leopard tortoises, dry or humid???

brenM

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A breader told me to keep my leopard tortoises in humidity, spray them down, etc. I am conflicted, because I've read it is best to have their habitat rather dry. I'm having two juvenile tortoises come in within the next week and I'm not sure what will be best for them. Any help?
 

wellington

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Hot and humid. Not dry! Dry is the old bad way. Please read the threads below in my post for proper housing. The sulcata threads will apply also
 

Levi the Leopard

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That's great advice. I've raised my leopard in humidity and it produced wonderful results!

Compare his growth at 1month to 4years. Most dry raised leopards grow very slow or very bumpy
2016-02-26_19.01.04.jpg

Keep him well hydrated and read those links provided to you. You won't regret it.
 

Tom

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A breader told me to keep my leopard tortoises in humidity, spray them down, etc. I am conflicted, because I've read it is best to have their habitat rather dry. I'm having two juvenile tortoises come in within the next week and I'm not sure what will be best for them. Any help?

Hello and welcome.

The dry way was never correct. We did it wrong for decades and only in the last few years have some members of the tortoise community began to figure all this out.

Not only do YOU need to keep your new tortoise warm and humid, you need to buy from a breeder that started the babies correctly too.

Please read these for more insight:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

The above two threads will help you get the right baby to start with. The following two will help you do it right once the tortoise is in your possession:
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/

I typed this up for sulcatas, so you can just skip all the text and scroll down to the list of good foods:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
Regular leopards will sometimes eat some grass, but it doesn't need to be a major component of their diet.

Pairs are not a good idea. One is best, but if you want more than one get 3 or more.
 

Gillian M

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That's great advice. I've raised my leopard in humidity and it produced wonderful results!

Compare his growth at 1month to 4years. Most dry raised leopards grow very slow or very bumpy
View attachment 166314

Keep him well hydrated and read those links provided to you. You won't regret it.
Wow! What a difference.
 

Gillian M

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A very warm welcome to the forum!:tort:

Humidity is a very important factor to keep a tortoise healthy and to avoid pyramiding.

Would love to see pics of your tort.;)
 

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