May I introduce you to Pedro

[Dark Voyager]

This beautiful girl is Pedro!

I rescued her last week. She was thought to be a boy (hence the name), and she was is a kilo underweight thanks to unknowledgeable care....

She was fed on lettuce for the past 2 yrs, kept in a small enclosure with concrete as a floor, she does not even know what grass is!

So begin the process of training her to eat a proper diet, giving her exercise and stimulating her mind!

So far she has gained 21grams in a week by eating a mixture of Spring Greens and Grass (eating the grass reluctantly and by accident).

She is absolutely hilarious and I've completely fallen in love with her!

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome to TFO

How big is Pedro? (Straight Carapace Length) All torts look female until they near maturity and Pedro looks too small to sex accurately yet.

Have you read these TFO sheets written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely spread by the Internet and pet stores and, sadly, by some breeders, vets and rescues too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How to raise a healthy leopard tortoise
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[Dark Voyager]

Thank you for the links....

Pedro is 6inches straight carapace length

 

[Dark Voyager]

He is a pic of the underside....

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome.

 

[JoesMum]

Looking at your photos, there are a couple of obvious changes you should make.

1. The enclosure is far too small for a six inch tort. This tort needs a minimum of 4' x 8' (1.5 x 2.2metres) and will grow much bigger needing outdoor space bigger than that.


2. Rabbit pellets are not suitable as substrate as they cannot hold the moisture necessary to raise humidity. Coco coir or orchid bark are popular on TFO as you can tip a jug of water in and give it a good mix with your hans so that it is evenly damp

Please read the links I gave you for more information

 

[Dark Voyager]

Fear not, the pellets are already gone. This is just her nighttime and cool weather enclosure (and enclosure whilst she is getting better - digestive) she spends most of her time in our massive tortoise proof garden

Thank you for the advise though - any help is much appreciated

 

[Kristoff]

Leopards are beautiful. Welcome to the forum!

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Welcome!

Total beauty. You came to the best place ever for expanding our knowledge, us crazy for torties people ... and you have already made huge changes for Pedro's care. Woohoo!

 

[TerrapinStation]

Awesome, congratulations on your new friend and best of luck!