Recent content by pawsplus

Beasley is "only" 22, but I know her exact hatchday, so at least I DO know her age for sure. :-).

They learn routine. My redfoot is out all day long from April - October, but I bring her in at night. It is not safe outside at night--even though she is fairly large, she is at risk from raccoons at the very least, and there are also bobcats and coyotes in my rural area. She comes in and...

Goodness. Sit in a chair and lift your legs up. Put them on the railing. This isn't brain surgery.

I agree. The tortoise feels unsafe and exposed. Baby torts spend most of their day hiding. Provide more places to hide.

They don't, though. Yellowfoots do. Redfoots are tortoises of the edges. They are usually found on the outskirts of forests, in the grassier, shrubbier area. This has been documented by, among others, the Vinkes.

What do you mean by 6 hours a day of visible light? It's otherwise dark? You want 10-12 hours of light. Not bright light--as forest torts, they don't like that. But light of some sort.

I still soak my redfoot (now 22) most days. Some days I get too busy, but I try to do it. She soaks in the bathtub these days.

Absolutely protect the tortoise. My dogs have zero access to my tortoise. I even put a wire and concrete barrier on their side of the common fence between their yard and Beasley's pen.

As I think was clear from my post, I was talking about what I did when Beasley was a baby. I got her in Oct but from the next Spring she was out as much as possible from April-Oct in a very secure enclosure.

I don't see how you can help that, as most torts are eventually going to get time in an outdoor enclosure. I find that every fall, Beasley takes a month or so to stop asking me to take her outside, as I do every AM from late April through early Oct. Whenever she sees me, she rushes over and...

Predators are not an issue if the person builds a safe enclosure and does not leave them out at night. I live in a humid, hot place and my tortoise was outside during much of the day from the spring after I got her in Oct. of 1998. She was safe and I feel good about her living a natural life and...

OK. Well, I treat mushrooms as a regular part of the diet. After all, they grow right non the ground, so are readily available pretty often to wild redfoots.

I am curious where folks got the information that mushrooms are high in protein. They really aren't, as far as I can tell. https://www.livestrong.com/article/556190-protein-content-in-mushrooms-vs-meat/

Assuming you can find an experienced reptile vet (and they do exist in larger cities), it is a good idea to at least establish a relationship with that vet prior to an emergency. Being an established client will get you in the door faster.

Every day is Christmas for my animals. 😁 So I don't really do anything differently on the day!