Good afternoon, My mother has 2 adult Red foots about 10 and 12 years old. Me and my fiance were at her house 2 days ago for my fiance was working on her deck. My moms red foots live in their own garden in the back yard. My fiance found a lil baby. My mom let us have him. He is so tiny bout 1 1/2"s. We don't know when he might have hatched and it was pretty cold out for s. Fl. 40 degrees when the sun went down. So that's the back story on my lil guy, now here's my questions. I've had him home for these last 2 days, he hasn't ate. I've read to put him in a lil warm water to soak for a few but his shell is still soft. Do I still let him soak? He dosnt seem to move his right back leg. I am headed to pet store in a couple hours, what are the most important things I need to set him up? I did soak him for bout 5 mins hoping he would drink but he didn't. He is my first tortoise and the only experience I have us with my moms who were 3 and 5 years when she got them and they have always lived in they're back yard garden. I obviously can't do that with mine right now so I want to make sure I get this right. Currently he is in an unused kitty litter box filled with shredded paper from the shredder. If someone could give me a sort of red foot tortoise shopping list it would be very helpful. I've been researching for a couple of days but csnt find anything specifically for my possibly 4 day old to maybe a week and half old tortoise. So far I have tried to feed him flowers from his parents garden, broccoli, strawberry, kale, and a pice of apple but he hasn't ate it. Thanks in advance for help and advice. And sorry for the short novel I have written.
Baby Red Foot, I need some advice!
- Thread starter aczlvr
- Start date
Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
I've taken some excerpts from a care sheet made up by Vicki at The Tortoise Yard. She raises some spectacular redfoot tortoises and had great-looking pens/habitats.
"Hatchling enclosure:
A large cement mixing tub, a Rubbermaid Holiday tree tote, an under the bed storage bin, or gift wrap tote make excellent indoor enclosures for hatchlings. You want the enclosure to have a lot of floor space and low walls so that the tort has room to roam around and the enclosure has good air flow. If you tilt the pen so that the BASKING end is 1†to 2†lower than the cool end, you will be able to pour warm water into the pen, creating a very wet (boggy) area in the low/warm end, without soaking the entire pen. This will help to increase the humidity within the pen as the water evaporates under the basking lamp. Just remember that it is the WARM/BASKING end of the pen that can be kept wet, NOT the cool end of the pen. A shallow dish of fresh water should be available at all times."
and from redfoottortoise.com:
"Redfoot tortoises are omnivorous. They consume both animal and plant material in the wild.
GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that redfoot tortoises readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food. So, I have this section as a starting point for a varied diet. The following greens are easily found in my local stores:
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Chicory
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (on occasion)
VEGETABLES
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Winter squash
Pumpkin
Carrots (on occasion)
Green Beans (on occasion)
FRUIT
Papaya
Mangos
Apples (be sure there are no seeds)
Strawberries
Blackberries
Cactus fruit
Tomatoes
OTHER GOOD CHOICES
Some other favorites of my tortoises that are available:
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Opuntia cactus pads
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia
Make sure all are pesticide and herbicide free.
MEAT etc.
In the wild redfoot tortoises eat a variety of animal matter including carrion. Redfoot tortoises fed exclusively a plant based diet frequently develop hind leg paralysis. They also have low fertility and hatchlings often fail to thrive. It is often recommended to feed them low fat cat food as often as every other feeding. I have found this to be unnecessary and a contributing factor in pyramiding.
My approach is to feed pre-killed pinkies (new born mice), shrimp, chicken, organ meat, boiled eggs etc. once a month when outside. Here in South Carolina there is an abundance of worms, slugs, pill bugs and other bugs in their pen. My tortoises feed on them on a regular basis. In the winter bugs are less plentiful so I feed animal protein every other week
For the torts I keep indoors over the winter, I also feed Butterworms (extremely high in calcium and great for hatchlings) and superworms.
With the above one can develop a good diet. Once again (and I can't stress this enough) variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days."
So, get your new baby off of the paper substrate, get him a bigger tub and set it up like Vicki shows us in the first paragraph.
How warm do you have your baby. Without the proper warmth, baby tortoises don't eat.
I've taken some excerpts from a care sheet made up by Vicki at The Tortoise Yard. She raises some spectacular redfoot tortoises and had great-looking pens/habitats.
"Hatchling enclosure:
A large cement mixing tub, a Rubbermaid Holiday tree tote, an under the bed storage bin, or gift wrap tote make excellent indoor enclosures for hatchlings. You want the enclosure to have a lot of floor space and low walls so that the tort has room to roam around and the enclosure has good air flow. If you tilt the pen so that the BASKING end is 1†to 2†lower than the cool end, you will be able to pour warm water into the pen, creating a very wet (boggy) area in the low/warm end, without soaking the entire pen. This will help to increase the humidity within the pen as the water evaporates under the basking lamp. Just remember that it is the WARM/BASKING end of the pen that can be kept wet, NOT the cool end of the pen. A shallow dish of fresh water should be available at all times."
and from redfoottortoise.com:
"Redfoot tortoises are omnivorous. They consume both animal and plant material in the wild.
GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that redfoot tortoises readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food. So, I have this section as a starting point for a varied diet. The following greens are easily found in my local stores:
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Chicory
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (on occasion)
VEGETABLES
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Winter squash
Pumpkin
Carrots (on occasion)
Green Beans (on occasion)
FRUIT
Papaya
Mangos
Apples (be sure there are no seeds)
Strawberries
Blackberries
Cactus fruit
Tomatoes
OTHER GOOD CHOICES
Some other favorites of my tortoises that are available:
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Opuntia cactus pads
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia
Make sure all are pesticide and herbicide free.
MEAT etc.
In the wild redfoot tortoises eat a variety of animal matter including carrion. Redfoot tortoises fed exclusively a plant based diet frequently develop hind leg paralysis. They also have low fertility and hatchlings often fail to thrive. It is often recommended to feed them low fat cat food as often as every other feeding. I have found this to be unnecessary and a contributing factor in pyramiding.
My approach is to feed pre-killed pinkies (new born mice), shrimp, chicken, organ meat, boiled eggs etc. once a month when outside. Here in South Carolina there is an abundance of worms, slugs, pill bugs and other bugs in their pen. My tortoises feed on them on a regular basis. In the winter bugs are less plentiful so I feed animal protein every other week
For the torts I keep indoors over the winter, I also feed Butterworms (extremely high in calcium and great for hatchlings) and superworms.
With the above one can develop a good diet. Once again (and I can't stress this enough) variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days."
So, get your new baby off of the paper substrate, get him a bigger tub and set it up like Vicki shows us in the first paragraph.
How warm do you have your baby. Without the proper warmth, baby tortoises don't eat.
I'm thinking he's pretty bad off make him a sleeping bag out of damp paper towels in a baggy and put him in your top pocket,let him feel the warmth of your body and press him to your chest now and then,wish life into him from your soul.when you touch him he should not feel cold.the warmth ,movement and slight pressure should spark his instinct to live ,to move is to live .throw out the box and news papers for now .get him alive .is his you'll sack visible?,and there may be more hatchlings.....I can't tell you how many baby's have survived ,came back to live by being put down my shirt or in my pockets ,I think for some it's like a rebirth,or swaddling with few pressure points....and a little magic.......
There's a lot to what Edward says. My sister used to carry her sick hatchlings around with her until they started eating on their own. She noticed that they would just sit there and not move, so she would just pick them up (usually one was sick at a time), so pick IT up and do her house work or whatever while she carried the baby around. Her thinking was to not allow the baby to just sit there and do nothing but think about dying.
@Edward, his yolk sac is gone. He didn't have it when he was found. The parents have a small gate so they don't exit they're garden but baby was found on otherside. He crawled through flower shaped wholes into the more grassy side bout 3-4 feet away. Perhaps it could have rubbed off quickly. Not sure when he hatched and can't find anything online for me to help determine his age.
As far as carrying him around in pocket is it ok for him to spend so much time in an upright position and not on his belly? Do I continue to soak him in the warm water? For how long? I've read so many different type of substrates, what would be ideal for my newborn? I really want this babe to survive and will do anything possible. Should I put a heating pad under him? Today I put him in fold of dish towel hoping to keep him warm, should I wet it? He did poop in his towel I noticed and cleaned it and put a new one. Also how long should I leave his food before replacing with fresh supply?
As far as carrying him around in pocket is it ok for him to spend so much time in an upright position and not on his belly? Do I continue to soak him in the warm water? For how long? I've read so many different type of substrates, what would be ideal for my newborn? I really want this babe to survive and will do anything possible. Should I put a heating pad under him? Today I put him in fold of dish towel hoping to keep him warm, should I wet it? He did poop in his towel I noticed and cleaned it and put a new one. Also how long should I leave his food before replacing with fresh supply?
If that little guy was out in the 40 degree weather at night he is lucky to have survived. Get some sphagnum moss for his substrate if his belly has healed. Make sure the moss is at least a couple inches thick so he can burrow down into the moisture. Keep it moist and keep the humidity up and keep him warm. If his body has experienced 40 degree temps thats probably why he doesnt want to eat. A live moving small earth worm might be good to get his attention. If you can give him some supervised time in the sun that might be good to. keep him warm, you might want to look for some more babies
yvonne ,you brought a tear to my eye,i was thinking you all would think i was crazy....yes anything but sit there and think about dying,i think feeling the movement inspiers the babys cells to remember to live,feeds the spirt...thank you girl friend your made of good stuff ,kiss your sister for me to,love ya,e.....or maybe it gets some blood to move a bit ,but it does work more often than not.......where were you girls when i was looking for a wife,i ended up with a mixture of sophia loren,kim kardashian,anna nicole and a big scoop of peg bundy......
I hope this baby survives too. Poor thing.
Wonder what it was eating while in your parents yard. I would make a finely chopped salad of a mixture of greens. Include some cucumber which is generally relished by torts. Spring mix too. Plus try some cooked sweet potato.
What temperature are you keeping this baby at? It must be over 80 degrees at all times. At this point I wouldnt let it drop below 85. Especially if moisture and humidity is involved.
Wonder what it was eating while in your parents yard. I would make a finely chopped salad of a mixture of greens. Include some cucumber which is generally relished by torts. Spring mix too. Plus try some cooked sweet potato.
What temperature are you keeping this baby at? It must be over 80 degrees at all times. At this point I wouldnt let it drop below 85. Especially if moisture and humidity is involved.
yes ,yes ,yes ,keep that tort moist,dampen the towels.great news if he went to the bath room !!!! that means his organs are working,hes alive,yea!...if you look at his bottom shell there is a belly button of sorts,im guesing that is closed,still soft but closed. he will be ok,i think youve stableized him,hes tiny ,does he move,if hes moving you may notice an interest in food ,others may not agree but a small bit of ripe pear apple or soft banana.soft and sweet.creat a bump in his insulin,that might give him the streanth and desire to eat some more mundane tort food.i think your over the hill,youve got a friend ,now to make a home for him its easy ,as elaborate as you and you wallet want to go,think cyperus mulch ,a nest of warm moist spagnum,the rest will fall into place.its amazing how reziliant babys can be,congradulations and welcome to the forum,you might just grow a warm spot for us, this group of motly self proclaimed experts.....be proud of yourself you did good ,momma.
as AnnV said ,the cooked sweet potato is a great idea,most cant resist it......keep us posted....
as AnnV said ,the cooked sweet potato is a great idea,most cant resist it......keep us posted....
You all are amazing. I have my lil peanut sitting at the top of my bra, is he ok to be in an upright position? For how long? Also im worried he will get to cold if i wet his towel, we are having a freaky week here in fl. Should i put a heating pad under him? For the sweet potatoes do I boil or bake? Not really sure being that I myself don't eat them but am Willing to try anything. I've never owned a tortoise before especially a baby needing so much attention but I am completely in love with this lil guy. Thank you for the welcome also, I look foward to growing here and appreciate everyone being so helpful.
I couldn't make it tonight to pet supply store but will be going first thing in the morning. This week being that he came after I did my budget I can only spend about 60 $ until next friday. It seems I'm starting from scratch, what is the first things I should concentrate on?
tort_luv_5055
Member
First of all get him of the newspaper. There is no humidity he needs that to be something worth living for, get him some spanghnum moss or cypress mulch or even eco-earth just get him off the newspaper and into something bigger like cement mixing tub (only like five bucks) think four H-s of tortoise keeping: hot humid happy healthy!
Get him some sweet potato and some nice baby food soaks, thats the stuff, thats the gold mine. Take some baby food, like Gerber baby carrot food and mix about a quarter of the jar into a nice hot soak and stick him under the basking bulb and heat him up...give him whatever he will want to eat...warm him up and then try. You also got to get him a hide, maybe just a cardboard box with a hole cut in it. Big enough for him to hide in and get away from it all. Get him a terocata pot saucer to feed out of those are nice and cheap. Get some earthworms to stimulate his spirit. Do whatever it takes. Keep him in your pocket breathe your spirit and hope and life into him. Leave him up-right for an hour or two. Now for sunshine get a UVB bulb and a Basking bulb. Don't need UVB right away you can wait a couple weeks TOPS but just cause those are expensive. The basking bulb is a must to warm him up good. Good luck he is a fighter he is going to make it!
Get him some sweet potato and some nice baby food soaks, thats the stuff, thats the gold mine. Take some baby food, like Gerber baby carrot food and mix about a quarter of the jar into a nice hot soak and stick him under the basking bulb and heat him up...give him whatever he will want to eat...warm him up and then try. You also got to get him a hide, maybe just a cardboard box with a hole cut in it. Big enough for him to hide in and get away from it all. Get him a terocata pot saucer to feed out of those are nice and cheap. Get some earthworms to stimulate his spirit. Do whatever it takes. Keep him in your pocket breathe your spirit and hope and life into him. Leave him up-right for an hour or two. Now for sunshine get a UVB bulb and a Basking bulb. Don't need UVB right away you can wait a couple weeks TOPS but just cause those are expensive. The basking bulb is a must to warm him up good. Good luck he is a fighter he is going to make it!
Thank you so much tort luv, its a great start. He still hasn't ate yet but I've been researching like an obsessed person and came across someone saying that after yolk sac is absorbed and if they still have their egg tooth that it could be up to 10 days before he shows interest in esting. Is this true?
tort_luv_5055
Member
Yes. Does he still have his yolk sac? I know some people don't even put them on substrate until they absorb it so that might be your problem. Try putting him on paper towels until it gets all closed up. (You don't want to be getting an infection in there)
Advice: give him to me! 
H aha just kidding I really do hope the little guy is OK! What a trooper!
H aha just kidding I really do hope the little guy is OK! What a trooper!@tortluv, yes his sac is gone/closed but he does have his egg tooth. We don't know the exact day he hatched, it was lucky he was even spotted. He couldn't have been there long. I am worried bout my lil guy, he still won't eat. I've offered kale, strawberry, romaine, a hibiscus flower. A couple of other flowers from his parents garden, an apple piece. He won't touch it though. He isn't being very active either. I bring him out side to get some sun after his 10 minute soak but he just sits there. He keeps rubbing his right eye with his leg and his back leg dosnt seem to move if I make him crawl but it does move when I hold him up. I'm seriously thinking bout bringing him to a vet if I can find one here. I will be devastated if he dosnt make it. We found him last thursday and since I've put him on my chest for warmth for close to an hour if not longer a couple times a day. I've completly fallen in love.
Another question. I bought 2 boxes of the spagnum moss and it says to soak it. Do I? Or should I just put it in. Also should I get some of the cypress mulch to put under? I havnt put it yet cuz he stays in his towel bed and dosnt travel around yet. I'm hoping he is just in a baby state still and not sick. If I do decide to bring him to a vet what is the average price to look for? I don't wsnt to be taken advantage of wich happened to us with our puppy a few years ago.
I really want my lil guy to make it. Oh, he did poop again sunday, I don't know how being that he won't eat but I'm hopeful yhats a good sign. He was active on sunday on his outside outting but not since.
Another question. I bought 2 boxes of the spagnum moss and it says to soak it. Do I? Or should I just put it in. Also should I get some of the cypress mulch to put under? I havnt put it yet cuz he stays in his towel bed and dosnt travel around yet. I'm hoping he is just in a baby state still and not sick. If I do decide to bring him to a vet what is the average price to look for? I don't wsnt to be taken advantage of wich happened to us with our puppy a few years ago.
I really want my lil guy to make it. Oh, he did poop again sunday, I don't know how being that he won't eat but I'm hopeful yhats a good sign. He was active on sunday on his outside outting but not since.
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- Jun 17, 2012
- Messages
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aczlvr said:
Look for a Bentham specializes in Tortoises. Usually a vet will charge any where from 50-75 for the office call.
Sounds like you are going to be a great tort mom! Keep us updated!
MyTrek
Member
I'm wondering how this little guy is doing. any updates?
