Recent content by Archelon

Awesome answers, all. No more "floor exercise". We will likely fall in the "gentle, not forced" handling camp as the idea of stress free vet interaction makes sense to me. Thanks everyone!

Good to know. I actually covered the top of their enclosure with plexiglass and I'm thinking about adding a mister. As it stands now, the glass is always covered with condensation and in the morning when the basking light comes on, the whole box fogs up. Humidity inside was around 30-40% before...

Nom Nom

Will do... Still working on the wife. I think suggesting the kids rooms is next, if I give her an alternative she truly doesn't like my other idea won't seem so bad...

It's 12". I have the lights hung on a solid stand 18" over the top of it. When I switch to a ceramic heat emitter, I will bring it closer. It's temporary anyway. I have a corner of our finished basement staked out to build a habitat, which will be 4' by 6&1/2', with walls on 3 sides. We have...

I am new to this, so please take my comments as coming from an experienced reptile keeper who has VERY LITTLE experience with the RF and YF torts we recently acquired. I emailed The Turtle Source over the Christmas break but never got a reply. I decided to call them directly and form an...

Hey All- Simple question- we got a yellow and a redfoot hatchling for my 7- and 10- year old kids to raise and enjoy. Kids are very tactile, mine very much so. I try to encourage them to think of time out of the habitat as "exercise time" where the torts are given space to roam, explore and get...

Thanks, we are very happy with them. They went in the cave last night at sundown and didn't come out today until the heat light came on. They both came out, ate, soaked a bit, messed the water and are now basking side by side right under the heat lamp. So far, so good.

That's good to know... How old do you suppose they need to be to tell definitively? I'm still thinking we might be right... The red has a very wide "V" notch and the tail is big, touching the back of the left leg. The yellow has a very narrow "U" notch and the tail is very short and thin...

The one I have is low, buried flush with the substrate. I woke to find the water dirtied so someone used the latrine! It's big enough to soak both at a time for now, but won't be forever. I can see why sharing space might cause problems. I've kept plenty of reptiles- enough to know that if one...

Yeah, after reading about moistening the substrate and firmly deciding to ignore the advice of the Turtle Supply people, we added a low terra cotta water dish buried level with the substrate. I will line the box with plastic and waterproof the new digs as well. I'll get working on that sooner...

Funny you say that- I already took note of Anyfoot and have gleaned some great pearls. I will start watching out more for ZEROPILOT who posted a welcome in this thread IIRC. I decided right away when I read that instruction that I would not be following it. Water is the most basic necessity for...

I made that obligatory run to Home Depot last night and picked up a piece of slate, some timers, low profile terra cotta plate for water, and some ceramic based high heat rated lamps. Also placed an order on Amazon for a couple of thermometer/ humistats, gun thermometer, some ceramic heater...

Hah! Had to laugh at myself here, quoting my own post so I can edit it... After more reading and browsing the red and yellow forum, I found Yvonne's Male? Female? Diagram. They have to swap names. It appears that we have a very outgoing yellow "Mona" and a curious but a bit more shy red...

Well, regardless of their actual sex, they have been named. My kids assumed the yellow is a boy because it's VERY outgoing and adventurous. Meet Leonardo: The red started out much more shy and reserved, and is so pretty that all have assumed it's a female. Meet Mona: Of course, in my...