2010 South African Leopard Thread.

[Tom]

From the scuffs on the carapaces, looks like your males have reached sexual maturity. Lots of practicing going on.

Oh yes. They started that at about 2 years old. I posted pics here somewhere. They are maniacs all the time. They remind me of those occasional "super" Testudo that you see. You know those bold crazy little Greeks or Russians that just run up and challenge, ram or bite everyone and everything. These guys are all like that. I had to separate Mr. Irregular scutes (Originally "Big Momma, and later re-named "Big Daddy") out of the group because he was even worse than the others. I want to let the females grow in peace and get some size before I let the males have at them. Eventually they will live in 1.2 or 1.3 groups. I've got a total of 6 females.

 

[Tom]

It's worth noting the male Tom has with the irregular scutes which is said to mainly happen with females. And how elongated the males look compared to females I've seen. Very beautiful tortoises. Thanks for sharing

I call my biggest female "Hamburger" because she is so fat and round.

 

[mikeh]

It can be clearly seen when the females changed the owners. Would be interesting to know the differences in environment/husbandry.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm hoping by putting up these pictures I can encourage those other members who also bought the 2010 SA leopards from Tom, to put up current pictures of their tortoises. These are not the best pictures, but it gives one an idea of how big these tortoises have grown in the 4 years I've had them. The first one is the female next to a full grown babcock female and the other picture is the male next to a full grown female babcock. The male is quite a bit smaller. I'd say he's half the size of the SA female:

 

[Yvonne G]

Not much has changed in a month. The shed is still dirty. But I was taking a picture of one of the female Babcocks being a mountain climber, so I took new photos of the SA's too. The first couple are the female (the other tortoise in the picture is a full grown babcock female) and the next two are the male :

 

[Yvonne G]

I was moving the sprinkler in the SA leopard tortoises' yard and I heard tiny little grunts coming from inside their shed. I sneaked a peek and the male has mounted the female!!

He's still pretty small, but she's as big as the babcock females already. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow when I'm outside doing my morning chores. I'll measure and weigh them at that time too.

What about all the rest of you who have these 2010 SA leopards? Let's have an update from you all. And if you no longer have the animal, let us know that too.

@Cherbear @yagyujubei @coreyc @Tom @Badgemash @ticothetort2

I'm sorry if I missed anyone. Please let us hear from you.

 

[Tom]

I was moving the sprinkler in the SA leopard tortoises' yard and I heard tiny little grunts coming from inside their shed. I sneaked a peek and the male has mounted the female!!

Oh if you get eggs, I will literally be jumping for joy! DO you have the "recipe" for cooling and incubating?

 

[Yvonne G]

No. I'm a total ignoramus. But I'm not going to be counting my chickens until they actually dig a nest. Then I'll come to you who know and pick your brains.

 

[Tom]

Here are two of the females from our 2010 batch that were raised by my friend and then given back to me around a year ago. The one with the most pyramiding has a crooked scute on top. It doesn't show very well in the pic though.

 

[Tom]

Here you can see the crookedness of the scutes a little bit. For size reference, that is a men's size 11.

 

[Yvonne G]

Isn't it just amazing how fast they grew?

 

[bouaboua]

Pretty torts overload in this thread! ! !

 

[diamondbp]

Finally some more pictures! Gosh I wish the others would chime in

 

[Falcon70]

Great pictures and beautiful tortoises!

 

[Yvonne G]

Finally some more pictures! Gosh I wish the others would chime in

me too!

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, my eyeball isn't as good at telling size as I thought it was. I said that my female SA leopard is as big as the full grown female babcock. She IS as big silhouette-wise, but only half as big weight-wise. She's 13.5 inches SCL and 10lbs. And look at that beak! She doesn't get any food from me, only grazes on the grasses and weeds in her pen, so how did her beak grow like that? Every so often it does some good to pick them up and actually look at them. Clippers, here I come:



The male is just a little squirt, but he's sexually mature. He is 10.5 SCL and 6.2lbs:



Notice how round the female is compared to the more oblong male.

 

[diamondbp]

thanks for the pics Yvonne. They look great. Can't wait for them to produce for you

 

[navyblu]

Here is a pic of one of the males from that 2010 SA group that I bought from Tom when he was 3yrs plus and 11" he is now 14.5" and a just a monster; super dark too. Also a pic of him with my adult male Babcocki for contrast.

 

[diamondbp]

Here is a pic of one of the males from that 2010 SA group that I bought from Tom when he was 3yrs plus and 11" he is now 14.5" and a just a monster; super dark too. Also a pic of him with my adult male Babcocki for contrast.

Just beautiful, both of them. I'm glad someone else chimed in. My male might end up that dark as well

 

[navyblu]

Thanks so much, appreciate it, would like to see your male that you have, seems like a lot are darker from this group. I purchased some SA leopards for Arizona tortoise compound, and many of the males that I got from them are very light like the male bobcocki I have in the pic with my SA male. All of leopards everyone is posting look great!