I saw that no one replied to this post. Whether or not you turn the lights off at night depends upon how low the temperature will get. You said around 60...that's a bit low. What I would do in that situation is use a red heat lamp instead of (or in conjunction with) the regular basking bulb, so that you can set all of the lights that actually produce clear light on a timer to turn off at night and on in the morning. I use this for the stock tank that some of my tortoises live in in my basement. It gets too cold down there to turn off the lights every night...my russians would go into hibernation if I did, so I use a red basking bulb instead of a white one, and that stays on at all times. I sometimes see one of the tortoises basking under it in the middle of the night, so I figure they must appreciate it

As for soaking...if you keep the red foot in a very humid environment, you won't need to soak it as much. Cut off a lot of ventilation and use a substrate (such as mulch or dirt) that will hold moisture. You'll know you've got it right when you see condensation. Remember, these are rain forest tortoises. Other people will argue that if you soak them frequently, you don't need to keep them in a humid environment. Don't be fooled...they're still dehydrated. When you soak a tortoise, it hydrates them in the same way as moist food items do. They take in the moisture, but they need to be able to keep it inside of them. If you take this well-hydrated tortoise and put it in a warm, dry (no humidity) enclosure, it's back to a dehydrated state before the next day arrives. They're designed for high humidity and a good amount of ambient heat. I have also heard that, being a rain forest dwelling critter, they tend to not need as much light as other torts (and in some cases I've heard it can be bad for them, especially their eyes, like when mercury vapor bulbs are used). It would be fascinating to see them in their natural habitat and see how much exposure to direct sunlight they actually ever get.

Oh, and a 2-3" redfoot is still usually considered a hatchling.

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