- Joined
- Nov 14, 2012
- Messages
- 4
Hey All
My name is Amy and I am the very proud owner of an 8 year old leopard tortoise called Malawi...I have had him just over two months after rehoming him from a lady who was moving house and couldn't take him with her...I need some advise on him though and hope you guys can help...
The lady had him from a hatchling and has always let him free roam her house with a basking/water/sleeping area in the cupboard under the stairs!...We have replicated this in our house with an open fronted viv with a big sleeping area and basking spot etc....However he does spend a lot of time away from his viv and this is what is worrying me! I have lots of reptiles from tiny gecko's to african rock pythons so have a decent enough knowledge to know that as a reptile he should be thermoregulating...Now he does come back to his tank so he does bask but not for as long as I thought he would...When I asked the lady about it she said he would quite often just fall asleep at night under the coffee table!
We have tried him in a massive table and also cornering off a section of the room but he just gets very stressed trying to get out so we gave up and let him go again and he is so happy just wadering around the room! I have lots of other species of tortoise but all live in tables and vivs so this is completely alien to me!
He is very safe in the room he is in and I know he cannot get hurt so I am not worried about him in that respect I'm just not sure if him free roaming will actually have any effects on his health...The room sits around 21 degrees ish in the daytime so is quite a bit colder than a care sheet would recommend for him...Can reptiles aclimatise to life like this?
Any advise on him is more than welcome
My name is Amy and I am the very proud owner of an 8 year old leopard tortoise called Malawi...I have had him just over two months after rehoming him from a lady who was moving house and couldn't take him with her...I need some advise on him though and hope you guys can help...
The lady had him from a hatchling and has always let him free roam her house with a basking/water/sleeping area in the cupboard under the stairs!...We have replicated this in our house with an open fronted viv with a big sleeping area and basking spot etc....However he does spend a lot of time away from his viv and this is what is worrying me! I have lots of reptiles from tiny gecko's to african rock pythons so have a decent enough knowledge to know that as a reptile he should be thermoregulating...Now he does come back to his tank so he does bask but not for as long as I thought he would...When I asked the lady about it she said he would quite often just fall asleep at night under the coffee table!
We have tried him in a massive table and also cornering off a section of the room but he just gets very stressed trying to get out so we gave up and let him go again and he is so happy just wadering around the room! I have lots of other species of tortoise but all live in tables and vivs so this is completely alien to me!
He is very safe in the room he is in and I know he cannot get hurt so I am not worried about him in that respect I'm just not sure if him free roaming will actually have any effects on his health...The room sits around 21 degrees ish in the daytime so is quite a bit colder than a care sheet would recommend for him...Can reptiles aclimatise to life like this?
Any advise on him is more than welcome