I believe those three projections along midline of the carapace are a normal variant that just occurs in some Leos while others raised together but unrelated may keep a smooth carapace. IMO the rest of her shell looks splendid though, without any of the spinal abns. or shell asymmetry c/w...
I know my 'Pard girls aren't big diggers, but they're only 3yo. That photo shows a beautiful but really established (rooted!) garden; is there somewhere where there is open, diggable soil? They usually urinate to soften the soil before & during laying, but if root-bound everywhere she may be...
I'm going to need an outdoor enclosure for 2 growing Leopard torts eventually so I'm planning ahead. My property is already surrounded by century fence & 'Pards don't dig much, so I 'm mostly interested in keeping possum and armadillos out.
Possibly a dumb question, but should the fence's...
Sulcata x leopard mating in Sub-sahal Africa? Not according to an [admittedly cursory] lit. search, and the 2 unrelated tortoises have co-habitated in the same nearly-desert grassland regions for ages…
Sulcatas and leopard tortoises have shared their sub-saharan (and southward) habitats in the wild for perhaps eons, all the time not interbreeding.
Leopards fr. central Africa exhibit a more discrete shell design, while those who migrated downward towards S. Africa evolved more random...
I once read about a subspecies of Opuntia that don't even have the itchy bits in the glochids – wrote the name down & promptly lost it. I'm really sensitive to those tiny things and would like to locate this type of cactus to propagate for my Leopard torts: they wouldn't touch nopales pads...
It's interesting to note that, despite this handsome fellow's "0% chance of having been in captivity" (if I interpret the statement correctly), he still shows signs of "pyramiding" - a condition yet to be fully explained but generally associated with rapid growth from a CAPTIVE, overly...