Dry, flaky head on redfoot tortoise.

[hawktheredfoot]

Hi everyone. This is my 3 year old redfoot Hawk. For some strange reason her head is very dry, flaky and somewhat cracked. I’m not sure what’s wrong and I’ve tried everything I’ve heard to fix it. I mist her enclosure, give her regular soaks, she has a humidifier constantly running, but her head looks awful. I tried reddit and people told me to give her more calcium, I have and nothing has worked. I don’t know what else to do and I feel horrible. Here’s a photo of her today. Her skin doesn’t look bright and hydrated, it looks cracked and dry and I know for a fact that’s not normal.

 

[hawktheredfoot]

Also if anyone has any oils or any methods to fix her skin please let me know. I heard coconut, olive oil and vitamin e oil are good to use.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Curious.
Can we see your heating and lighting?
What is it and how close is it?

 

[hawktheredfoot]

Curious.
Can we see your heating and lighting?
What is it and how close is it?

shes got 2 60w bulbs. They’re really not that close to her body, so I doubt it’s from burns or anything. When you put your hand to her level it’s really not hot and she doesn’t spend a lot of time near the heat

Edit: I also went to the store and bought organic coconut oil to put on her skin to see if it’ll rehydrate it. Will that work?

 

[hawktheredfoot]

Here is her compared to the height of the bulbs. You really have to put your hand close to the bulb to feel a lot of heat.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello! Do you know your exact ground temperature and humidity readings? It’s very important to know numbers.

They are pyramiding which leads me to think things are either too dry(which would explain their skin) or the bulbs you’re using aren’t appropriate, I can see a ceramic bulb which is fine, but may I ask what kind of bulb you have in the dome? Do you use indoor uv? If so, what kind?

Also humidifiers aren’t a good idea to have running in the enclosure like this. Constantly breathing in water droplets can cause respiratory problems.

I think you’ll find this thread below super useful to read through, I go over equipment, levels, appropriately maintaining humidity and there’s some diet suggestions

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

tortoiseforum.org

And this one is helpful with what kind of equipment to avoid etc🙂

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Any further questions you have, please ask away😊

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

shes got 2 60w bulbs. They’re really not that close to her body, so I doubt it’s from burns or anything. When you put your hand to her level it’s really not hot and she doesn’t spend a lot of time near the heat

Edit: I also went to the store and bought organic coconut oil to put on her skin to see if it’ll rehydrate it. Will that work?

I wouldn’t put any kind of oil on her skin personally, I’d be worried it’s going to clog her pours, but perhaps @ZEROPILOT can advise you there, I’ve never had to consider putting coconut oil on the skin

 

[Anastasia 22]

I wouldn’t put any kind of oil on her skin personally, I’d be worried it’s going to clog her pours, but perhaps @ZEROPILOT can advise you there, I’ve never had to consider putting coconut oil on the skin

Coconut oil is widely used in oncology esthetics. It's applied on compromised/fragile/wounded skin after chemotherapy/radiology treatment. It builds the protective barrier and helps with dryness. But I have no idea how it would work for tortoises.....

 

[hawktheredfoot]

Hello! Do you know your exact ground temperature and humidity readings? It’s very important to know numbers.

They are pyramiding which leads me to think things are either too dry(which would explain their skin) or the bulbs you’re using aren’t appropriate, I can see a ceramic bulb which is fine, but may I ask what kind of bulb you have in the dome? Do you use indoor uv? If so, what kind?

Also humidifiers aren’t a good idea to have running in the enclosure like this. Constantly breathing in water droplets can cause respiratory problems.

I think you’ll find this thread below super useful to read through, I go over equipment, levels, appropriately maintaining humidity and there’s some diet suggestions

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

tortoiseforum.org

And this one is helpful with what kind of equipment to avoid etc🙂

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Any further questions you have, please ask away😊

Oh, okay. Well now I feel like I’m doing awful , I’m sorry. I’m trying my best. I am building her a new enclosure soon, a big 8x4 one with more of a greenhouse look so I suppose I’ll take a look.

Again I apologize for doing so much wrong

 

[hawktheredfoot]

Hello! Do you know your exact ground temperature and humidity readings? It’s very important to know numbers.

They are pyramiding which leads me to think things are either too dry(which would explain their skin) or the bulbs you’re using aren’t appropriate, I can see a ceramic bulb which is fine, but may I ask what kind of bulb you have in the dome? Do you use indoor uv? If so, what kind?

Also humidifiers aren’t a good idea to have running in the enclosure like this. Constantly breathing in water droplets can cause respiratory problems.

I think you’ll find this thread below super useful to read through, I go over equipment, levels, appropriately maintaining humidity and there’s some diet suggestions

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

tortoiseforum.org

And this one is helpful with what kind of equipment to avoid etc🙂

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Any further questions you have, please ask awa

Hello! Do you know your exact ground temperature and humidity readings? It’s very important to know numbers.

They are pyramiding which leads me to think things are either too dry(which would explain their skin) or the bulbs you’re using aren’t appropriate, I can see a ceramic bulb which is fine, but may I ask what kind of bulb you have in the dome? Do you use indoor uv? If so, what kind?

Also humidifiers aren’t a good idea to have running in the enclosure like this. Constantly breathing in water droplets can cause respiratory problems.

I think you’ll find this thread below super useful to read through, I go over equipment, levels, appropriately maintaining humidity and there’s some diet suggestions

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

tortoiseforum.org

And this one is helpful with what kind of equipment to avoid etc🙂

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Any further questions you have, please ask away😊

and I don’t have the right UVB bulb it seems. I didn’t know none of those were good. Again I’m building her a new place so I’ll probably get one of those tube ones. Ugh I’m a horrible owner I’m sorry

 

[TammyJ]

You are not a horrible owner. You're doing what is right by coming here to get help for your tortoise! And you have come to the right place. Can you also tell us what makes up the regular diet for her?

 

[hawktheredfoot]

You are not a horrible owner. You're doing what is right by coming here to get help for your tortoise! And you have come to the right place. Can you also tell us what makes up the regular diet for her?

Yeah! So for lettuces she usually gets are red and green leaf lettuce, collard greens, kale, dandelion greens and probably two other kinds I’m not thinking of. Veggies I feed her is zucchini, bell peppers, squash, sometimes cucumber but I heard that’s a high water content so she doesn’t get it a lot. She really likes fruit and I’ll sometimes feed her watermelon, mango, blueberries, raspberries, papaya, grapes, pineapple.

 

[TammyJ]

Yeah! So for lettuces she usually gets are red and green leaf lettuce, collard greens, kale, dandelion greens and probably two other kinds I’m not thinking of. Veggies I feed her is zucchini, bell peppers, squash, sometimes cucumber but I heard that’s a high water content so she doesn’t get it a lot. She really likes fruit and I’ll sometimes feed her watermelon, mango, blueberries, raspberries, papaya, grapes, pineapple.

No protein? Redfoot tortoises need protein in their diet. Hard boiled egg in the shell, cut in half. Plain boiled chicken meat. Sardines in water. Pinkie rats.

 

[hawktheredfoot]

No protein? Redfoot tortoises need protein in their diet. Hard boiled egg in the shell, cut in half. Plain boiled chicken meat. Sardines in water. Pinkie rats.

Oh yeah, whoops sorry. She does get protein. I usually give her boiled chicken and hard boiled egg. I forgot to mention that sorry haha!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Oh, okay. Well now I feel like I’m doing awful , I’m sorry. I’m trying my best. I am building her a new enclosure soon, a big 8x4 one with more of a greenhouse look so I suppose I’ll take a look.

Again I apologize for doing so much wrong

and I don’t have the right UVB bulb it seems. I didn’t know none of those were good. Again I’m building her a new place so I’ll probably get one of those tube ones. Ugh I’m a horrible owner I’m sorry

No apologies necessary! You are in no way shape or form a horrible owner! no one is born knowing the best way to keep tortoises! Everything is a learning curve, I didn’t know half the stuff I know now before joining this forum, stick around here and you’ll see why so many of us love this community that’s been built🥰if you ever have any queries on literally anything to do with tortoise care, they’ll always be someone to help advise you🐢💚

 

[hawktheredfoot]

No apologies necessary! You are in no way shape or form a horrible owner! no one is born knowing the best way to keep tortoises! Everything is a learning curve, I didn’t know half the stuff I know now before joining this forum, stick around here and you’ll see why so many of us love this community that’s been built🥰if you ever have any queries on literally anything to do with tortoise care, they’ll always be someone to help advise you🐢💚

Thank you very much after hearing all this I am really going to fix up her stuff. I’ve already been planning a huge upgrade for her these past few months I just have to get it done!

 

[hawktheredfoot]

No apologies necessary! You are in no way shape or form a horrible owner! no one is born knowing the best way to keep tortoises! Everything is a learning curve, I didn’t know half the stuff I know now before joining this forum, stick around here and you’ll see why so many of us love this community that’s been built🥰if you ever have any queries on literally anything to do with tortoise care, they’ll always be someone to help advise you🐢💚

Also, just another quick question for the enclosure I’m going to build! Would a timed mister be good to add in there? Like have it spray for a little bit every few hours so it doesn’t dry up in there?