Please Help Identifying My Rescue Tortoise

Amberaptor

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Aug 19, 2020
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IL
Hello,
I recently acquired a tortoise from a friend who knew she was neglecting him
 

Yvonne G

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Hi @Amberaptor :

Start a post then at the bottom of that square, click on the paper clip "attach files" then upload your picture. We'll need to see top and bottom of the tortoise to tell you what you have.
 

Amberaptor

New Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
IL
Hello!

I recently acquired a tortoise from a friend who knew she was neglecting him, so wanted to give him a better home. I am new to tortoises, but I am a passionate animal lover and would love to give this guy a healthier lifestyle.

First, I need to figure out what species of tortoise he is (from googling I thought maybe leopard?). My friend told me she bought him from a flea market in Florida (not a great place to buy one I'm sure). From what I can tell I know he is male and approximately 3-5 years old. From the googling and research I've been doing I can tell he has very bad pryamiding and perhaps discoloration on his shell so I am worried he will be hard to identify. She did not give him any sort of moisture or humidity in his tank and only kept a desk light on him.

So far the adjustments I've made to his life is adding a heat lamp and another lamp with a UVB bulb in it, added calcium in his diet, and have tried to keep his tank pretty moist. I know there is a ton more I need to do, but I haven't had him for more than a few days and hoped that identifying him would give me a start.

Diet wise I'm giving him kale or romaine lettuce with calcium sprinkled on top. He has a fresh bowl of water. He has this coconut subtrate stuff as the bedding in this tank and I read online that having such a dusty bedding might dry out his skin so I was wondering if i should switch to some sort of woodchip. I also think his tank is too small for him. I think she said it was a 40 or 50gal, but he is like 6 inches long so it doesn't feel very spacious. I was considering building him something myself once I figure out the right size for him.

I know this is a whole lot of information at once and I kind of rambled on. I would greatly appreciate any information that could help and especially if someone could identify him as well.

Thanks so much! I love him tons already.

20200328_171803.jpg20200908_193043.jpg20200908_193036.jpg20200908_193027.jpg20200908_193015.jpg
 

Toddrickfl1

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It's a leopard tortoise.

 

Minority2

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Joined
Jul 30, 2018
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1,052
Location (City and/or State)
Tortoise Hell
Hello!

I recently acquired a tortoise from a friend who knew she was neglecting him, so wanted to give him a better home. I am new to tortoises, but I am a passionate animal lover and would love to give this guy a healthier lifestyle.

First, I need to figure out what species of tortoise he is (from googling I thought maybe leopard?). My friend told me she bought him from a flea market in Florida (not a great place to buy one I'm sure). From what I can tell I know he is male and approximately 3-5 years old. From the googling and research I've been doing I can tell he has very bad pryamiding and perhaps discoloration on his shell so I am worried he will be hard to identify. She did not give him any sort of moisture or humidity in his tank and only kept a desk light on him.

So far the adjustments I've made to his life is adding a heat lamp and another lamp with a UVB bulb in it, added calcium in his diet, and have tried to keep his tank pretty moist. I know there is a ton more I need to do, but I haven't had him for more than a few days and hoped that identifying him would give me a start.

Diet wise I'm giving him kale or romaine lettuce with calcium sprinkled on top. He has a fresh bowl of water. He has this coconut subtrate stuff as the bedding in this tank and I read online that having such a dusty bedding might dry out his skin so I was wondering if i should switch to some sort of woodchip. I also think his tank is too small for him. I think she said it was a 40 or 50gal, but he is like 6 inches long so it doesn't feel very spacious. I was considering building him something myself once I figure out the right size for him.

I know this is a whole lot of information at once and I kind of rambled on. I would greatly appreciate any information that could help and especially if someone could identify him as well.

Thanks so much! I love him tons already.

1. I personally don't recommend red bulbs. I think that's what I'm seeing in your pictures. Some people have success with them but there are also a large number of people that have problems with them, problems that can cause tortoises eyes to not be able to tell the difference between food and inedible items and substrate. Use an incandescent flood bulb instead and a ceramic heat emitter or reptile heat panel for night time heating.

2. Unless the uv(B) lamp is a florescent long-tubed shaped I would suggest not using that it at all. Purchase a T5 lighting fixture and a T5 reptile rated uv(B) bulb.

3. Leopard tortoises will eventually need a permanent outdoor enclosure. For now you need to have at least a 8ft x 4ft indoor enclosure. If you don't that amount of room you can always build a permanent outdoor enclosure with a protective chicken wire top and a night time heat/humid box for the leopard tortoise to sleep in.

4. The diet needs to be a lot more varied than want you are currently offering the tortoise. Here is a food list sheet that works for Leopards. Feed less grocery foods and more flowers, leafy weeds, hay, grass, and succulents. You can buy seed mixes and dried leaf mixes from online tortoise retailers:

5. Coco coir is a decent tortoise substrate but for larger species like the Leopard orchid bark would be a better choice. Substrate needs to stay damp to keep humidity levels up and dust down.

6. Read the care sheet provided by @Toddrickfl1
 
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