thanks thats great .. when you say 12 hours basking during the day - if he is outside on a sunny warm day I am assuming you dont need a basking lamp as well ? are there any recommended ceramic heaters - I wont leave him out so I need one to put on the indoor tortoise table for night time - I dont seem to be able to find any sort of heated mat that will be ok in a tortoise table - all the ones I can find are for sticking onto the bottom of a glass vivarium

Any microclimate or habistat heat mat will be fine with wood, but most people recommend tortoises are kept with an overhead heat source as opposed to an under heat. I use a red night light personally but a lot of people recommend ceramics - they go up to higher wattages and you can use them with a pulse or on off stat whereas the bulb needs a dimmer stat.

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well leopards need a basking temp in the 30c range at least! we only have a few days a year when we get this, even today its only 34C in my greenhouse and i have two basking lamps and a uv lamp going. This country just isnt hot enough,often enough to sustain leopard torts.
Me leos are all over 10" and 2kg. it takes 2-3 hours basking every morning under heat lamps to heat them up. then, even in the winter, they will go outside and graze. but not for long. They will rapidly loose heat and risk getting too cold to move back to the heat.

A little leo like yours will have to bask under a heat lamp for at least two hours in the morning to get a good sustainable temperature to last him through out the day. he really should have access to a heat source during the day as our weather is so very unpredictable. I really cant stress this enough, They DO need somewhere warm to retreat to so they can bask.They are after all from a VETY hot part of the world. A mediteranean tortoise may be ok all day, but a leopard baby, left out all day with no basking facilities or heated retreat will soon start to show signs of unhappiness and maybe even illness.

if you need any more advice, please feel free to contact me through a PM or even give me a call at home. it may seem like i am being a little overcautious but i have been keeping africans for quite a while and have lost one or two through trial and error, bad advice and inadequate heating.

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my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

almost forgot, a good heating element is something like this
Ceramic Heater ES (Screw-in) 50W (DL180050) on eBay, also, Reptiles, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 13-May-08 23:44:43 BST)
its easy to connect to a basic thermostat and doesnt use alot of watts. i think Ed worked out that a 1m square wooden box lined with 2 inches of insulation will require 50w an hour to heat to 20c. if you want to use this to create a basking tempertaure then set your thermostat to 32c and have a uvb tube for light (stop him going to sleep all day in a dark box)and d3 synthesis when he is inside.

again, sorry to repeat myself but if your leopard doesnt have the correct temperature range, he will be unable to digest his food, and risks getting ill. i know it can be scary and expensive setting up an outdoor enclosure, but if its not right the vets bills will be alot more expensive!!

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my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

hi i agree with Ali leopard tortoises do require more heating than meds and one the size yours is will become chilled very quickly and become unable to digest its food properly i keep leopard tortoises from tiny hatch;ings right up to a 40lb adult and although their basic requirements are the same their ability to cope with extremes of temperature certainly are not.my adults are compfortable with night temperatures of 16-18c wheras my youngsters overnight at 20-22c.any less and they will become ill.although im sure you might think its better to keep them in but the benefits from natural light and the ability to graze far out weigh any extra work involved and are a basic requirement for their long term good health.
terry

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these are my own opinions do with them what you will


http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/

I totally agree with all that has been said in this post. You can't just stick a leo outside on a sunny day and think it will be warm enough for the day.

Mine have a couple of hours under their basking lamps in the shed before they go outside, even on a warm and sunny day. I'm also at home all day so I keep my eye on the temps, if I think they are getting too cool then they come back in again... I seem to do alot of that!

My Hermann's are a completely different kettle, once they have warmed up they are out until bed time. They do have a sun tunnel to go under if they cool a bit, but I more or less leave them to look after themselves. I treat the two tinies a little more like the leo's, though the leo's would still have more heat than the baby Hermann's.

I have my torts UV and basking lights on from 8am til 8pm ( apart from when they are outside!), when they were in the house the Leopards had a ceramic heater (on a thermostat) on during the night and it was fine all winter. They are now in a shed, so I have an oil fired radiator on a thermostat instead!

I have just found a really good buy, argos do a really good childrens sand box for 35 pounds. The sand box doesn't have a base which is great because the tort has access to grass and it comes with a cover. My partner has made a lid out of netting to stop any birds or other animals getting my tort. I have a 2yr old leo and when ever the weather is nice we will put him out in him play box for an hour or so,(we will always stay out with him but the netting lid just means that if the door or phone goes, we don't have to take him with us) i always give him a bath before hand and let him bask for a couple of hours before, so that he is warm enough.

Liz

This was my temporary Leo enclosure...