Baby redfoot enclosure

[Momo]

Hi there,
I'm new to the group and tortoises. I aquired two red foot babies a week ago. Rudy is 2.5 inches and Seraphine is 2.25. They're wonderful. Just wanted some input on their enclosure.

It's homemade. Lol. And I'm not quite done. It's 3.5 x 2.5 feet. The left is dry and the right moist. I'm keeping the temperature up around 80-90 and humidity 80-95. I'm using a reptisun 10 along the back of the enclosure and the height is 15/16 inches depending on substrate. Also a che 24/7. The substrate is sphagnum peat moss covered with sphagnum moss.

They hide in the log with is moist or in the dry moss.

They have numerous live plants. They can't reach them thoo because theyre too small.

The enclosure is made of wood and plexiglass to keep heat and humidity in. I'm not able to have a cool side. The two accurite thermometers are always about 5 degrees apart.

Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks Momo

 

[mikeylazer]

Everything looks great! My one concern is if the moss is wet your redfoots could get shell rot seeing that they are prone to it. As long as the moss is dry i dont see any problems!

 

[christinaland128]

You're off to a good start! Be advised they will grow fast! My red's grew a centimeter a month, so be ready to upgrade to a larger enclosure soon.

Is the lid being used as a water dish? It's very shallow and may dry out quickly. You can use a terra cotta dish and dig out the soil to make it level with the substrate. But keeping it shallow is good.

Congrats on the babies! here's a pic of the terra cotta dish I speak of...

 

[christinaland128]

I love the names!

 

[kathyth]

I think you did a real good job. My youngsters always stayed at the side of their enclosures that were 92. Ideally they should have an option to be at 78-82.
Because of the potential for shell rot in Redfoots, I would have the " wet" substrate just below dry substrate.

 

[Momo]

Hi guys,
I'm currently rotating the moss. From dry to wet to dry, because I was concerned with shell rot.
I have two terra cotta dishes, one for food to wear down there beaks, and nails, and the other for water. However Seraphina pooed on it, so
I was disinfecting. lol.

Im having some difficulty having the cool dry end, be cool! I was thinking more plants?!?! The heat from the ceramic heat emittor seems to "fill"
the enclosure.

And thanks for all the responses

 

[mikeylazer]

Hi guys,
I'm currently rotating the moss. From dry to wet to dry, because I was concerned with shell rot.
I have two terra cotta dishes, one for food to wear down there beaks, and nails, and the other for water. However Seraphina pooed on it, so
I was disinfecting. lol.

Im having some difficulty having the cool dry end, be cool! I was thinking more plants?!?! The heat from the ceramic heat emittor seems to "fill"
the enclosure.

And thanks for all the responses

Yes i agree! I am having a similar problem on keeping a designated warm and cool side. I think what i will have to do it move the heat emitter to the same side that the mvb is on to hopefully keep more heat on one side. I wonder if anyone has opinions for this.

 

[Momo]

Hi I dont have a mvb at all. I read that because red foots are forest dwellers, they dont need to much light, and they are not a "basking" tortoise.
I have the t5 tube light, and a che. There is no heat source on the suppose to be cold side! LOL. Woud love some help on how to maintain the cool side?

 

[Anyfoot]

Yes i agree! I am having a similar problem on keeping a designated warm and cool side. I think what i will have to do it move the heat emitter to the same side that the mvb is on to hopefully keep more heat on one side. I wonder if anyone has opinions for this.

I use a 150watt CHE in a 2x4ft viv that is 2ft high. My UVB strip is at the same end as the CHE acting as the sun. The other end is darker. My CHE is on a thermostat. The probe is in the dark end. So under CHE I get 90f and at the darker end I get 80f. Torts seem happy and move around to regulate there own body temperature. BTW I have a few water dishes, and one is directly under the CHE so it slowly evapaporates through the day. I sometimes leave moss just touching the water in this dish so the moss absorbes the water,then the moss let's off humidity.

 

[pfara]

I like your starter enclosure! Seems like you got the basics down for the beginnings of healthy babies. Don't worry so much about a cool end. As long as you maintain an overall temp of 80F with warmer spots, you're good.

And yes, the lighting you're providing right now is really good (in my opinion) but some reds *do* like basking. Eventually, when the enclosure grows, you'll be able to add more options (brighter light sections, cool end/warm end, deeper/shallow water, etc). You'll get a feel for what they like as they grow older. For now, let them be scaredy-torts

 

[Momo]

Hi there,
thanks so much. I'm very concerned as a new mommie that they are getting everything they need. I could have a basking spot. The UV light has an option at the end for a halogen light bulb, however it was over 110 degrees, and that made me very nervous. I thought that they would dry out too quickly, which could lead to health problem, so I removed the halogen. Just leaving the UV. As it is I still feel the Uv may be to bright and strong. So i may add a dimmer, and more plant in front of it.

 

[Anyfoot]

Hi there,
thanks so much. I'm very concerned as a new mommie that they are getting everything they need. I could have a basking spot. The UV light has an option at the end for a halogen light bulb, however it was over 110 degrees, and that made me very nervous. I thought that they would dry out too quickly, which could lead to health problem, so I removed the halogen. Just leaving the UV. As it is I still feel the Uv may be to bright and strong. So i may add a dimmer, and more plant in front of it.

I think what you have got is spot on. Only miner thing is. Do you have an area where your tort can bury in. Mine love doing that. So my substrate is about 2.5" deep for the juveniles. Just a mounded up area near a log or a pot would do.

 

[Momo]

Yes they have been burying in under the moss on the dry side, and under the log on the damp side, which is stuffed with damp soil, and damp spagnum moss.

thanks

 

[Anyfoot]

Yes they have been burying in under the moss on the dry side, and under the log on the damp side, which is stuffed with damp soil, and damp spagnum moss.

thanks

Just had another look at you enclosure. I think you've done a good job and can see you have done you research. One more minor thing. And I'm hoping someone backs me up. I think your uv is too high. Mine is about 10" from the ground. Don't do anything until you get some more opinions on it.

 

[pfara]

Hi there,
thanks so much. I'm very concerned as a new mommie that they are getting everything they need. I could have a basking spot. The UV light has an option at the end for a halogen light bulb, however it was over 110 degrees, and that made me very nervous. I thought that they would dry out too quickly, which could lead to health problem, so I removed the halogen. Just leaving the UV. As it is I still feel the Uv may be to bright and strong. So i may add a dimmer, and more plant in front of it.

Silly Try and not over think things. It really does look like you have all the basics covered. You can add more plants if you'd like, but at this point, the torts will most likely hide for a few months whether or not it's too bright.

 

[Momo]

Just had another look at you enclosure. I think you've done a good job and can see you have done you research. One more minor thing. And I'm hoping someone backs me up. I think your uv is too high. Mine is about 10" from the ground. Don't do anything until you get some more opinions on it.

It's currently 15/16 from the substrate, however its a reptisun T5 10. So I've read that its double UV output of the T8.

 

[Momo]

Silly Try and not over think things. It really does look like you have all the basics covered. You can add more plants if you'd like, but at this point, the torts will most likely hide for a few months whether or not it's too bright.

Thank you Trying to let the babies tell me what they need!

 

[Turtlepete]

I've raised many young red foots in an environment with identical substrate to that. Fluffy, moist spaghnum moss. Not a single case of shell fungus and many perfectly healthy, smooth babies had led me to believe it works pretty well.

I'm still confused about the statement so often repeated here about carbonaria being "prone" to shell fungus. Something strikes me as peculiar to suggest a tortoise that has "evolved" in very moist ecosystems is particularly "prone" to shell fungus. I've seen shell fungus on red foots that were being raised in bone dry environments as well….Moisture is not the only ingredient.

As @pfara said, a cool end really isn't needed. Aim to keep the ambient temperature above 78-80 throughout, and a nice basking spot in the higher 80's if you would like.

 

[Momo]

I've raised many young red foots in an environment with identical substrate to that. Fluffy, moist spaghnum moss. Not a single case of shell fungus and many perfectly healthy, smooth babies had led me to believe it works pretty well.

I'm still confused about the statement so often repeated here about carbonaria being "prone" to shell fungus. Something strikes me as peculiar to suggest a tortoise that has "evolved" in very moist ecosystems is particularly "prone" to shell fungus. I've seen shell fungus on red foots that were being raised in bone dry environments as well….Moisture is not the only ingredient.

As @pfara said, a cool end really isn't needed. Aim to keep the ambient temperature above 78-80 throughout, and a nice basking spot in the higher 80's if you would like.

Hey Pete,
Thats what I'm looking for, nice smooth shells! Also they seem to really like the moist end!

Thanks again!