Hi, new to forum, first tortoise

[frpeebles]

Hi all

This past November my gf brought home a very young tortoise gifted to her by a professor who owns a male and female.

The only picture I have handy. It seems I'm pretty bad at matching up pictures online with what breed we have. Any ideas?

I knew next to nothing when we got him (her?) but have read quite a lot. Unfortunately we're not int he position to have it outside 24/7 but it spends about 4 hours a day in the sun eating whatever grass or other plants it wants in the yard with other food available inside.

It's recently started growing like crazy. It now has .150"+ between the plates on it's shell and grazes for hours.

Tips, tricks and suggestions most welcome.

 

[Irwin4530]

Hi, new to forum, first tortise

It is a red footed tortoise
Make sure you have high humidity
And don't neglect offering protein And fruits.

Can you tell s bout your set up?
Temps, lights, food, bedding

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: Hi, new to forum, first tortise

Hi frpeebles, and welcome to the Forum!!

Yes, it is a very beautiful little redfooted tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria). And it looks VERY dry. Redfooted tortoises should be kept in a moist, humid environment. There is some pretty good reading on redfooted tortoises here in the Tortoise Library

 

[theelectraco]

This has to be the first red footed I have seen with absolutely no red on its head or legs 0.o

 

[Irwin4530]

Some do look like that I have one that's quite yellow.... If I remember this afternoon I'll take a picture for you

I would run out to Walmart today and get yourself a humidifier, Think tropical rain forest for His habitat. Did the professor not give any advice as to care?

 

[Yvonne G]

This has to be the first red footed I have seen with absolutely no red on its head or legs 0.o

I think that if the tortoise was a little more damp, you would see orange markings on the legs and probably the head too.

 

[theelectraco]

This has to be the first red footed I have seen with absolutely no red on its head or legs 0.o

I think that if the tortoise was a little more damp, you would see orange markings on the legs and probably the head too.

That's what I was thinking. I saw it and thought it was a Redfoot but I didn't see any red so I thoug it was some type of desert tort.

 

[frpeebles]

At one time I thought it was a redfoot due to the shell but the lack of, well, red feet made me reconsider. The box he was in with that picture is just something I threw together the night we got him. It had a water dish (in which he likes to soak) and a pea gravel base with plants growing from below. A heat lamp in one corner above the large rock (so it is warm to hopefully provide a slightly more even heat) and a hide box with a warm and cool end. This is all next to a large WSW facing window that gets significant sun. He spends time in this when I don't feel he's safe outside. The plants lasted until he started growing a lot recently. Suddenly they're all gone.

He's only inside when I don't keep him out. Our back yard is dirt so I assembled an area in the front yard where grass and weeds grow. This is where he spends most of his time The pen has a small pool that's fed by a hose trickling through the cover (screen). Super ghetto but the pool runs over to give the soil water and the screen evaporates water into the air so its an outdoor microenviroment with significantly more humidity than you'll normally find in the Arizona air. At times like today I remove the cover so he can get full sun. Any other time I'm fearful of birds, neighborhood dogs, etc so he gets a shading screen. This is the best we can do at the moment. We'll be moving to a new house before long and he'll have a nice area assembled for him in the relative safety of the back yard.

The moisture level he's in might still be too low. I'll have to give that some thought now that you all have confirmed it's a redfoot.

As far as fruit goes he turns his nose at any except banana which I've read should be a rarity. Ideas?

 

[Irwin4530]

My red foot torts love papaya (may be spelled wrong) and strawberries.

Love that he is getting outside time ....keep in mind that the window your offering him provides no UVB/UVA as it is diminished by the glass...and that red footed tortoises will not need full sun with no shade. They like filtered light. So your sunny open window with a screen would be nice

For bedding I
Prefer sphagnum moss and/or coco coir. Everyone has their preferences but for a youngster and a tort needing high humidity these two work well for me.

Would love to see some more pictures!
Babies are the cutest!!

 

[frpeebles]

He has the option of partial shade from areas of his pen with plants taller than himself, a screened area or total shade in a tunnel he has dug. I'll snap a few current pictures soon.