Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum. I have noticed that there seems to be a lot more red foot breeders in the US. Is there any reason we don't see more yellow foot breeders. I am interested in both of these species and was wondering if one tort as any particular advantage over the other one?
Thank you

While there seem to be quite some regional differences in the adult sizes, that Redfoots obtain, Yellowfoots generally grow bigger, which is a concern, if you are space limited.
Also, while Redfoots are found in a pretty wide variety of habitats, such as wet savannah (especially close to rainforests, that are inhabited by Yellowfoots,- they tend to not mix in nature), edges between rainforests and savannahs, rainforests per se and even pretty dry savannah habitats f.i. on some islands, Yellowfoots are a real rainforest species.
In terms of husbandry this means, that the ambient humidity for Yellowfoots should be in the 80% plus range and nighttime temps barely lower than daytime temps, while you can get away with lower humidity levels especially for adult Redfoots, as long as you provide humid hiding places.
There are probably more considerations, but the above might make it easier for many keepers to go with Redfoots.

Regards, Gaby

I'll agree with everything Gaby has said and add that I have a 2 1/2 year old Redfoot and just got a yellowfoot hatchling at the end of October. Chelsea (the yellowfoot) definitely requires a higher humidity level than Shellie (RF)...you can see a difference in her behavior if the humidity stays low. So, we have turned to a whole house humidifier for the tort room and both get to enjoy about 85% humidity.

I was told that yellowfoots are more delicate than redfoots when I got Chelsea...however, she is definitely more independent that Shellie was at that age (Chelsea is about 3 months old now). Shellie hid for the first two years of her life, as I read is normal for hatchlings. Chelsea could care less...she is unafraid of anything!

Good luck and if you need to, feel free to email me at bettis2003@comcast.net.

Stephanie

np