Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friends baby red foot is about 6 months old. It started getting soft on the belly at first and she was advised to saok it less and feed it more calcium. She added a soak bowl and stopped the manual baths but I don't know what changes she has made in the food. Now it is getting soft on the sides too. I reminded her that it needs calcium and calcium rich foods. I think she feeds it repcal pellets sometimes and greens and pumpkin but said it won't eat hay or grass. Any advice I can give her before this little guy gets real sick? Thanks!

Yes, calcium is most critical during the early stages of a tortoise's life. Redfoots are no exception. Make calcium freely available. With hatchlings, I usually leave cuttlebone about so that they may gnaw on it at will. Also, supplement their food with it every other meal. I usually sneak a vitamin supply along with calcium once per week in something attractive, like banana or soaked dry catfood. Redfoots don't eat hay or grass, as they don't have the intestinal fortitude to digest the massive amounts of silica. They will generally eat dandelion leaves, which are typically rich in calcium. Apricot is also naturally rich in calcium. I've also noticed redfoots enjoy prickly pear pads (spineless, ofcourse). My adults pull pads right from the plants in their enclosure. For hatchlings, puree the stuff with some apricot for a sweet, calcium rich treat, then supplement the treat with some RepCal. However, nothing is better at providing calcium than D3 from full spectrum lighting or sunlight. All of these combined should do the trick, lest it's too late.

T.G.

I suggest you give the little red-foot some un-filtered sunlight (if weather permits – put him outside in direct sunlight). Just make sure he can move to a cooler place.

The other option is to purchase a UVB light – I would go for a mercury vapor light. They are better than the fluorescent tubes – they produce heat and heat is important with D3 syntheses.

I keep yellow foots (Very similar to red foots and some say they are the same species) and I give them about 3-4 hours of UVB light each day. I increase that if I find their shell feels a little soft.

Also if you give Calcium - try some with D3 – Red foots get a lot of their D3 requirement from their diet. – Also cutlet fish is also good – it wares down their beak and is a great source of calcium.

Good luck

Go to Redfoots.com and look up the care sheets. Ask him (the breeder) some questions. He is very helpful. I have kept mine on his feeding schedule and he is growing and doing fine.

Has anyone ever heard of a genuine hybridization between a redfoot and yellowfoot? If not, they aren't the same species, and to the best of my knowledge, they aren't the same species. They inhabit different environments, though they may fill the same niche. Also, redfoots are hugely variable, from Venezuela to Argentina (that is a big space, with lots of room for local traits to develop in isolation; isolation promotes eventual speciation, so even redfoots can be divided into several categories, though no one has really studied this with any in depth genetic analysis, from what I've read).

T.G.

I am unable to find the article talking about differences between Red and Yellow foots – I found it about 4 years ago when I got my yellow foots – It was talking about the differences between the species.

On your question about hybrids (Yellow and Red foots). I am no expert – but when did a Yellow foot have red legs?
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=50&de=572461

For those who have trouble telling the difference between Red and Yellow foot Tortoise have a look at this site
http://www.chelonia.org/articles/Gdenticulatacare.htm

The article outlines how to identify a Yellow Foot Tortoise.

My personal opinion is they are totally difference species.

I've found alot of hatchling Tortoises go soft right before a growth spurt and suture back up afterwards. I'm raising a group of Burmese Blacks that do this more so than any other Tort I've kept. I'll start noticing them going soft about 3 weeks before any new growth; Once that 3 weeks go by, they'll go through a week of noticable scute growth and shell wrinkles, and after that they'll harden back up untill the process repeats. As long as the diet is within the right perimeters ( all my Torts are on Mazuri exclusively ) and you have a humid hide, what your seeing is normal. Just don't over supplement.

Buy a bottle of a calcium product called "Neocalglucon" from your local pharmacy. Add it to her soaking water. She will drink it and absorb some. Feed her extra dandelion leaves and kale, very high in calcium...

Take her to the vet to check off renal disease that could bring on shell rot and ulcers, and maybe get her a shot of calcium and vitamins.