I'm going to have to agree here. My Red-Foots have a dark hide kept in the low 90's, and the ambient temp in the rest of the enclosure is low 80's. I only have a small part of the enclosures lighted (and this helps keep up the temps), and I keep the humidity dripping. Yours really need higher temps.

As for eating... I had four girls that would not come out to eat for a very long time. I feed them based on Turtletary's feeding schedule - and I brought them out at the same time every day for their feeding and showed them the food. At first they'd run back and hide, then they started eating as long as I brought them out... it took two months of keeping in this schedule before all four of them started to come out and eat on their own!

So just keep up the schedule, and keep offering the healthy foods per turtletary.com 's schedule. They'll come around eventually!! They won't let themselves starve unless they are REALLY sick.

Also, do away with the forced soaking. Leave them an appropriately sized soaking dish and they'll do it on their own when they need... mine tend to soak at night when I'm sleeping; I know this because they're will be water splashed out, and substrate in the water, in the mornings!

Good luck!

Hi Robyn, I've read those about a thousand times

But thats not exactly my problem, but thanks

Gee.. maybe you need to follow what you've read 1000 times?

Everyone else that does.. has happy, healthy redfoots!

Exactly what is the problem???

Douglas.. how many hatchlings did you see on the plains of Venezuela?

My friend that was born in Venezuela tells me it seldom [ if ever ] gets as low as 80F!

And do you know [ or realize there is ] the difference between plant protein and animal protein?

Venezuela is a big place it seems, but it looks pretty hot and humid there.....Here is a listing of he temp's there.
http://www.wunderground.com/global/VN.html

Everything I have read (including your advice, madkins) says keeping the hot side between 85-90 which it is under the mercury vapor bulb. the shaded side where the hide is 80º during the day and may dip to 75º at night. so, tell me if this is wrong.

I was soaking the tortoises as per my breeders and a few other forum's advice to help them become more active- usually I just spray them several times a day.

These are my first tortoises and there is a LOT of information out there. I am doing as much research as I can and reading as many different opinions I can to do the best for the tortoises. Maybe you should just be helpful instead of be-rating me. Thanks.

I never keep water in my enclosures with babies, I am completely against that as an idea. Redfoots tend to sh*t in their water and then they or their cage mates will drink it. Soaks still the best way to go. Temps are fine, stop worrying about that. Lights are a whole different matter, they may in fact be too bright. I always offer a hide. This solves most problems. Best Douglas

First of all "A" nobody is 'be-rating' you.

Had you read [ and understood/followed ] the caresheets of ours.. you would realize you have it backwards. The reason I ask is that you have the lights/temps reversed!

It needs to be warm and humid in their "hide" / shaded 'half'. And never below 80 in the lighted area where they basically just eat.. not bask. This is explained.. and why.. on the caresheets we have created which has taken 5 years to develop.

"Most" of what 'madkins' said he got from our caresheet anyway.

And I would ask anyone that gives contradicting info how many hatchlings they have raised on "their" caresheets to become "proven" breeders.. and what the [ proven breeders' ] hatchlings look like as 3 year-olds.

{ I'm still waiting for answers from Douglas }

And a BIG concern with hatchlings is "de-hydration".. they need water available at all times! And since they eat their own.. and others' feces.. it matters not that they do 'poop' in their water-dish. So no water-dish is dangerous.

Forced-soakings is forced stress! The best way to get your [ normally inactive ] redfoot tortoise more active is to keep the temps up where they live. The link that terryo posted showed those temps.. the lower temps were from areas in the higher elevations where redfoots aren't normally found?

YES!.. continue to spray them every chance you get!

So if I wasn't trying to be helpfull I wouldn't be taking the time to post the info that I have. And you have already found that the more you "research" the more contradiction/opinions you find. My caresheets are based on facts and years of experience and hatching/starting over 200 redfoots to date.

For whatever all of this is worth...

Avocado034 try chopping the greens up in tiny bites, maybe even run through the food processor - then top with mashed up strawberry or bannana (almost like a jelly) I have yet to have a tort turn up the nose with this, when they go for the strawberry or bannana they will get the greens. Second try feeding them on the nonlighted side of the enclosure. Don't feed directly under the lights, try taking the mercury vapor bulb out and swaping for a heat emitter and a small wattage bulb. When setting up there habitat think about where they live in the wild - the rainforest warm, dark, damp, areas. As for water bowls, I have one in every enclosure I would rather them go to the "bathroom" in the water and keep there enclosures clean. I have no problem changing the water a couple times a day if need be. Hope the info helps.

This post was last modified: 04-29-2008 09:42 PM by jenrell23.

jen- THANK YOU- that was the answer I was looking for. I went out and bought a 15 watt light this morning. I am putting them outside for a few hours every day so I am not so concerned with the UVB now. (I live in New Orleans- hot, humid, and under a bush). I will try the food processing idea today

THANKS AGAIN!!

Wow Terry, I just thought that I would let you know that I have been keeping reptiles and rodents full time since 1992. I have not really kept count, but I would guess that I have hatched in excess of 400 sulcattas, 400 redfoots and 120 SriLankan stars. Plus others, forced saoking has not traumatized any of them. I will have second gen SriLankan hatchlings in one or two more years. Cheers Douglas