BOLIVIAN Redfoot - rare Giants

cdmay

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
1,945
Location (City and/or State)
Somewhere in Florida
Still here,I'm always in the background Terry, Taking note and Gathering information.
Do we know if Bolivians still get exported out of Bolivia to anywhere in the world?
I doubt it, Bolivia is heavily protected.
Keep this fact in mind too....many of the "Bolivian " tortoises here in the United States are actually Paraguayan. It's the same giant Chaco type (species in my book) but Paraguay let out a bunch of their giants some years after Bolivia did. Most breeders simply refer to them all as Bolivian. The record size for them (all red footed tortoises) comes from a gigantic male in Paraguay. I think he's some 52 cm? I'll have to check...
 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
JUST CAME IN -- @Anyfoot ~~ our breeder mentioned that "on the average" virtually every Bolivian ADULT tortoise that he saw and has now.. are the same! No reason to think that they were collected ( in the wild ) from a vast region.. so he believes they all came from a relatively small area in Bolivia [ no place else ] - so any extreme differences do not apply to this "blood-line" in this thread! These pics were taken August 26, 2017.

All 3 of these are of the original ADULT stock that came in ... in the shipment in 1982 -- which makes them all at least 60++ years old!!!

That's a size 12 foot ~ next to this "standard/typical/average Adult MALE Bolivian redfoot tortoise.. NO HOUR-GLASS WAIST -



That is water in his belly!!!



Most likely even older male with deceiving rear marginal-skirt ..



And another 'original' "senior citizen" MALE - [ had a tree fall on him ] -



Again these are all the same size !!!

Carl posted while I was editing pics, etc. - this post is not in contradiction to what he said -- this is the info passed on to me from the breeder that produced the original 4 shown...
 
Last edited:

Anyfoot

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
6,309
Location (City and/or State)
UK Sheffield
The mysterious redfoot just never gets boring.
Those adult photos from your breeder look awesome. The first one doesn't have a solid colored head either. All seem to have grown quite a bit in captivity too, for a WC that 3rd photo has shocked me with the shape of the scutes.

I have that book Terry and still not had time to read it, will start the read tonight.

Am I understanding this correctly. The 50.5cm(20" SCL) Carbonaria that is in Paramaribo zoo(Suriname) was actually WC from Albane- Kreek in Suriname. This 20" redfoot is actually a northern and not a Bolivian.
Is that correct?????
 

cdmay

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
1,945
Location (City and/or State)
Somewhere in Florida
The mysterious redfoot just never gets boring.
Those adult photos from your breeder look awesome. The first one doesn't have a solid colored head either. All seem to have grown quite a bit in captivity too, for a WC that 3rd photo has shocked me with the shape of the scutes.

I have that book Terry and still not had time to read it, will start the read tonight.

Am I understanding this correctly. The 50.5cm(20" SCL) Carbonaria that is in Paramaribo zoo(Suriname) was actually WC from Albane- Kreek in Suriname. This 20" redfoot is actually a northern and not a Bolivian.
Is that correct?????

Anyfoot, that is correct. When Pritchard was compiling the information for Turtles of Venezuela (1979 to about 1984 I think) that tortoise was the largest red-foot known to science. I've seen a number of very large Suriname captives over the years that are easily 17 or more inches in length so I would say that for the northern types, these are the largest.
Since Pritchard published TOV at least one larger animal has been recorded. This is a male Paraguayan tortoise that was measured at the Filadelfia Zoo in Paraguay in January of 1999.
The straight line carapace measurement was 59.5 (23+ inches) and he weighed 28 kg. His carapace is also highly domed and measured 75.2 cm over the curve.
That's a big red foot.
 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
Then @Anyfoot - got a new camera - and one of those "Orange?" ones landed here.. oh well ( hahahahahaha )



AND then [ according to the breeder ] " .. had not seen a hatchling carapace like that in any of the Bolivians I've hatched.. "
I think the head-patterns are kinda nice also..





How 'bout these legs???

 

Anyfoot

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
6,309
Location (City and/or State)
UK Sheffield
Very nice Terry. It will be interesting to see how these develope.
How old are they now. I notice they still have the egg tooth.
 

MountainFox

Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
63
Location (City and/or State)
Raleigh, NC
So many awesome photos in this thread! I’m really enjoying the conversation and history/backstory of these super-sized Redfoots. I’m a novice owner, and it’s only been in the last year that I became fascinated (obsessed?) with Redfoots. Getting to read posts referencing decade old articles and photos of each other’s torts is such a fun way to learn more about the history of this subspecies. I’m a curious nerd about so many things, I feel like I have found my people!
 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
Very nice Terry. It will be interesting to see how these develope.
How old are they now. I notice they still have the egg tooth.

Actually what you see on the end of their beak is the tip of the egg-tooth .. the beak is complete now.
They are at least 2 months old.
 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
Well gang - I've had the "Yellow" Colombian's .. the "Clown-face" Venezuelan's .. the "Yellow-Red-Orange" Guyana-Suriname and the "RED" Brazilian's and have hatched every color imaginable. But NONE can match these Bolivian in colors / patterns and overall characteristics that last until and thru old age!!!
 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
How about 'mid-range' ( from the breeder ) ... 10" - 11" SCL... [ not quite as 'Yellow' on head as might appear ]

 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
AND you can only imagine .. to go out to check on everybody last summer and found this -





First nest EVER! None fertile -

 

Redfoot NERD

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
3,666
Location (City and/or State)
Tennessee
Bubbles - female @Pearly - she is in a trance.. while digging!









I created a new "Album" on Photobucket and it broke the links...
 

o.singer1972

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2020
Messages
29
Location (City and/or State)
Stow
Will I was able to - after 18 months of relentless searching - finally able to deal with the breeder directly... that was there in Miami when they came in... that was in 1982 . Reportedly the only importation (?) !

Other than the consistent / common 'tight' head-pattern and 'blotches' on the carapace.. as stated prior .. mainly the "peach" colors - seldom 'red' - no wasp-waist on males and virtually dark plastron on the "main-land" locale. [ Some claim they have individuals with marbling on plastron - I have to believe those are from the extreme Northern region of Bolivia where Brazil touches - see what that could create!? ]
And of course the typical 18+" scl of mature adults!

The 4 shown here are from a few I was able to acquire from the aforementioned breeder - they are my "keepers" obviously.

My 2008 hatched female - typical 'peach' colors and dark plastron - current 9" scl. I did not start her.. acquired her summer 2015.





As far as where you may acquire this locale Will ? There may be a few hatchlings available around the first of the year. I don't know how this forum does "private messages" so just email me -- [email protected]
So, Bolivian are dark below, larger adults snd no Wasp waist? I rescued a huge Redfoot I would say closer to 30 pounds. I will take pics tomorrow. So far I am more familiar with tge Northerns like Navi in the pic
 

Attachments

  • 100549390_10158793161126844_7537844123340898304_o (1).jpg
    100549390_10158793161126844_7537844123340898304_o (1).jpg
    109.9 KB · Views: 12
Top