[split] New Leopard Owner! Questions!

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Brad and Alena

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Hey Everyone,

We're new here! and well I've already used this forum for alot of helpful tips. We just got a baby Leopard Tortoise( 3 months) from a breeder here in Canada. He is set up in a well vented terrarium with both a UVA and UVB light. His basking area is between 95-105 degrees from 8am to 10pm. My question is that he tends to be sleeping ALOT, but is eating normally, I have read this is normal but want to make sure. He also does something with his throat much like a frog(mouth closed, not gasping for air, and its not all the time). Again I assume all this is normal, we feed him Kale greens for now, and gave him a small amount of pumpkin yesterday as it is Halloween. We also are soaking him daily. The only concern we really have is the night time temperature. Our house and sits at 70 all the time as does the terrarium over night. Is this too cold? Should he have a little heat at night? I have a night time heat bulb if needed but from what Ive researched it is not needed.

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Neal

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Any tortoise that small, I would recommend keeping his night time temperatures in the high 70's to low 80's. I would recommend you turn on your night heat source. This should increase his activity level as well.

I would also suggest mixing up the kale greens with some spring mix, weeds, cactus, and mazuri.
 

DesertGrandma

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The easiest and most consistent heat souce is a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) on a thermostat. That way it will come on at night at whatever temp you set it at. I love it because I don't have to remember to turn on the heat lamp every night. On warm nights it just doesn't come on. Perfect setup for night time heat and also for when you want to go away and are not there to monitor it.
 

jtrux

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Also humidity is very important at a young age, what kind of enclosure do you have? I also agree that he needs a more varied diet.
 

Brad and Alena

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He's in a Exo Terra terrarium, 36 x 18 footprint. We just got him, so we will be varying the diet. What kind of thermostat do I get, I have a night time lower wattage night time heat bulb already, just haven't used it as I didnt think it was necessary.
 

DesertGrandma

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The one I use is the BAH-1000 from Big Apple Herp http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat

I have been happy with this one. You can probably find a cheaper one if you google it.


Just be sure to use an internal thermometer also to make sure your thermostat is working properly. I got one initially that was for gardening and it stopped working for me right away. That's why I went for the BAH=1000 and have ordered another one for another enclosure. Has been very reliable.
 

Levi the Leopard

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welcome! i also own a leopard tort. he will be 7months tomorrow.

i keep my night heat above 80 using a CHE. i have to keep the temps above 80 because i also use very high humidity (80%).

warm + humid = a growing smooth leopard.
too cold + humid = a very sick tortoise.

if you'd like to have high humidity to keep your guy from pyramiding then definitely have night temps above 80.
 
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