Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

I was given a female red foot tortoise by my friend. She is about 9" long. My husband and I are thinking of getting her a fellow red foot for company. We live in south florida and she lives outside on our patio. She has a free run with access to her tree and plants as well as her very own 2" deep swimming pool. We are considering trying to breed her eventually once we move into our new house. How big should her new friend be? I have been reading on the web about breeding redfoots (or is it redfeet?) and some of the sites say that it takes two males competing for one female for them to get romantic. Are the males usually bigger than the females? Is this true? Should I be looking for two males? Any suggestion on where to find a reputable breeder? Thanks.

Allegra

We purchased a small female RF (~6" SCL) for future breeding prospects with a male (~9" SCL) that my girlfriend has had. He began his courtship, without competition, shortly thereafter and has not stopped since. She is far too small to breed but that doesn't stop him from sweet talking... As she generally ignores his advances without so much as a head-waggle reply he has taken to romancing everything that moves! Our feet, my girlfriend's English Bull Dog...anything is fair game.

Although competition is sometimes needed to spur breeding behavior it is not necessarily required. Start with one male approximately the same size as the female. If no 'activity' is noted after the following spring/summer you may want to consider a second male (and female and then another female and then another male and... uh, sorry, got carried away!).

There is one other consideration you may want to take into account. Being a 'purist' I try to acquire animals from the same regions for breeding purposes. In other words, we purchased a Venezuelan female for the Venezuelan male.

HTH,

Art

Dear Art,

Thanks for the advice. Can you tell where the redfoot originated from based on looking at them? My friend has no clue which country she is from. What is the differences between the two types of redfoots? Thanks.

Allegra

Hi Allegra,

Unfortunately no or at least not accurately. Their natural range encompasses a great deal of northern South America as well as several southern Caribbean islands.

Although some localities have certain morphological characteristics (i.e. some Barbados origin are 'anerythristic') they are not absolute indicators.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help...

Art