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the better, and these tortoises requireUV
light.Thedaytime temperature shouldbe
24-30 °C, up to 40 °C beneath the heat
lamp. At night the temperature should
drop significantly, say to around 15-20 °C.
There isnoneed toworry toomuchabout
decor, although the females require
somewhere to lay eggs with 40-50 cm of
substrate. The females produce several
clutchesof 8-20eggsper year (12eggson
average).
Outdoor maintenance is much better. In
this case thepen for a small group should
be 10-20 square meters in size and
includeanadjacent,heatablegreenhouse
or large hotbed where the tortoises can
takea sort of“cat nap”duringunfavorable
weather.SouthAfrican specimens can live
here from spring to autumn, the
“Babcocki”only in thewarmestmonthsof
the year. These tortoises should be
permitted a stay outdoors in the summer
simply because they will graze the lawn
with real passion – they are sometimes
jokingly compared to lawnmowers.
Companions
Leopard Tortoises can be maintained
singly without further ado, as they are
solitary in the wild and both males and
females react aggressively towards
conspecifics of the same sex during the
breeding season in the wild. But the
Portrait of aLeopardTortoise fromCapeProvince.
Photo:ChristophFritz,www.reptilia24.com
object of maintaining wild creatures in
captivity is, of course, to study the entire
life cycle of the species maintained, and
both sexes are required for breeding.
Astonishingly Leopard Tortoises are
exceptionally tolerant in the terrarium
and it is almost always possible to keep
them successfully in small groups. For the
reasons
mentioned
earlier,
only
individualsof thesamepopulationshould
be mated with one another. For this
reason it isbest to start offwitheither 3-5
juveniles or – if the sexes can be
distinguished - onemale and 2-3 females
from the same importation. If you decide
on the purchase of captive-bred
specimens, then you should again make
sure that the parents originated from the
same population. Because the Leopard
Tortoise, like all tortoise species, can be
traded only with valid CITES paperwork
(WA II, EU b), it is possible to ascertain at
least the town of export and the date of
import from this export/import permit.
For a wide variety of reasons Leopard
Tortoises should not be kept with other
tortoises, and keeping them in a species
terrarium ispreferable toallother formsof
maintenance.
Food
Stigmochelys pardalis
are exclusively
vegetarianand specializedon foodwitha
high roughage content. Grass and hay
(including water-softened hay pellets)
shouldconstitute the staplediet, towhich
can be added all sorts of wild plants, and
lettuce leaves inwinter. There is no need
for supplementary vitamins, but calcium
carbonate should be provided. These
tortoises will often eat carrion, meat, or
fruit, but this is a poisoned chalice for
these animals. Leopard Tortoises grow
rapidlyandhaveahigh reproductive rate.
They are able to live their lives in the fast
lane because their intestinal bacteria and
the entire organism are tailored to the
optimal exploitation of the poorest
quality food. Hence feeding the above-
mentioned “titbits” can very rapidly lead
toseriousorgandamageand isessentially
tobeavoided.
When it comes towater, it is sufficient to
providedrinkingandbathingwater twice
per week. The bathing water must be
removed by the next day at the latest, as
the tortoiseswilloftenexcrete their faeces
in it.
If you are now filled with the desire to
keep thesewonderful tortoises then your
pet dealer can undoubtedly order them
for you from a wholesaler of his
acquaintance, forexample from reptilia24,
Fax +49 6430 - 9250100. Zambian and
South African specimens are currently
available inGermany.
