Advise for my leopard tortoise

[sperry1]

I have not had my tortoise for too long, in the summer she spent most of her days outside in an enclosure i made for her, she was very active and walked around. Now that the temperature isn't nice enough for her to be outside i have her in her aquarium, she isn't very active she spends most of her day in the corner under the heat lamp. I give her a warm bath every morning and she usually stays in for 15/30 mins. She eats romain lettuce, kale, peppers and zucchini.
Please give me advise on how to make sure she grows up to be a healthy tortoise!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

What bulbs are in that hood? Coil type UV bulbs can burn their eyes and this sort of lethargy is often symptomatic of that.

What are your four temps? Cool side, warm side, basking spot and night? How are you measuring them?

Covering some of your top will help hold in heat and humidity.

I would sink that water bowl further into the substrate, or better yet use a terra cotta plant saucer instead.

Your tortoise needs a better hiding spot. I like to use opaque dark colored tubs turned upside down with a door hole cut out for this. You can get black dishwashing tubs at WalMart for a couple of bucks.

Your diet needs a lot more variety and fiber. Veggies, like peppers and zucchini should only comprise a very small percentage of their diet. The main diet should be broadleaf weeds. You can scrounge these from chemical free areas, or grow your own. Many places sell a "Testudo seed mix". I got mine from Tyler at tortoisesupply.com and I love the stuff. If you must rely on grocery store foods you can add some fiber by adding a product called "Salad Style", or by adding some fresh finely chopped grass, or some soaked ZooMed Grassland tortoise pellets.

Your tortoise looks great. You did a nice job over the summer.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi sperry1, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[Laura]

what Tom said....

 

[Greg T]

If the weather in your area has turned colder, this is not much to worry about. Check what Tom said to make everything as good as possible. I bring my torts into a pen in the garage when it gets colder and they definitely change behaviors. They are not as active and spend a lot of time in the hide under the heat lamps.

 

[Tortus]

How old is it? Mine is 3 1/2 months and I keep it in a large rubbermaid under bed container right now and it's fairly active. The humidity in the covered end is around 90%, and 75% in the uncovered end with the lights on. It goes up at night.

Do you keep the substrate moist or is it just a dry habitat? The consensus seems to be that you need to keep babies humid and warm to prevent pyramiding (where the scutes grow into pyramid shapes instead of a smooth round shell).

Tom seems to be the expert on that.