Is this a leopard or a sulcata? Please help

[Frankie08]

Got this tortoise to dai in my yard is it a leopard or a sulcata?

 

[Yvonne G]

Leopard

 

[Frankie08]

Leopard

Great stuf i thought so. Was unsure but why are you so sure?

 

[AgataP]

Great stuf i thought so. Was unsure but why are you so sure?

Look at the marking, shape etc. and @Yvonne G is an expert so there ?

 

[Yvonne G]

Great stuf i thought so. Was unsure but why are you so sure?

I recognise them easily after having hatched hundreds of them.

 

[Frankie08]

Look at the marking, shape etc. and @Yvonne G is an expert so there ?

Thank you. All i can tell is that the leopards colours a bit darker thus having more defenition

 

[AgataP]

Sulcata

 

[Ink]

He looks like he might have a problem with he eye?

 

[Frankie08]

He looks like he might have a problem with he eye?

Why so?

 

[Ink]

If you zoom into the picture his eye looks very small.

 

[Frankie08]

I think it was not fully opened. But have noticed him not fully opening it.

 

[Ink]

If you can or want too, please post a picture of his eyes to get other opinions. I am not an expert.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Definitely a Leopard! ! Nice.

 

[Frankie08]

Leopard

Hi. The more i research i found out the leopard tortoise is indegenious to the are about 200km north of my house. Is it possible that this might be an angulate tortoise as they are more common in my area?

 

[Boyu]

whats wrong with the eye? he might got a eye injury on the grass so u need to go 2 the vet or just give them eye drops and soak it every day i found a tortoise on the street so i decided to adopt it he had eye injury so i did what i said and he is healed

 

[wellington]

Hi. The more i research i found out the leopard tortoise is indegenious to the are about 200km north of my house. Is it possible that this might be an angulate tortoise as they are more common in my area?

No not likely as it looks just like the many leopards hatched on this forum.
His eye does seem to have something wrong with it.
Give the tortoise a warm water soak and let some warm water wash over the eye and see if you can get it opened all the way and looking better.

 

[Frankie08]

No not likely as it looks just like the many leopards hatched on this forum.
His eye does seem to have something wrong with it.
Give the tortoise a warm water soak and let some warm water wash over the eye and see if you can get it opened all the way and looking better.

Thanks alot. His eyes has been opening real good. But the eyelids looks a bit white mercy and a bit swollen. But eyes pitch black

 

[wellington]

Thanks alot. His eyes has been opening real good. But the eyelids looks a bit white mercy and a bit swollen. But eyes pitch black

Yeah the white murky lid is what my concern is. If you can softly wash that eye with warm water, it could be just something in the eye irritating the lid.

 

[Markw84]

Hi. The more i research i found out the leopard tortoise is indegenious to the are about 200km north of my house. Is it possible that this might be an angulate tortoise as they are more common in my area?

This is most definitely a leopard tortoise. They are in fact indigenous to your area. There is an area south of you where they are not considered indigenous, around Lesotho, but even there you will find introduced leopard tortoises.

Your tortoise is quite young - about 1 year old. It probably is just emerging from a long dormancy period for the winter as it gets quite cold where you are for a tortoise to stay active all year. With the warmer weather now, It is just beginning to become more active an hunt for food as you found it. It would benefit greatly from nice warm temperatures and a long soak in warm water to really get its core body temperature up to a better metabolic temperature - at least 30°C. The problems you are seeing with the eyes and overall condition are a reflection of a long, cold dormancy period it needs to now come out of.

IF you are planning on keeping this tortoise, please read the care sheet in our section on leopards.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[wellington]

And seeing it is naturally in your area, it would be nice if you gave it the warm soak, eyes looking good and then let it go back into the wild where it belongs.
It's always best to leave them in the wild as long as it is an indigenous species.