Young leopard - open top table

[Soph]

The more I'm reading I'm getting confused, i have a open tortoise table and in 6 days getting a very young leopard. What can I do ASAP to make it more suitable ( make it humid ext) ?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

The more I'm reading I'm getting confused, i have a open tortoise table and in 6 days getting a very young leopard. What can I do ASAP to make it more suitable ( make it humid ext) ?

moisten the substrate frequently. will keep humidity up.

 

[Soph]

What is best substrate to use, I was told to use news paper for the first few months, is this wrong?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

What is best substrate to use, I was told to use news paper for the first few months, is this wrong?

yes that is wrong! baby torts of any species might die if they don't have humidity. its called hatchling failure syndrome. coco coir, orchard bark, cypress mulch all work well when moist read this care sheet. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[teresaf]

Yep and closed chamber works well for me. You can have a piece of plexiglass cut to cover the table to hold in heat and humidity.

 

[Tom]

Whee are you getting this leopard? Is it the breeder telling you to keep it on newspaper? If yes, cancel the sale right now. Most people start babies far too dry and many of them die months down the road. These breeders always remark that the baby was fine while it was at their place, so if it died months later it must be the new owners fault, right? WRONG! Chronic dehydration in their first few weeks damages their kidneys. THey can survive this way for months sometimes, but then some of them eventually die, while other manage to survive. Read this for more explanation:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

To answer your question: The only way to humidify an open table is too humidify and warm the entire room. Then open tables work just fine. Otherwise there is no way to keep the cold dry room air from mixing with and diluting your warm humid air in the enclosure.

Here is some more care info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/