in an outdoor habitat.

yes hi,
Thanks for responding. I don't mind the criticism I kind of expect it. My name is Tess. I am in fort worth, texas, it's been hot out here over 100s. I already told my husband about her housing situation. What measurement would you think appropriate for her size...I know she need to get a bigger space she likes to roam a lot. I try to let her walk around outside but I'm afraid she might get sick. I live in apartment and neighbors don't pick up after their dogs. Any advice on what to do about not pooping. When I switched her to veggies she did go after a few days but now she tries to get out of the water and has not pooped in 3 days I don't know because of the temp. I usually put lukewarm water. She used to chill and relax now I don't know if the water is too cold or too hot for her. please help..thanks

 

[Sky2Mina]

Welcome to TFO! Josey is really pretty!

 

[Robert]

Welcome

 

[pandacakes]

Welcome! Josey is a very pretty leopard A varied diet with lots of fiber and a whole lot of soaking should help with her pooping issues. Weeds are really good for nutrition and for getting a good amount of fiber into them. Carolina Pet Supply sells a great grazing tortoise seed mix. I grow it in containers on my patio and snip off the ends every day to put in my leopards food. It grows super fast and he loves it. Being outside is great! What I do when I don't want my little guy to roam on the grass is I got a rubbermaid under bed storage container (minus the lid). It's a large, fairly flat plastic tub and I filled it with cypruss mulch. It has a large tile in it where I put food and I put one of his hide logs in it as well. This keeps him occupied while I do my stuff outside if I want to keep an eye on him and I'm not in the back yard where his outdoor enclosure is.

This care sheet is excellent http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Leopard-Tortoise-Care-Sheet#axzz1VVtrSpQy

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the TFO I would make a table as big as you have room for the bigger the better

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Hi & welcome. As far as the pooping my leopard get's loose stool after eating a opuntia cactus pad. If you can get some of that it might work for Josey too.

 

[DesertGrandma]

Josie is adorable!! welcome

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.