Few general questions, mainly of size.

[zakeywak]

So my baby leopard, Usain (named after Mr Bolt, who else?) is now around 18 months.
He is still tiny! I'm keeping him heated throughout the day (apart from when the bulb blows, anyone recommend a good heat bulb?) and try very hard to keep humidity high in my open top enclosure! I bath him perhaps twice a week and feed him salad mix and grass - which he refuses to eat btw...
Anyone offer me some advice? I have read up on Abidec, is this a possible route that could be taken for Usain?

(Picture included, on a credit card so you guys understand what I mean by tiny!)

Cheers
Zak

 

[Careym13]

I recommend a Zoomed Powersun mercury vapor bulb, it is expensive but will make a big difference. Your little one is super small for his size, you need to figure out a way to put a top on the enclosure to keep the humidity in ASAP. Theres lots of ideas in the enclosure section of the forum. Some people just use simple plastic sheeting and make a tent/top for the enclosure. What are your temps in your current set up? I would soak him everyday and go out and find some weeds from somewhere that has not been treated with pesticides. Plantain and dandelion are easy to find outside. Order some seed mixes that are made for Leopards/Sulcatas, plant it and start growing it to feed your tort. Also, read the care sheets in the species specific forum and make adjustments accordingly, there is lots of good info there that will get you going in the right direction. Other members will chime in with more advice too...good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[Yvonne G]

Babies seem to thrive when you set them up in a very warm and humid environment. Try covering the habitat to keep the warm moist air inside. Don't worry so much about a 'warm side/ cool side' at this age. Try to get it up to 80-85F degrees overall. And he also needs a lot of exercise to help him grow...good diet, exercise, humidity and warmth and the occasional bit of real sunshine (or UVB from an expensive light.)

 

[Tom]

You can't keep up humidity with an open top.

How are you heating him at night?

Salad mix is not a good diet.

Does he have a UV source?

"Perhaps twice a week" is not enough. He needs to be soaked every day. When they don't grow, it is usually the result of dehydration issues.

These will help:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

For this one ignore all the stuff about grass and skip to the food list:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum. Follow the advice given to help your little one thrive.

 

[Greg T]

He is super small, so you should take a step back and read all the care suggestions provided above again. Something is not right in the set-up or diet. I have some that are a month old which are larger than yours is now.

Get the temps up, keep the humidty in the 60-80% range, soak several times a week, diet for my babies consists of varied greens (red leaf, green leaf, spring mix lettuce) and Mazuri twice a week. Calcium powder sprinkled once a week. Also get him several hours of direct sunlight each week when possible.

 

[Turbotort]

Yeah I would recommend you look through the forums extensively. I am in your boat with my leo as well. Mine is almost 7 months old and for 4 months that I've had my tort it's always been 30-36g in weight. I changed a lot after the first month but I think most of the damage was done before I got him.

Where did you buy your tort? Myself and another gentleman got ours from the same vendor at repticon a year apart. His died recently and was the same size it's whole life. It's unfortunate I feel helpless. You can do it little tort!

 

[Neal]

What temperatures do you keep him at during the day and night-time?

There are a lot of suggestions I could make, but have a look around the forum first and read up on diet and housing for leopard tortoises.