I need help with my new baby leopard tortoise hes just a tad bit bigger than a Quarter and who I got him from was the Reptile shop from California and they said he was roughly 3 weeks old and I’ve had him for about 3 weeks, my concern is I haven’t seen him eat but like once and he don’t move much at all and I’m offering him Mizzuri and greens and carrots and zoo med grassland tortoise diet and I don’t think he’s any of it unless he’s eating very little that I don’t see it, and his eyes stay closed pretty much all day and he don’t have any infection around his eyes that I can see and he mostly stays in the same spot barely moving, I keep him in a big plastic bin with a hot spot of 100 and the rest of the cage anywhere from 80-94 degrees and I soak him twice a day, am I over reacting or is there some things y’all can help me out with because this is my first tortoise so I’m not sure if this is normal activity for a 1-2 month old leopard tortoise
Here’s another look at his enclosure if any of u can help me out I would greatly appreciate it, I own monitors and Boas and my daughter has been wanting a tortoise really bad so I got her one for Christmas and I just want to make sure I’m doing the best for this little guy
Not eating, not moving, eyes closed all the time… that’s not normal, they are all signs of ill health. I don’t know enough about tortoises to critique your enclosure, but an animal that young can die really fast if it is doing that poorly. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can step in to help with care, but I would treat the situation very seriously and make a vet appointment.
Are you hydrating the Mazuri and ZooMed food, or feeding it dry pellets? I was told by a reputable breeder that hatchlings do better with a basking spot of 120°F and 60% - 70% humidity.
Yeah I’m hydrating his pellets
You should try to get an appointment with a herp vet as soon as you can.
Find a herp vet here.
I’m also going to tag @osbornereptiles since I know he has experience with tortoises.
That hot of a basking spot wouldn’t be safe in a plastic tub, so they would need to move it to a tank. That said, I have never heard of a basking temp being higher than 100°F for them. If it can barely move, then any hotter might not be best.
The breeder I’m getting my leo from uses smaller sterilite tubs to house their clutches, with a basking area of 120. Their hatchlings seem to do really well. A piece of slate could be used for the basking area, to ensure the plastic doesn’t melt.
I’ve always thought that with a baby leopard basking should be a little lower until they reach 6 months or so. Most breeders won’t ship out hatchlings until theyre at least 3 months old since that’s such a fragile time for torts. A lot of those symptoms are signs that the baby hasn’t had enough humidity or nutrition in its critical early stages. The enclosure doesn’t look terrible it may not hurt to aluminum foil off the opening around the light to keep in humidity. Even being a drier species the hatchlings still need a fair amount of humidity. I know of a couple people who specialize in that breed and would definitely know better than most how to approach saving the little guy.
Last bit and I’ll shut up. the compact uv bulbs are really tough on baby torts eyes. Maybe consider moving it to a tube style once you get over this little hump. Obviously eating and drinking is top priority.
Hey thank u so much for the help I got him in with a Herp vet today
Please keep us posted on his recovery. They are such cute little guys!