Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all, i've just recently acquired 2 juvenile redfoot. I've had them for a week now, and i am slightly worried about them. the cool end (where their hide is) is 78-80F ( during the day) and the hot end is high 80s. At night the temperature drops to 74F, but never below 70F. The thign that is worrying me is, my redfoot never come out of their hide. They don't come out to eat, bask and drink. I've read about this specie, and i've read that they drink alot. My ones don't even use the water dish being offered to them and i have never seen them drink. They don't come out of their hide to bask to optimum temperature, they just stay in their hide. Every day, i take them out of their hide and give them a 10 minute bath in luke warm water. After that i place them directly underneath the heatlammp (hot side) and then they stay there for around 3 minutes, then trot off. If food is in sight they'll go over and eat some, but after 10 minutes, they will retreat into their hide and never come out again.

It's worrying because they're not coming out to reach optimum temperature.

many thanks in advance
Chun

Redfoots are not really great baskers. If you look at their predominantly black carapace, their dark skin, small scales on their legs and big eyes, you know, why they are thermo conformers. Their dark color doesn't reflect much sun (only about 6%, as opposed to 35% for a desert species) and strong light is hard on their big eyes.
I personally keep mine with a pretty small gradient of 26 degrees Celsisus in the cool end and 32 degrees in the warm end, which corresponds to the tropical rain forest edge habitat type (as opposed to the savannah and Paraguay type, that goes higher and lower on both ends).
You are doing the right thing in keeping them well hydrated with frequent baths and offering them hiding places for security.
They will need some time to settle in.
A vet check might be in order to find out, if they carry parasites (fecal exam), which might be slowing them down and should be taken care of.

Good luck,
Gaby

Thanks, Gaby......I was experiancing the same problem as Chun.

THANKSSSSSSS, Cathe'

First, give them time to acclimate to their new environment. It can take some time for them to feel safe enough to come out and explore.

In the wild, until a Redfoot reaches 6" or so they hide 90-95% of the time. They also do a very good imitation of a Russian and will bury themselves if the substrate allows. This instinct can't be "bred" away.

As juvie's in the wild they rarely bask. They spend almost all of their time in the forest, so keeping a temp range of 75-95 is a good practice. Along with the temps keep the humidity in a 70-90% range as well. I keep our hide box temps from 70-75 (night time) to 80-85 (daytime). Humidity from one side of their enclosure to the other goes from 60% on the warmer savannah-like area to 75-90% on the darker forest-like area.

As for diet ours get a 50-60% fruit, 30-35% dark greens, and 5-10% protein, with all the proper supplementation. In the wild they consume from 50-70% fruit, based on season, and it's my belief (a belief only) by going with the higher fruit percentage as juvie's, along with the heat and higher humidity, you get smooth carapace growth due to the lower protein of fruit vs. greens and the heat and humidity factor.

I have three 3 year olds bought as hatchlings and they are now 15 centimeters each, weigh between 725-740 grams and look like a wild caught Redfoots, with perfectly solid and smooth carapaces.

Give them time, get the temp and humidity right and a good diet and you'll enjoy them for a long,long time.