Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone.
So i read as much as i could find on the red-foot torts and at the Hamburg show i finally got one. I wanted to describe my setup (pics coming when i find my camera) and make sure i am not missing anything.
Its a few month old red foot. He (i think) is in a large tuperware container with no lid.
I have a UVA/UVB 100w spot on one corner of the enclosure 2 feet from the bottom. Temp on hot end is into 90's. Temp in hide is high 70's. Ambient temp is high 70's low 80's.
I am using paper towels for bedding. I am thinking about switching to aspen or sphagnum moss when he is a little older and can negotiate a little better.
Humidity is kept by misting the sides of the tuberware. Humidity is around 60%
There is a shallow dish for soaking
There is a large hide box. Half over damp towels half over dry.
There is a shallow dish with (right now) tomatoes. I just realized i am out of calcium powder and will pick some up tomorrow along with some greens.
Anything else?
Comments/concerns?

My first tortoise. Im really happy.

Thanks,
Jeff

Sounds to me like you've got it pretty well covered! Redfoots are great tortoises; I had one that was known
as the 'puppy-turtle' because she enjoyed having her head & shell rubbed.
.

-----
DeeCee

Thanks for the help.
I am a little worried because the tortoise seems a little lethargic. I think he may be younger than a few months and may only be a few weeks. Anyway i can tell?
Also, it doesnt look like he has full power in his back feet. Any thoughts?

Thanks again,
Jeff

In order to give my young redfoot better accesses to a deeper water dish i created a ramp into and out of the waterdish out of gravel. Is this alright?

Also, my redfoot is most often in his hide and away from the basking light. He also only has his eyes open if i take him and put him in his water dish. Is something wrong?

Trying not to be a total noob, but.....

hehe, thanks,
Jeff

I just noticed that he keeps scratching at something on his head near or above his eyes on both sides. Normal?

I keep a pair of yellow foots and have had a similar issue with one of them keeping her eyes closed. I put it down to two thing:
The temperature in their box
Lack of humidity

The temperature their box went down to (I did no have heater in their box and it was a bit drafty when you put on the air con. My little sister would set the air con to 64 F – the trot box was going down below 60 (Below 64 my torts have trouble).

I keep my torts on sandy loam and I sort of let it dry out and the humidity went down to the low 30s to high 20s. Yeah not very good for yellow foots.

I fixed it by increasing the temperature and watering the sandy loam my Torts walk abound on. I also added more yellow vegetables to their diet as I have read swollen or closed eyes could be form lack of vitamin A.

Try adding more water to your box – make the paper towel very wet – give your tort some reptile vitamins (I would avoid human ones as they may be toxic to them) and look at the minimum temperature and your little one should be fine.

The back leg issue may be a lack of calcium or Vitamin D3. If possible try putting him in direct sunlight – Before I got my UVB light I would put my Torts in front of an open window and they did fine. You can also feed them a little food high in vitamin D – I have read somewhere that yellow foots (And red foots) get some of their Vitamin D from their food.

Good luck…

-Direct sunlight.... well, it will be 100 degrees with 75% humidity here in Delaware tomorrow..... might be a bit much for the tortoise (and way too much for its owner... me!) but it should be ok for a few minutes. Is it ok to let him have free rein of my veggie and herb garden under supervision?
-I happen to have a yellow pepper sitting around. I cut up a small piece and put it next to him on top of a piece of green lettuce. I sprinkled a little phosphorus free calcium powder on top of that. I also stuck a piece of cuttlebone nearby.
-oh, another thing. I keep seeing him pull his head and arms slightly into his shell in spastic twitches. Is this something i should be worried about?
-Dont you love it. You can do all the research in the world, but the minute you get a new pet home they find some way to freak you out that you couldn't anticipate........

Thanks for the help,
Jeff

100 degrees might be a bit hot for your little one – but he will be fine if he can find his way under a plant or something – direct sunlight means sunlight that has not been filtered by glass or stopped by a roof or something. Having some leaves in the way is fine.

Supervised romp in the herb garden is fine – just watch out for birds (They love little torts) cats, dogs and any other predator.

Feed – try to avoid lettuce as it is very low in good stuff and try and feed him weeds from the garden (Dandelion, Plantain and any other high calcium weed – see this site http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/ for a good list of Tortoise weeds). I try to eat the weeds and if they taste bad – do not feed them to my Tort.

Also try a little (I said a little) lean meat. Your little one will eat it out of your hand. My girlfriend puts my torts on the tread mill and places a piece of chicken in front of them and they walk, walk and walk further.

With respect to Vitamin D – there are two schools of thought. 1 is they get it from the sun – the other is they get it from their diet (meat). Me I give them a little of both.

The twitching is probably him just pulling him self into his shell after coming out a little after running out of breath. I do not think that is an issue.

Good luck with him and remember direct sunlight (well at 100 degrees under a tree or some leaves) is best. Your little guy will tend to hid under leaves anyways.