Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone know why my redfoot doesnt hardly ever come out of his hidebox? i mist it. he doesnt even come out to eat. he'll eat if i put him next to his food though. its about 90 degrees in hot spot about 8o in cold spot. can someone help.
thank you very much
dave

Hi Dave,

Well, you either have one of two issues that I can see. The first one is.....Maybe he is sick or has some internal parasites that need to be remedied. OR....yours could be like mine this time of the year and are just slowing way down on their eating. Redfoots don't hibernate/brumate, but I have noticed that mine and some friends have slowed way down and are alot less active. Reptiles can somehow pick up on photoperiods, temp changes, etc....They know what they are doing much more than we do...Even if they are kept under a 90F light. I'd still make sure you give him regular soakings as well......Good luck!!!

Barry

If this is a baby it is natural for them to hide. Mine did
this for about the first to six months. He is 1 1/2 years old
now and is always on the go. He is waiting at his rock that
I feed him on every morning like clockwork. I would look at
your ambient temp. The "basking spot" should be about 90
degrees but I would lower the overall gradient somewhat.
Peabody's habitat is about 80-82 ambient with his hide area
going down to about 70 degrees. I am assuming with a low end
of 80 degrees the ambient is above so it may be too warm.
Peabody is active all day but still visits his hide box at
night to cool down and sleep. Another suggestion is to make
sure he cannot see through his enclosure if you are using an
aquarium.

If nothing else, try lowering it and see what happens. I
would also soak him each day. I am betting you will get good
results.

Let us know what happens.
Linda

thank you for your help i just started soaking him daily i used to do it once a week. he is not able to see out of his cage its 5'x3' he never was. hes 6 inches long. but ill put him on a more regular schedule. please send me your schedule so i can verify. thanks Dave

Hi Dave,

The fact that he is 6" long and isn't active is a little
bothersome. I guess each tort is different but Peabody stopped
hiding a long time ago and he is only about 4.5" How old is
your RF? What I do is I soak Peabody on Sundays when I clean
and mist his mulch down. He only soaks about 5 minutes. The
other times I have a shallow plant saucer in his enclosure
so he can drink or soak at will. It is funny because while
I am doing his habitat(4'long,2'wide) he follows me in it
wanting me to pet him and give him something to eat. If your
RF will not come out of his hide the saucer will not work so
I would soak him for 5 minutes each morning before feeding him
and then put him in the warmer part of the enclosure.

Did you try decreasing the overall heat at all? I really
think that this could be the culprit as to why he is not
active. I think it is worth a try.

Linda