Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just tuesday received, via overnite delivery, my baby red-foot dubbed "junior." he's not my first reptile (i had a green iguana years ago), but he *is* my first chelonian.

he was hatched in late september, and he's maybe 3 inches long, all total. he's eating a 1/4 wedge of blueberry in the pic, as a size reference.

he's quite active (he loves crawing around on the couch, with me or a roommate watching, of course), is no shy violet (thanks mostly, i'm sure, to him having been captive born and bred), and eats like a pig.

which brings me to my first query: at what point am i in danger of overfeeding him? in the few days i've owned him he's eaten loads (well, "loads" being a relative term; i'm taking his size into consideration) of collard greens, with some blueberry, carrot, or pear added, on a daily basis.

secondly: i'm using rep-cal and herptavite as per the breeder's recommendation. the instructions for dosage are on a per pound basis; since he's so little, is a pinch of each, every other day, sufficient? i don't want to o.d. the little guy.

and, thirdly: he lives in my room, a basement apartment which ain't exactly toasty warm. i've got him in a 15 gal. aquarium (which i'll of course upgrade as he grows) with a small zoo-med undertank heater at one end. he wound up bubbling from the nose on thanksgiving morning, so i took him to the emergency vet where he was given an antibiotic injection for respiratory infection. i'm adding a 60-watt red heat lamp for 24-hour warmth (this is, of course, in addition to the uva/uvb lamp i run during the day but is practically heatless). might this be sufficient?

glad to be here, and i appreciate any opinions or suggestions offered. thanks! ^_^

If you are located anywere north of TX that is not enough heat... as you found out the hard way. Try and get a temperature range of 80 to 100 F. You can do this with a 20 gal long but it is tough in a 15 gal. Don't worry about overfeeding. They will eat as much as they need.
Ed
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

i'm in georgia, and i've now found that with a 75 watt i can get a range of high 70s to high 80s (with his half-log hide-out at the cooler end). 60 watt wasn't quite enough, but 100 watt was *too* much. he's more active in his aquarium now. also, i mist the bed-a-beast to keep it humid. thanks!

Your baby would need a heat gradient to be able to thermoregulate, meaning to adjust his body temperature. This might be hard to achieve in a tank that small.
You should keep the hot end around 32-34 degrees Celsius and the cool end around 26-28 degrees Celsius. In general heat from above is preferrable to heat from the bottom.
He needs an appropriate substrate like cypress mulch, peat moss or reptile bark topped with spaghnum moss, all of which can be kept moist to ensure hydration.
Make him a humid hide from a half flower pot, margarine container or the like, filled with moist spaghnum moss. But make sure, that the temps are o.k., because moist and cold is very bad!
In terms of nutrition make sure, that he gets a varied diet. Kale, collard and other members of the brassica family are valuable in so far, that they contain a very good calcium : phosphorus ratio, but they are goiterogenic. Thus they should only make up a small part of the diet.
Escarole, endive and dandilion are good mainstays, if you are dependent on grocery store supplies. Some kale or spring mix make good treats. The diet of Redfoots in the wild contains a lot of fruit (up to about 40 - 70 % depending on the season and region). Papaya, fresh figs and cactus fruit (pear) are especially good choices. Mango, plums and oranges are nice add ons.
A calcium supplement containing Vit.D should be sprinkled on every meal. Scraped cuttlefish bone is a good source of calcium as well.
Vitamin supplements should be used very sparingly, because they are easily overdosed and can damage their little kidneys and livers. The breeder I have my babies from strongly recommended, not to use vitamin supplements for the first 4-5 months. With offering a varied diet they should not need them either.
I feed my babies every second day. Food is offered in abundance, but removed after about an hour. Two of my babies are 8 months old now and have absolutely smooth carapaces.
On the 'tortoisetrust.org' site in the 'article' section, you can find some very useful articles on Redfoot and general tortoise diet and supplement considerations, husbandry of tropical (humid) habitat tortoises, microclimates and much more. Make sure to check it out!
Good luck with the respiratory infection. Make sure the little guy is warm enough and can dig into a humid hide place!

Gaby

...but it was late...
When I mentioned good choices of greens to make up mainstays in the diet, I wrote 'escarole' instead of 'chicory'.
Escarole is a memeber of the brassica family too, and thus should only be fed in moderation.
Also, make sure that fresh water is always available.
For the littlest ones I use the lids of tupperware lunch containers or the like. It is important that the container and the water level are VERY shallow to prevent drowning. About 5-7 mm water level are fine.

Good luck, Gaby

Cute little one Gaby. Looks to be a beauty.

Paul

... and what a cute baby!
mine's doing much better now as per today's vet check. ^_^