Leopard Tortoise Basics

Leopard tortoises are a warm climate desert animal. As reptiles they can’t regulate their body heat. Leopard Tortoises rely on their environment to provide proper body heat to digest food and maintain good health. Turtles are water animals while tortoises are dry land animals. Leopard Tortoises live only on land and eat only plants.

Types of Leopard Tortoises

There are two subspecies of Leopard tortoises. There is some debate around the true differences. In our experience there is a big difference in appearance and size between the two. They also exhibit different nesting patterns. The two scientific names for the Leopard Tortoise subspecies are:

• Stigmochelys pardalis babocki (aka “babockis” or “PBs”)
• Stigmochelys pardalis pardalis (aka “pardalis” or “PPs”)

Both come from the African continent. The pardalis pardalis bloodline is typically found in the southern tip of Africa. The pardalis babocki is found further north and along the eastern coast.

Leopard Tortoise Climate

Because Leopard tortoises come from sub saharan Africa, they prefer warm dry climates. Some humidity in their environment has health benefits, but in moderation and only when accompanied by a warm temperature. Cool damp habitats are bad for Leopard tortoises.

Leopard Tortoise Diet

Leopard tortoises are herbivores. Herbivores only eat vegetation, no meat. Leopard tortoises in the wild eat naturally occurring vegetation. In captivity, Leopard Tortoises enjoy most table greens and fruits. Table greens rarely provide sufficient nutrition to encourage healthy growth. We also feed (affiliate link) Mazuri Tortoise Diet. You can find  (affiliate link) Mazuri Tortoise Diet on Amazon in many sizes and quantities. In other articles we’ll discuss how we feed our Leopard Tortoises (affiliate link) Mazuri Tortoise Diet.

We have written many articles on Leopard Tortoise care. Each is designed to be bite size and help empower and educate on Leopard Tortoise care. When possible we’ll point to resources that help you feel confident as a tortoise handler. You should assume we receive a small commission when you buy something we recommend using a provided link. We greatly appreciate that support as it helps pay for this work.

Affiliate link to Mazuri Tortoise Diet on Amazon.com