Reptile & Amphibian Forums

and his setup

One more. Bottom of the shell. Im worried about how soft it is...
Link

Is your baby redfoot getting ANY UVB? No UVB = one unhealthy & unhappy baby tortoise.

Most people reccomend cypress mulch as a substrate to add humidity, add traction & give something for the tortoise to dig in.
Redfoot care sheet

Do you have any hard evidence that Tortoises need any kind of UVA/UVB? Or if they can even absorb a sufficent amount for their body to utilize?

No I do not.
Just 30 years of reptile experience over a decade of tortoise experience with successful rearing & breeding of some of the rarest tortoises.
Now it's your turn.
Do you have any hard evidence that tortoises DO NOT need any kind of UVA/UVB?

Yep lots o UVB/UVA. Though im not sure if the previous owners were big on UVB. Since this is day number 3 with the tort im not expecting improvement overnight
The lamp that you see is a brand new 100w UVA/UVB spot.
Thanks for the concern and the care-sheet. It was one of the first ones i read when i was doing research into redfoots.

The lamp that you see is a brand new 100w UVA/UVB spot.

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What brand? There are a lot of JUNK bulbs being sold by pet stores & over the internet. Sunlight is always the best light to use but good lamps are available.

Redfoot tortoises being basically forest bottom tortoises do not need as much UVB as grass land or desert tortoises but it is my belief that they still need some - unlike some people who might like you to believe otherwise.
UVB lamp info

And an occasional use of a high quality calcium with D3 supplement would probably help also. Or maybe feeding a little Mazuri tort food occasionally. Don't overdo either one.

Another tortoise keeper has told me of cases of soft shell tortoises that had a high parasite load. I am not for sure about the connection.

There are UVB and UVB lamps. I read somewhere the best UVB lamps (Do not worry too much about UVA as it comes through glass) that have both heat and UVB are the way to go. I use a 260w UVB lamp for my yellow foots and have never had any trouble with pyramiding.

But if you have a soft tort try and get them out in natural sunlight. There is nothing like nature. And remember red and yellow foots live on the jungle floor so do not over do the UVB – I give my torts 2 hours a day after reading about males going sterile due to too much UVB. Also I read somewhere that red foots (Like yellow foots) require meat and other high Vitamin D foods. Especially young ones.

-The bulb is a t-rex Active UV Heat. I was told this is a good brand for UVB and UVA.
-Yesterday he ate some green leaf lettuce and a bit of yellow bell pepper. Each was lightly dusted (see below). I didnt have any higher calcium greens at hand at the time. I do now.
-Im going to take the tort outside for a little bit today. The problem is Delaware weather today is 100degrees with 75% humidity. A little too hot for the tort and way too hot for me. It will be in short doses.
-This morning i went outside and picked a dandelion flower and some of its leaves and dusted them with a little Rep-Cal phosphorus-free calcium with vit.D3 He hasnt really touched it yet.
-I also went and got some lot fat cat food (NOW WITH REAL CHICKEN). I have read that his back leg weakness may be a sign of low protein. I dusted this lightly with the calcium powder also. He hasnt really touched it yet. If he eats a little of it i will give him a little more next week.
-Here is what is in my "garden" on my porch:
Oregino
Basil
Tyme
Sunflower
Umbrella Plant
Wormwood
Peppers (Tobasco, Pueblan, Spanish Rice)
Bay
Lemon Balm
Chives
Eucalyptus
Honey Suckle.
-Anything from the above list particulaly good for the little guy? Anything i should really avoid?

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Jeff

First, i forgot a couple of plants in my garden:
Rosemary
Mint
Some weird Indian herb. dont remember what it is, but it taste good
Taragon

Second, i took him outside on my porch and set him in direct sun. The change was instant. He got up and started walking (his hind legs still dont work perfectly, but hes trying to move them) over to the shade. There i offered him some cat food, some oregano, and the dandelion from this morning. He took a small taste of the oregano, than devoured the dandelion flower (which had the calcium powder on it). I think i will take him for an afternoon romp in the garden every day until he is better in addition to his baths. Thank you very much for the advice everyone.

So the tort ate a little and was acting the way a redfoot should when outside. He ate a little of a small dandelion. When i brought him back in he went back to lethargy and only opening his eyes occasionally. So i think i will do a trip outside after the morning and evening soak.
Also, i have some fresh clover to feed him. Dandelions are hard to find in this heat and time of year.

I think your little one will be fine - Oh I also spray my torts with water many times a day. That keeps the humidity up on them.

About food - I use to collect food with large clippers from the local parks. I use to call it grassing and umm use to get some strange looks but no one questioned what I was doing.

About your plants - I am no expert but would avoid most of what you have in the garden. Stick with the ones people call tortoise food. If you put him in the garden - he will only eat what is good for him. Tortoises tend to try the food and have a great sense of taste and smell. My torts sort of lick things before eating them and now often refuse to eat food with calcium.

-I was spraying around him mostly and only spraying him with a fine mist occationally. He doesnt seem to like it all that much. TOUGH!!! haha. he'll have to live with it.
-I read on a couple of care sheets that oregano was ok, so i set that in front of him. He didnt like it. I read one one care sheet that honeysuckle was ok and on another that it was bad. Im going to be safe and just assume that its bad.
-Tomorrow i think i will put him in the grass outside near a clover patch and see what he does (being careful of local fowl) I will bring a cool hide with me in case he wants to get out of the sun. If he does munch on anything i will bring him back to the porch and try the cat food again.
Thanks for the advice,
Jeff

I have also found that real sunlight does wonders for sick or ailling turtles/torts/lizards. It does more than the best bulbs you can buy.

Here's a trick to get your guy eating things with calcium, if he decides to taste first to see if they are dusted. Take the green leaves he likes and layer the other things you want him to eat on top. Add the calcium and another layer of lettuce on top. Roll the whole thing up like a cigar. He'll only taste the stuff he likes, but when he bites into it he'll get all the things he needs. Works great for torts and chuckwallas!

You can usually buy dandilion greens at an ethnic market, or higher end vegetable stand. They don't last too long in the fridge so only buy small quantities.

Cool, ill try that.
I had him out in the sun for a bit today. He took a few test bites of plants around, but didnt seem to like anything. I do think he might have taken a bite or two of the cat food (which had a little calcium on it). Im going to go out today and get some mustard or collared greens and see if he likes those.
Ill have another update after this afternoon's garden romp. I just have to be careful because of the record heat today.