Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased this beauty nine months ago or so. I chose it due to the large amount of white markings on the shell. I thought it could possibly be due to a poor diet. During the last nine months on what I consider to be an awesome diet (kale, collard, spinach, sweet peppers, broccolii, zuchinni, various beans, the occasional fruit, etc. dusted with a tortoise dietary suppliment), the white markings continue to grow. I have only been able to find one other like her, a picture in an old "Reptile Hobbyist" mag. It mentioned nothing about the odd coloration and it wasn't a cherryhead. Has anyone else seen this before? If so, was it genetic.

Someone (EJ, perhaps?) had redfoots for sale a few years ago with similar markings. I does appear to be genetic.

That is a common trait of this race of redfoots. The white areas (called 'marbling' by keepers) vary from specimen to specimen. Some have none while others have quite a bit. Much of the white turns black as the animal grows and is exposed to sunlight. But in some cherryheads it remains. It is not a piebald mutation though. If it were, the head and legs would also have stark white patches.

I'm not a turtle keeper, but aren't spinach and broccoli things to bed fed only occasionally?