If your new tortoise is 4 to 5 inches, daily soaking isn't necessary. In fact, if you have water available to it all the time and it can drink the water as well as crawl through the water dish when it wants, soaking isn't needed. Unless it gets really hot and dry and then once a week isn't a bad idea.

A varied diet with high calcium greens, occasional prepared foods like Mazuri Tortoise Diet and fruits like strawberries, papaya, bananas, etc. will go a long way in keeping a redfoot healthy. The added calcium is a good idea as they grow but with your animal getting a good diet and full sunlight it isn't that important. I have only occasionally given my redfoots calcium (mostly to egg laying females) over the years and they have grown and reproduced really well. Don't get me wrong....I am not saying to never add calcium to the diet...but I don't think you need to run out and start shaving your parrot's cuttlebone right away either. I am also in south Florida so our conditions are about the same.

The pale coloring you described is common to the 'cherryhead' form of redfoots. Some show this trait more than others.



I would add that getting a fecal check done by a decent vet is a very good thing to do too. Go to the trouble, it's worth it.

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