Great post Yvonne. I hate to see anyone discourage someone from getting a particular tort species. (other than I really dont think Sulcatas belong here in the northern climates since they are so hard to house as large adults in the winter time here) Ive seen plenty of folks keep Redfoots successfully in Southern California. Plenty of Leopards are kept successfully in Florida which is a high humidity area and do just fine.

Yvonne/JustAnja-thanks for the encouragment. I think I figured things out. At the end of the area on the side of my house that I want to keep the redfoot there is a large electrical panel that has all the fuse boxes and sprinkler systems and all that good stuff. well, as it turns out, there is an outlet there and there are 2 available outlets that is currently not being used. I dont know why I didnt catch it earlier, but Im really excited. This electrical "panel" extends about 2 feet out from the side of my house, is about 5 feet in length and about 3 feet off the ground. So what I was thinking I can do is build an outdoor nighttime enclosure underneath the panel, and run the heat lamp directly from the outlet below to the enclosure. I wouldnt have to use extension cords, I can plug it in directly to the outlet. Now its just a matter and contructing an enclosure that would work well underneath this panel. Perhaps the overal climate of southern california is not ideally suited for redfoots, however, through my research, I am confident that the setup that I am planning would make a redfoot very happy. I will try to post some pics of my progress, and thanks again to everybody for your feedback and help.

Nerses

Hi Nerses: Sounds like you've got it made then! One thing to consider about your sprinklers if you change your mind about a desert species: If you unscrew the sprinkler, you can remove it and replace the sprinkler with a cap. They sell them in any hardware or nursery store. A lot cheaper than a plumber.

Yvonne

Yvonne, thats great advice, thanks again. I might rethink getting desert torts when I have an area that is dry and gets more sunshine. Also, I think I found the place to get my adult redfoot, http://www.tortugavilla.com, the guys name is Paul and he is a super nice and very educated guy. He has a 12 inch male on hold for me until I contruct the nighttime habitat.

Nerses

I started a new thread on extension cords here: http://tortoiseforum.org/extension-cords-t-1210.html

Yvonne

. Also, I think I found the place to get my adult redfoot, http://www.tortugavilla.com, the guys name is Paul and he is a super nice and very educated guy.

Nerses
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I looked around his web site and was impressed with his clean set up and healthy-looking animals. My only wish is that people would curtail the breeding of sulcata a bit. It seems to be working for him, though.

Yvonne

Very nice that you can get one locally there Nerses. Please do keep us posted on progress and of course post pics of the setup and the tort when you get him in!

I looked around his web site and was impressed with his clean set up and healthy-looking animals. My only wish is that people would curtail the breeding of sulcata a bit. It seems to be working for him, though.

Yvonne
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Yeah I agree that the breeding of sulcata's needs to be averted. He said more and more people are getting educated on redfoots thus he has been concentrating more on that. Im going to Cancun in a couple weeks for 10 days, so when I return I am going to pay him a visit and pick up the tort, he is about 30 miles from me. his setup really does look clean. he also gave me some good advice on how to constuct the nightime hide in particular to the redfoot Im getting so that his transition can be smooth.

Nerses

Will do JustAnja...there are a few breeders here locally, but I found that this particular breeder has the cleanest and most thought out setup, not to mention he has kept and bred torts for a long time. Im excited about the tort and will definately post pics of everything I have done, it sure beats me trying to explain everything, which I dont think Im all that good at.