Leopard Tortoise

[veebee]

Oh wow Phil thanks for posting those photos they are brill, how old are yours? Have you had trouble keeping the shells smooth, and what do you feed in the winter months and do you allow them to go outside in the winter?

Sorry for all the questions, but the books dont seem to tell you this!!!

Vivienne

[tortoise_crazy]

they are all between 10 and 20 years old now, the oldest is the smallest one he is about 7 inches and is one that i rescued, he was kept indoors walking free in the the peoples kitchen and his heat source was an aga. i live in east sussex so we do not have really harsh winters, they do go out on most days even if it is for only an hour but the can go back into their shed when they want, you must make sure that they can warm right through to their core before you let them out.
as for feeding in the winter, i am a postman who delivers in a rural area and my customers let me pick their weeds, but when the times are hard i will get spring greens and curly kale to pack it out, they always have access to hay but some will not eat it
as for keeping their shells smooth we do not feed them up to much fast, by this i mean you will hear of people who have a 9 inch leopard at 4 years of age, it took us about 8 or 9 years to get to this size, also make sure they have access to vitamins and calcium
hope this helps
phil

[tortoise_crazy]

here are few more pics, the dog loves them, on the rare occasion one has gone over she will come into get us
phil

I have read this post with interest..... what gorgeous torts.... a pleasure to look at.

[veebee]

Thanks for your reply Phil your torties are a real credit to you, at the moment I feed all four a handful of weeds (a wide variety at each feed) covered in vits and/or flour and when thats gone, they can graze on the grass, but dont know if yours are the same but they dont like the weeds with the vits or flour on, they will only eat them when they are really hungry cos I'm trying not to give in and leave the vits off.

Thanks again Phil, all advice greatfully received

Vivienne

[terrypin]

hi phil what a nice group of tortoises you have ,and what a coincidence i have 7 adults myself only 4 males and 3 females i also have group of juveniles up to about 5inches not sure what sex all hatched between 110 and 120 days if i remember correctly, sorry if i sound a bit vague but all my hand written records are packed away until i can figure how to put them on the computer still cant get pictures every time shame really poor old thing
terry

[tortoise_crazy]

it is always good to hear from other leopard tortoise nuts
phil

[piglet]

I must say even though this thread topic has beaten any other with the amount of replies i have found it extremely interesting and both Terrypins and Tortoise crazy your animals are magnificent well done on such good informative posts i'm sure there will be some very well correctly cared for leopards out there thanks for the imput.
Darren

Myself and Steve are really proud to have chosen to keep leopards - we fully understand the responsibilities involved but we are excited about the challenge and def believe that these torts are beautiful, bold and full of character.

This thread really is a leopard appreciation club! lol!

[terrypin]

hi phil sorry about the poor photo didnt think it would work just needed to ask how deep is the water dish you have in your garden and what is it also like the way the garden is set out i am still setting mine up beenhere 2 years so far but have only just moved theleopards down to the new enclosure this summer so still working on it
terry