My new (and first!) Leo!

Well, I picked up the Leo from the pet shop tonight, and I'm happy to report that very shortly after being placed into her new home, she began to dart at crickets already! She wasn't traveling long, but I did think that she might take a while to explore much - not the case at all :)

Anyway, without further ado, here's Big Bertha (for the love of all that is sacred, I need a new name for her!):
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...eopard-001.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...eopard-002.jpg

I'm not sure, but she looks awfully large to me! Seeing as how this is the first adult Leopard I've ever seen, I don't have much to judge on. Anyway, what do you guys think about her size? She's certainly not malnourished! The brown dish is water, and the green is calcium. She's got multi-vitamin dusted crickets hopping to and fro.

Anyway, after getting the tank set up, I instantly had some new questions that I didn't have before:

• How do I keep the paper towels from acting like a cricket hide-away at the edges and corners?
• How large should her humid hide be, and should it be in place 24/7? It's not in there yet, but the two rocks are hides.

Well, that's all the questions I have for now. If you guys have any questions or concerns with how her tank is setup, please let me know!

Her hot side is set on the thermostat (I watched the temp rise, then turned the nob till the light went off) at 92-degrees, and the cool side is about 80- to 85-degrees, humidity at about 30% because I dampened the paper towels to get them to lay a little flatter.

She's cute.. looks full grown to me.

Your 1st question: I don't use any substrate for my leo.. the poops are dry and I just pick them out of the cage. Disinfect with chlorhexadine. Even with paper towel.. the crix will come out to look for food/water eventually.

2: you can place the humid hide when you see her get a bit dull before shedding. I don't have one in for my leo now.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

She's cute.. looks full grown to me.

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Isn't she, though? :D She's about a year and 1/2 old the petshop owner said the other day. Hopefully I can get another female and a male within the next couple of months, though I'm not too sure where I can find any more adults around here, and it's getting too cold for mail-order. Maybe next spring - I can wait, but I don't want her to be too lonely.

A small update: she really seems to be happy already. I've found little spots in the calcium where she's had a bite or two, and some calcium on the edges of the water dish where she's left some while drinking :) What a lovely little lady!

Thanks for the help, Shelby!

No problem.. leos are fun and easy. They love mealies too!

She won't be lonely. Leos are solitary animals, and don't get lonely.

well she certainly looks much healthier than the leos you posted before. she's a nice looking girl!

i keep the hot side in my leo cage at a max of 88 degrees. i also leave the humid hide in at all times. for my females it doubles as a lay box (i use damp peat moss but damp paper towels are fine for non-laying leos).

the crickets will get under and around the paper towels but like april said they will come out and she will find them quickly so that shouldn't be a problem.

glad to hear she is settling in well for you. sounds like she is going to be a nice pet. :)

not to take over the thread but how many toes do leo's usually have?(i know her toes are fine, im just curious)

and how come there is so much space underneath my posts?

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Originally Posted by reptile-girl

and how come there is so much space underneath my posts?

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Because your avatar is long. No big deal.

oh ok, thanks shelby :-]

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Originally Posted by reptile-girl

and how come there is so much space underneath my posts?

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Fill it in with a signature :) List all of your animals, or write a nice poem in there.

A couple more pictures of her, hopefully these give a better sense of her size:

http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...pards/Leo1.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...pards/Leo2.jpg

I just can't get over how large she is! Do they generally get this big?

here is a pic of one of my adult females:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/files/1/1/8/2/leo.jpg

she's a pretty good size but your girl looks quite a bit bigger. a bit of a chunker if i may say so myself. :P she looks good though. :)

Wow, that's a gorgeous little mama you have there! I can't wait to get a few more, but I'm going to refine my enclosure setups (get more thermostats, heaters [flexwatt!], and shelving) before I invest in anymore animals. I've spent about $600 over the past couple of weeks on Herps and their supplies, and I think that's all the BIG spending I'm doing for a while!! I'm looking into some rack systems right now, and while I'd like to build my own (they're not too difficult), I simply don't have the tools. Perhaps I can make one over the weekend while visiting my step-dad; he loves cabinet-making, so this would be a perfect little project for a weekend trip. Starting on payday, I'll be stocking up on supplies from places like MGReptiles :) Keep an eye open for my order, Matt :p

Anyway, she's starting to turn very dull, and I'm thinking that it might be time for a shed soon. I've yet to see her at her brightest, though she's not a very brightly-colored animal to begin with. Time to get that humid-hide setup :)

Thanks for sharing, Emily!

Aaron

Thats a healthy, mature female you got there. Now you just need a male to go with her. Problem is finding males of a good adult size. They pretty much have to force females into submission to mate with them, a problem my male seems to be having with one of my females right now. He's about 60 grams and she's 90. Pretty funny watching him trying to force her down and the female just like kicks him off and walks away.

luckily my male is big ole daddy of a leo so that's not too much of a problem for him. :) i'll have to get some pics of him. that female probably weighs about 60 grams and he probably weighs more like 80.

aaron, i just purchased some drawer units from walmart that i am going to wire heat tape into and use as a rack. generally drawer type units are frowned upon because they aren't as secure and have gaps in them, but these are pretty much entirely enclosed and since leos aren't arboreal i think they are going to work really well. i will post some pics once i get them set up and let you know how they are working out. here is a link to a drawer that is very similar to the ones i got: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B000AV7ONK.

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Originally Posted by mlededee

aaron, i just purchased some drawer units from walmart that i am going to wire heat tape into and use as a rack. generally drawer type units are frowned upon because they aren't as secure and have gaps in them, but these are pretty much entirely enclosed and since leos aren't arboreal i think they are going to work really well. i will post some pics once i get them set up and let you know how they are working out. here is a link to a drawer that is very similar to the ones i got: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...asin=B000AV7ONK.

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Ah yes, I saw those at Fred Meyer here (it's like Wal-Mart or Target) the other day when shopping for Mr. Bojangles' tub. I should have thought of those for my Leo... I'd like to see how they turn out when you get your's setup :)

Some new and fun photos of the lady in my life :P I love her, but applications are always accepted! Haha!

Oh, and don't mind the toothpaste splatter! *yuck*

http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-001.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-002.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-003.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-004.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-005.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-006.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-007.jpg
http://www.subliminallusion.com/imag...rtrait-008.jpg

those are so cute! she must have a thing for ears. :P she's looking really good. :)

Haha, yeah. It was funny listening to her lick her chops while her face was in my ear. Kind of like a puppy when he sniffs your ear (I'm not the only one, am I? :P ).

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Originally Posted by mlededee

aaron, i just purchased some drawer units from walmart that i am going to wire heat tape into and use as a rack. generally drawer type units are frowned upon because they aren't as secure and have gaps in them, but these are pretty much entirely enclosed and since leos aren't arboreal i think they are going to work really well. i will post some pics once i get them set up and let you know how they are working out. here is a link to a drawer that is very similar to the ones i got: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B000AV7ONK.

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fyi: i got the drawers set up with heat tape and took some pics--posted a thread about it with pics in the caging forum: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...737#post310737.

Awesome! Thanks alot, Emily!

Oh she's gorgeous and so big!

Here's a fun link for coming up with pet names...you can refine the search tons of ways.

Found one....Da-xia...Daxia or Dax for short...Chinese for big hero LOL.

http://www.petnamesworld.com/


~~Jo~~