Red foot outdoor enclosure location

Ivyna J. Spyder

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Now that my girl is big enough, I feel safe in giving her an outdoor enclosure for the warmer months.

I'm mostly just not sure where to put it, in terms of how much sun different parts of my yard get.

The back of my house faces southwest, so it gets little sun in the morning and a lot in the afternoon-evening.

Close to the house is in shade in the morning, but very sunny the rest of the day.

Further away from the house there's a lot of tall trees, so it really only gets sun in the morning, and is in shade the rest of the day.

Close to the house was my first pick, for convenience and because the ground is flatter and will be easier to set up fencing. Can I just add lots of extra shade to account for the afternoon sun?

Or would it be safer to keep her in the shady part of the yard without direct sunlight?
 

Toddrickfl1

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I think anywhere will work really. You can always add shade spots after you build it by adding plants, or covering sections with wood. I'll think you'll find that you Redfoot will avoid direct sunlight and prefer the shade 90% of the time anyway. Atleast mine does when he's outside.
 

mark1

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while I haven't kept tortoises for quite some time , I keep eastern box turtles exactly like I kept the redfoots when outside , the eastern act exactly the same , they do love sun , they just love cover too …...personally I found redfoots remind me , almost identically , of eastern box turtles in their habits outside …….. I kept quite few redfoots that would spend their summers in my parents backyard , they would bask to warm up , under the cover of the day lilies on the south facing edge , exposed to sunlight but under cover , they actually pretty much lived along the fence line in the daylilies and weeds.... they spent a lot of time on the sunny edges ………. I do believe indoors if they needed a basking lamp to obtain an optimal temp given cover they'd use it , without cover they may opt for a less than optimal temp …….. during the cold months they were kept in a separately heated room with water turtles , the room was kept in the 80's and pretty humid from all the water along with a humidifier …. light was just standard fluorescents , uvb wasn't a thought at the time ……. they didn't pyramid . when I first became aware of pyramiding being abnormal I figured they were , along with the elongated tortoises I kept , just species who didn't pyramid ……. I have since seen some grotesquely pyramided redfoots , which lead me to believe basking lights are a part of the cause , which makes sense given the keratin drying theory … I wouldn't underestimate their affinity for the sun ……..
 

Ivyna J. Spyder

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Thanks for the replies!

I am leaning toward the sunnier spot, since I was also thinking about what sorts of plants I want, like hibiscus, which need full sun. Keeping it in a shadier place would probably limit what plants would grow well there... Always easier to add shade then to take it away!

And yeah I had some light pyramiding early on with her until I figured out the husbandry issues (Mistkings are amazing) She does love her basking spot in the morning tho, I might have to set up something outdoor heat light for the cooler summer mornings. Though I will proooobably take her in at night, at least at first til I am less paranoid lol.

Does anyone have something like timed sprinklers outdoors for their red foots? Or maybe a light spraying with the hose in the morning and evening would be enough?
 

Toddrickfl1

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Thanks for the replies!

I am leaning toward the sunnier spot, since I was also thinking about what sorts of plants I want, like hibiscus, which need full sun. Keeping it in a shadier place would probably limit what plants would grow well there... Always easier to add shade then to take it away!

And yeah I had some light pyramiding early on with her until I figured out the husbandry issues (Mistkings are amazing) She does love her basking spot in the morning tho, I might have to set up something outdoor heat light for the cooler summer mornings. Though I will proooobably take her in at night, at least at first til I am less paranoid lol.

Does anyone have something like timed sprinklers outdoors for their red foots? Or maybe a light spraying with the hose in the morning and evening would be enough?
I put my RF out in the morning, then he comes inside in the evening. I'm too paranoid to leave him out at nighttime. When I'm home during the day I spray down the outdoor pen with the hose every couple hrs, or just once in the morning when I'm not home during the day. I'm in GA though where the humidity stays high a lot, so the pen stays moist longer.
 

Pearly

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Mine are 3 yrs old 10&11” and 6.5. &7.5 lbs. I still bring them inside at night, but they will be moving out to their garden 24/7 before this Summer ends. We are getting their new climate conttolled home built for them where I will be locking them up for the night. Their garden faces East and it’s adjacent to the house, but I am preparing to extend it, going around the South side of the house which in my yard happens to be pretty well shaded under the trees, so they will be able to choose where they want to go. Try to give yours options of few different microclimates.
 

ZEROPILOT

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I keep mine in a pen attached to the South side of my house.
It gets partial sunlight most of the day. And ANYTIME it is sunny, they will remain hidden.
They like warmth, for sure. But stay out of the direct sun almost always.
If your enclosure will receive a lot of direct sun, make sure to provide lots of shady spots. Lots of cover and some cool, shallow ponds also placed in the shade.
Small water pools get crazy hot sitting in sunlight and Redfoot love to get into the water.
 

Ivyna J. Spyder

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Got the bones down :) It's 5' x 15'

Next I'll be finding stuff to plant and getting some big clay saucers for water.

I was thinking it might be fun to put a trellis over part of it and grow some sort of vines she can eat...
 

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