No I didn't see it on TFO. I think NAT GEO. My iPad is almost out of juice. If I can find it tomorrow, I will post it. Thanks
wellington said:No I didn't see it on TFO. I think NAT GEO. My iPad is almost out of juice. If I can find it tomorrow, I will post it. Thanks
Hallbomber said:I just got myself a warm humidifier made by Holmes. Only 20 bucks and it can run 40 hours on one tank.
Zamric said:The pyramided Leopards I saw in the wild were from differant vids, from differant people on safari. These I found doing a Google seach for "Leopard tortoises in the wild". I never thought about people raising them then setting them free in the wild....Sorry for any mis-understandings I may have cause do to ignorance on my part.
EKLC said:Perhaps its the fact that in the wild, when it is dry, the tortoises are not growing because food is scarce. 90 grams at 2 months is very big.
Who knows what humidity baby leopards seek in the wild. While in the air humidity is pretty low in most of their range, it is a grassland, and I'm sure they find moister areas under rocks close to the soil.
Tom said:
EKLC said:Perhaps its the fact that in the wild, when it is dry, the tortoises are not growing because food is scarce. 90 grams at 2 months is very big.
Who knows what humidity baby leopards seek in the wild. While in the air humidity is pretty low in most of their range, it is a grassland, and I'm sure they find moister areas under rocks close to the soil.
I don't wish to argue just for the sake of arguing, but their range is HUGE and many parts of it are actually very humid most of the time. We had some oppressively hot humid days in Capetown in April. And near the coast where I saw all the wild ones in the Cape Point Preserve, it was cold and windy, but still pretty humid with the ocean breeze and all.
I do think you are right about babies seeking out more humid spots in the drier areas though.
Tom said:Pyramiding in wild leopards is very debatable and controversial. I have never seen a pyramided leopard in the wild. I saw very few pyramided leopards in Africa at all, and the few I saw were raised indoors in dry enclosures under hot bulbs. If one of the captive raised leopards were shipped to America, the recipient would likely believe that it was a wild caught import directly from Africa and conclude that they do pyramid in the wild. Often the people over there will raise a baby for a while and then turn it loose, since they are in its natural habitat. If a person collecting for an importer came across one of these...
tortuga_please said:Even if some do pyramid in the wild, that fact that it is such a small minority suggests (to me at least), that it is atypical. Just as there are obese raccoons in the wild... it usually turns out they're eating a lot of human junk food. If the vids are from a safari, they might be fed by humans. Of course, they might just pyramid on their own too, not sure if there's any way to ever conclusive know.
Tom said:Neal is raising some smooth leopards and whatever he is doing is working for him. I can't make it work here for me, though. Neal, yours stay out in the hot, dry AZ sunshine all day, but then they get soaked and sleep indoors in warm humid enclosures with humid hide boxes, right? I have heard you say that you believe that hydration is a big key to pyramiding prevention. Please tell us more about exactly what you do with your babies, because it DOES work and it is different than my methods. I've read the care sheet and its good, but I want to know specifically what you are doing from day to day.
Zamric said:Question: Could pyramiding be caused by the individuals need to heat/cool itself rapidly due to enviromental conditions of it's formative years? Thus making it adaptive to most regions...i.e. more pyramiding for cooler, dryer areas and less pyramided in hot, humid areas?
What effect would this theory have on a Tortoise that was raised in one Temprate Zone for many years, then moved to another?