Carl I'm trying to determine the facts.. so we can keep them straight. I guess now we have to figure out where is North and where is South! I've always considered the Amazon river as the North-South line. So I consider the E. Brazilian's as Southern! Whether that's right or wrong isn't the issue.. just what I've always heard.. so that's what I meant when I said you breed only "Southern's".

AND since we are talking about NOW.. and I'm as far North as I am [ 750 miles of you Carl ].. the seasons are different.. so my redfoots act different than yours. How far South of Guyana is Bahia?

Interesting how this has become a geography thread.. I thought we were talking about UVB? See what I meant about threads 10 feet deep? Have we established their needs.. NO! Like Mark said.. ".. it can't hurt.. ". AND we can't even agree on that!

And Jake is probably sitting there laughing at us that don't even know how to spell........... Bye!

(quote)
AND since we are talking about NOW.. and I'm as far North as I am [ 750 miles of you Carl ].. the seasons are different.. so my redfoots act different than yours. How far South of Guyana is Bahia?

Um, I think my point has been missed........
Terry, it is IRRELEVANT where you or I live or what our seasons are.
The point I was trying to make was that wild redfoots tortoises, REGARDLESS of what population they are from, actively seek out and and bask in natural sunlight. As I mentioned, in my mind this means that there is obviously a reason for this behavior besides simple thermoregulation.
Also, if you recall, my original point was to correct the erroneous statements that redfoots are 'jungle' animals that lives in places that are covered in deep shade and therefore do not require or want sunlight. I felt this needed to corrected as it gives a very distorted view of the kind of habitat they come from.
A redfoot living in Tennessee, Florida or ANTARCTICA (!) is still a redfoot tortoise with the same requirements. The redfoots I have kept have been from all over the species' range--from the Caribbean, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana, E.Brazil, and Bolivia. But as I mentioned, they have ALL acted the same when it comes to basking behavior.
I get the impression that some feel that hatchling or young redfoots do not need natural or artificially provided sunlight for their well-being. This might be true of very young hatchlings that are naturally cryptic and spend much of their time hiding. However, soon they begin to bask as adults do. I know that mine do so pretty much from a month old on. In addition, while you may not provide UVB or natural sunlight for your very young animals, at SOME point you do as when they are large enough to go into your outdoor pens. Correct?
Lastly, when it comes to artificial lighting such as the commercial UVBs I would be very careful with them even though I would use them if I had too. For example, there are some very expensive, high output bulbs that are used for marine aquarium reef tanks. Of course these would be unsafe for the tortoises. And, as somebody already stated, many of the commercially available bulbs are entirely too powerful. You have to use common sense.

Oh yeah, please excuse my spelling, punctuation and grammer.

Ok, I have been following this thread and although I know little or nothing about RFs I have found if quite interesting. But now I have to chime in. Please let’s not get into spelling, punctuation and grammar or I won't be able to communicate on this forum any more. I am probably one of the worst around. If it wasn't for spell checks and thesauruses I couldn’t communicate at all.

I wasn't referring to Carl.. he knows how to spell Colombia [ South America ] and knows the difference between animal protein and plant protein...

Robyn what's that dinasore got to do with spelling & communicating?

Ok guys thanks for all the info, now... Who wants to give me a redfoot lol Seriously though, keep it lighthearted.

This post was last modified: 04-18-2008 09:18 PM by livelycorpse.

Ok guys thanks for all the info, now... Who wants to give me a redfoot lol Seriously though, keep it lighthearted.

Just curious, Livelycorpse, where are you located?

Yvonne

I am located in Toronto, Ontario Yvonne, why do you ask?

Jake.

Redfoot NERD, You know they are the ones that started the whole communication thing??