My Two Leopard Torts

[LiveLoveLift_1985]

Hi everyone! My name is Matthew and I live in Southern California. I have one leopard tortoise name Lakoda, who I purchased July 2019 as a hatchling. I also have Shadow who I recently purchased from a reptile expo here March 8th, 2020(they said he was 6-8 months old) Him and his buddies were definitely malnutritioned and needing a new life. Sadly, I could only afford to get one. Lakoda is a healthy tort and flourishing! Shadow was very lethargic and could barely walk when I first got him but I spent days with him making sure he hydrated properly and received enough warmth and light. He is flourishing now so I can't wait to see if his pyramiding diminishes from the previous owners. Here are a few pics! The indoor setup has changed constantly over the past month and hope you like the end result!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Matthew, and welcome to the Forum!

That's some pretty serious pyramiding for such a little tortoise. You've done a great job nursing him back to health! You may have to set him up in his own enclosure, though, to make sure he continues growing and getting healthy. Here's some reading material for you about keeping tortoises in pairs: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/w...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/

 

[LiveLoveLift_1985]

Hi thank you for your reply! They currently live in two different enclosures. In the beginning I had both of them in a very large enclosure but know now not to keep them in pairs. I still let them mingle here and there. But they have a rockwall/hiding spots that block the path between the two of their enclosures ☺️ Currently looking to buy a third enclosure for an Indian star tortoise this week!

I picked Shadow because of his intense pyramiding because I know it is not the best for him and wanted to see if a new home and environment could diminish the look as much as possible over his/her lifetime. I'm currently in vet tech school and hoping to open a reptile rescue in the future with tortoises in mind.

Looking forward to all the reading and new knowledge I can get from all the veteran tortoise owners!

 

[Yvonne G]

Make sure you have him in a very humid environment. This will help a lot with changing the angle of those pyramids!