My baby Leopard Tortoise is very sick and I don't know what it is!

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Not sure how much he ways maybe 100 ish grams
We got him from a breeder at the pomona reptile super show.
he lives in a 2ft x 1 ft tub with cocnut husk substrate which isnt moist which would cause an issue, living with 3 other hatvhlings which I moved.
during the night we move the tub inside ( temp of maybe 70F) and during the day the tub is in the sun with a log hide.
Weve been deeding them kale lettuce and some calcium supplement spray.
You've gotten some bad advice, and you've been caring for this tortoise all wrong. Not saying this to be mean. Saying this because you need to know what is wrong in order to fix it. Most of the people breeding and selling this species don't start them or care for them correctly and then they give the same bad advice to buyers. Not your fault that they don't know what they are doing.

Here is something that is your fault, and I hope you'll correct it: Buying an animal when you can't afford to care for it if it gets sick is irresponsible. Those vet bills come with the animal. Now that you've made the tortoise sick, you want to give the problem and vet bills to someone else? Not cool. I hope you'll reconsider this.

Here are some tips to help you fix the problems:
  • Outside all day is bad for baby tortoises. They need to be mostly indoors in the correct conditions.
  • A small tub in the sun is not a good environment for a baby tortoise. You are lucky it is still alive. The mild weather down there has been cool enough to keep your tortoise alive so far, but this is a dangerous practice.
  • You didn't say what species your other tortoises are, but if they are different species, this could be the source of your problem. Species should never be mixed. When species are mixed, the result is usually weird sicknesses, lesions, infections and sometimes deaths.
  • If they are all the same species, are they the same size? Did you quarantine each new one for a few months? If not, this could be the source of this problem.
  • Your enclosure is much too small. They need a minimum of 2x4 feet as babies. Much more as they grow.
  • This species needs to be kept warm at night. No lower than 80. Room temp in a temperate climate is too cold for a tropical tortoise species. Room temp in a temperate climate is great for temperate species like Russians or CA desert tortoises.
  • Kale and lettuce are not good foods. Neither are toxic or bad as a small part of a varied diet, but neither meet the tortoises nutritional needs and neither should be a main food source.
  • How often do you do the calcium spray? Twice a week is plenty.
Here is the correct care info. After you read all this, I hope you'll come back with questions:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
Less grass for a leopard, but the food list is good if you scroll down:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
If you can't afford the vets bills then really you should think about re-homing your other torts or all of them.
Reptile vets are quite expensive and there are times when we all have to call on their services whether it be for sickness, injury or just checking poop for parasites etc It's the same with any animal, if we take them into our homes we have to be committed to their care and prepared for the eventuality of the cost for any of the above. With multiple torts you have a multiple chance of needing the vets.
The space you have them in isn't really big enough for one tort, but probably ok to keep this sick one in on his own for now, so you need to find a much bigger place for the others before you end up with more injuries/sickness.
Please read the links Tom gave you.
Check the caresheet for the correct temps and post those pics - you still have time to do your best for these torts if you are prepared to follow advice.
People here are not here to judge you, everyone of us has made mistakes, but been able to correct them with help, so although you may not like what we say remember that we all have the best interests of torts at heart.
 

Sascha

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Culver City
He needs to be in 85 degree temps day and night,70 is way too low. He needs 80% humidity day and night. He needs to be fed a better diet then the few items you mentioned. He needs to be given warm water soaks for 30 minutes daily.
If your other torts are also leopards they need the same living conditions. Give the sick one the carrot soaks and add baby piedialyte to the soak water. For a healthy hatchling the enclosure size also needs to be bigger. At least a 2x4 foot enclosure until about 6 months to a year and then larger enclosure.
What species are your other torts.
Please read are care sheets for each species and make changes asap. You have a few things very wrong.
My other tortoises are russian tortoises and theyre perfectly fine, the only one that hasnt been growing is Dodo who is still the size of a few-month-old hatchling. Should I not keep him outside then since the humidity in CA definitely isnt high? I have also tried to feed Dodo other things like hibiscus and other veggis and Tortoise Bites supplements but he only ever eats lettuce and a bit of kale.
 

Sascha

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Culver City
You've gotten some bad advice, and you've been caring for this tortoise all wrong. Not saying this to be mean. Saying this because you need to know what is wrong in order to fix it. Most of the people breeding and selling this species don't start them or care for them correctly and then they give the same bad advice to buyers. Not your fault that they don't know what they are doing.

Here is something that is your fault, and I hope you'll correct it: Buying an animal when you can't afford to care for it if it gets sick is irresponsible. Those vet bills come with the animal. Now that you've made the tortoise sick, you want to give the problem and vet bills to someone else? Not cool. I hope you'll reconsider this.

Here are some tips to help you fix the problems:
  • Outside all day is bad for baby tortoises. They need to be mostly indoors in the correct conditions.
  • A small tub in the sun is not a good environment for a baby tortoise. You are lucky it is still alive. The mild weather down there has been cool enough to keep your tortoise alive so far, but this is a dangerous practice.
  • You didn't say what species your other tortoises are, but if they are different species, this could be the source of your problem. Species should never be mixed. When species are mixed, the result is usually weird sicknesses, lesions, infections and sometimes deaths.
  • If they are all the same species, are they the same size? Did you quarantine each new one for a few months? If not, this could be the source of this problem.
  • Your enclosure is much too small. They need a minimum of 2x4 feet as babies. Much more as they grow.
  • This species needs to be kept warm at night. No lower than 80. Room temp in a temperate climate is too cold for a tropical tortoise species. Room temp in a temperate climate is great for temperate species like Russians or CA desert tortoises.
  • Kale and lettuce are not good foods. Neither are toxic or bad as a small part of a varied diet, but neither meet the tortoises nutritional needs and neither should be a main food source.
  • How often do you do the calcium spray? Twice a week is plenty.
Here is the correct care info. After you read all this, I hope you'll come back with questions:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
Less grass for a leopard, but the food list is good if you scroll down:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
oof, I had no idea they were so sensitive, I have bred russian tortoises for at least 5 years, that's where the babies are from, and they are all the same size as Dodo if not a bit bigger, I only put them in the sun to increase Vit D, but Ill get Dodo a tank, right now I have a 33gallon thats empty with a heat lamp and light fixture which should be good for a few months. I actually never thought that keeping him with Russians would make him sick but i guess it makes some sense. the other babies which are I think big enough to be in the garden in a cornered off area are doing fine. Im not keeping them with the bigger Russians (about 3 years old) or my also 3 y/o sulcata bc I dont want them to get trampled.
 

Sascha

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Culver City
If you can't afford the vets bills then really you should think about re-homing your other torts or all of them.
Reptile vets are quite expensive and there are times when we all have to call on their services whether it be for sickness, injury or just checking poop for parasites etc It's the same with any animal, if we take them into our homes we have to be committed to their care and prepared for the eventuality of the cost for any of the above. With multiple torts you have a multiple chance of needing the vets.
The space you have them in isn't really big enough for one tort, but probably ok to keep this sick one in on his own for now, so you need to find a much bigger place for the others before you end up with more injuries/sickness.
Please read the links Tom gave you.
Check the caresheet for the correct temps and post those pics - you still have time to do your best for these torts if you are prepared to follow advice.
People here are not here to judge you, everyone of us has made mistakes, but been able to correct them with help, so although you may not like what we say remember that we all have the best interests of torts at heart.
Thanks Im going to get on giving the smaller russians a space in the garden right now.
 

Sascha

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Culver City
Set the baby up in a 10 gallon aquarium (or something the same size). This will be called a 'hospital tank.' Set the heat at 85F degrees all over the whole tank and cover it. Take the baby out daily and set him in a small bowl of 50/50 warm water and Gerber strained carrots. Leave him in there, with supervision, for about a half hour or 45 minutes. You can set the bowl back into the hospital tank NEAR, but not directly under, the light so it stays warm.

It may be too late to save this baby (black skin sounds like necrosis), but you've got to try.

I'd like to see pictures of the black skin to add to my learning experience.
Should I mix the carrots with the water????
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
You can't compare apples to oranges. Russian tortoises come from the steppe, and that's a whole other world from where baby leopards hatch out. You can't keep them the same way.
 

Sascha

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Culver City
50/50 baby food and warm water means half the jar of baby food mixed with that same amount of warm water.
Ill do that again tonight, hes already drunk water and wants to get out of the bowl after about 10-15 min
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
You need to read the caresheets for all the species you have and separate them.
Even groups of torts of the same species need a space large enough for them to get away from each other or you may end up with a dominant tort who bullies the others - possibly to death or a male who will harass any females to mate and cause huge amount of stress.
They all have different care needs, need different temps and conditions etc and different pathogens which can make other species ill.
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
All species need to be kept sperate from other species.
They all have their own requirements and need to be housed and cared for accordingly. Russians can take cooler temps where leopards and sulcatas can not.
Also no species should be kept in pairs and only one Male to 2 to 3 females. I suggest you do a lot of reading on here to better educate yourself on proper care for each species. I would also suggest lightening your load so you can better afford a vet when needed.
Keep up the daily carrot soaks for about 2 weeks after your leopard seems fine. Keep him indoors in the proper heated and humidity closed chamber enclosure and get a proper diet into him.
Finely chop the proper foods and mix with the foods you know her will eat. Then slowly decrease the lettuce as you add more of the better foods
 

Lime pickle

New Member
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
London. Uk
Please listen to the advice given by Tom and Lyn W. All animals get sick at some time. That is what vets are for . So if you say you can’t afford the vet fees can’t you get insurance? It is Very irresponsible of you to take on animals which you obviously can’t look after properly. And especially if you’ve been given bad advice . There are many books that you can buy and there is so much information on the Internet compared to how it was in the past. Tortoises are beautiful animals should be looked after properly . Like any animal they deserve it. So good luck . You’re obviously quite young so do you have a family who could help you?
 

Gijoux

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
469
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
oof, I had no idea they were so sensitive, I have bred russian tortoises for at least 5 years, that's where the babies are from, and they are all the same size as Dodo if not a bit bigger, I only put them in the sun to increase Vit D, but Ill get Dodo a tank, right now I have a 33gallon thats empty with a heat lamp and light fixture which should be good for a few months. I actually never thought that keeping him with Russians would make him sick but i guess it makes some sense. the other babies which are I think big enough to be in the garden in a cornered off area are doing fine. Im not keeping them with the bigger Russians (about 3 years old) or my also 3 y/o sulcata bc I dont want them to get trampled.
Babies kept outside can be victims of birds as well as each other, so they require plenty of safe places to hide from the elements, as well as other animals and birds.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Just a quick educational note for anyone who may be reading this thread: Russian tortoises, including baby russian tortoises, are VERY aggressive and destructive towards other tortoises. A tiny hatchling of any species is no match for a russian tortoise. Because I have seen female russian's eyelids bitten off by males quite often, my guess on this thread is that the russian babies have bitten at the eyes of the leopard baby. The leopard should heal just fine if kept by himself and indoors, and cleaned and doctored with first aid ointment.
 

dmilam

Active Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
127
Location (City and/or State)
North Texas
Just a quick educational note for anyone who may be reading this thread: Russian tortoises, including baby russian tortoises, are VERY aggressive and destructive towards other tortoises. A tiny hatchling of any species is no match for a russian tortoise. Because I have seen female russian's eyelids bitten off by males quite often, my guess on this thread is that the russian babies have bitten at the eyes of the leopard baby. The leopard should heal just fine if kept by himself and indoors, and cleaned and doctored with first aid ointment.

I’m a single tortoise house with no plans to expand but the information is fascinating.
 
Top