Recent content by lovingthelakes

Maybe you will have better luck then I did. I tried a couple of times with the safe-to-eat plants, but have come to accept that mine finds a lot of joy in walking through the plants & has ended up trampling all of them no matter where they were in the enclosure. I initially had them in the...

We found that a great protein option our redfoot loves is the occasional diced up boiled egg. Easy to make/provide & significantly less gross than pinkies.

Agree that enrichment opportunities are great to provide in addition to proper care. That’s why the professional zoologists do it at zoos. I haven’t done the food ball, but did get a tiny dog toy for rolling around…as mine loves to “bulldoze” things. It’s from the KONG brand it’s made to be...

I’m in Michigan & soaking mine daily. With the heatwave I’ve found him returning to his shallow pond on his own to soak more during the day as well. We’ve started changing the water twice a day instead of daily to keep up with keeping it clean for drinking.

This news article just popped up that an animal shelter is looking for this tortoise’s owner: https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/missing-a-large-tortoise-shelter-searching-for-owner-after-skateboarders-find-one/

Beautifully done. I live in the middle of the lower peninsula. We have a significant number of busy squirrels here. It’s my first year with being a tortoise parent & was figuring I would need to do a fully enclosed outdoor enclosure for safety. Do you find squirrels go in the enclosure with...

We have an indoor, open-top habitat that we easily keep the humidity in the 80’s by running a large humidifier in the general room (separate from the habitat) to keep our overall home humidity up, which in turn provides the added humidity boost for the habitat. We live in Michigan, so humidity...

I found the soil recommendation from several comments in this forum. I figured they were correct if in nature RFs live in the forest. I only use packaged, certified organic top soil to help make sure it’s “clean” dirt. I have removed the moss from my enclosures. I haven’t had a problem with...

This is the one I got for the habitat. I ordered it from Amazon & like it for the easy to position tubing for directing where the “fog” comes out of, as well as the large tank (lasts all day on low). I have some plants in there that are by a centralized wall (that are safe for RF to eat...

Thank you for the feedback. Will be removing it. So far mine hasn’t tried eating it. Just likes to play with it by pushing it around like he’s a bulldozer & burrowing into it to use it as a blanket for naps.

A fairly new RF caretaker here too (about 6 months now). I went with a 50/50 mix of coconut coir & organic top soil (no gardening additives), then topped it with a thin layer of bark & have some sphagnum moss in his “moss cave”. So far, so good without any bugs. I was initially trying to help...

Thank you so much for putting this forum together! I’ve received & found so much conflicting information. It’s a relief to finally have information from those who really know & care for red foot tortoises.