How am I doing caring for my redfoot? PICS

[Nociti]

So I got a hatchling earlier this month and wanted to share pictures of his enclosure as well as what I do to take care of him so that more experienced people can point out if I'm doing a good job or if there are things I should change. Let's start with his enclosure:



It is a glass enclosure I found on clearance at PetSmart for only 30 bucks. For substrate I fill it about an inch deep with loose coconut fiber and cover the top with a thin layer of fir bark. I have 75w lamps on the right side (one normal, and one infrared for night time). There is also an UV light which you can see on top of the enclosure towards the back. I wrapped the entire thing (except the front) in a blanket so that the glass does not get cold. Every night I soak a hand towel in hot water and place it over the mesh to help keep the humidity up. I leave the UV and regular lamp on about 12 hours per day and the infrared light on for the other 12 hours. The temperature is pretty constant at about 90 degrees. The humidity fluctuates a lot (40-90%), but I spray the enclosure about three times a day to keep it as high as possible.



He has a food dish and a little pool. His diet is: kale x2 a week, tortoise food from the turtle source x2 a week (http://www.theturtlesource.com/i.asp?id=32510&p=Tortoise-Diet), tomato once a week, and banana once a week. I sprinkle his food with calcium 2x a week. For his pool, I drop de-chlorinator in there (as well as inside the mister). He tends to not go inside his pool, but I soak him once a day for 10-30 minutes in a tupperware with warm water with the de-chlorinator.



I have also planted two different types of plants in his enclosure: chinese cabbage and georgia hybrid collards. He nibbles on them, but does not significantly eat them.



He has a flat rock on which he can bask on and a half log hide. If I lift up his log, you can see that he loves to dig in deep.



Now, I want to write a little bit about his behavior because I don't know if it is normal or not. He sleeps all day inside his hide. I have never seen him come out for food or water on his own. Every day, I take him out of his hide and place him in front of his food so he will eat. He usually eats a good amount, but on kale day, he only eats a little for some reason. I also soak him every day. I've never seen him come out of his hide to explore, or use his basking rock. Is this behavior normal? He buries himself really deep in his hide (sometimes I can barely see the top of his shell).



Thanks for reading. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Jacqui]

When you comment about him not coming out on his own, my first thought was, "I wonder if the lights are too bright for him". I would experiement and see if having less light on brings him out more. If it doesn't nothing is lost and you can always go back to the lights.

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I can't say I really like his diet. I would cut down on the tomatoes. Increase the greens and add a larger variety of them (along with weeds, certain leaves, and blooms). Also use more variety in the fruits.

 

[kathyth]

I think you did an excellent job. They do like it darker than many tortoises.
I have a UVB on one side and a ceramic heat emitter over the hide where it is darker.

I love it!

 

[immayo]

How big is he? He may get more active with age.

It seems like enclosure wise everything is good. My little guy actually has the same "pool" as yours. Mine just started using it a couple months ago and now I see him go in it for a sip (or just a splash) daily!

I would also suggest more greens in the diet. I used to feed mine a ton of Mazuri (that's the tort food you are using) but since being on this site I now give him spring mix/ dandelion greens more and the Mazuri like once or twice a week paired with other foods! I heard that a good way to feed is Day1: greens/ veggies Day2: fruit Day3: greens/veggies Day4: fruit Day5: protein (this is where I put the tort food usually with mushrooms or you can do chicken/worms/etc.

 

[RedfootsRule]

Your enclosure is very nice; however, the temperature needs to go lower. 90 is to hot for red foots. It needs to be right around 82 over the whole cage. A basking spot of 90-95 is appreciated, but not necessarily crucial.
Now, do not take this offensive, but the diet is all wrong. Bananas...Not the best fruit for red foots. Tomatoes are too acidic. Kale contains a high amount of a substance called "goitrogens" which can inhibit iodine absorption by the liver (basically, a bad thing), so it should not be heavily relied upon. The turtle food from turtle-source...I've never heard one way or another, so I can't really recommend it. Mazuri tortoise chow is good if you want a "kibble" type food.

For diet, you need more greens and fruits. I go with something like 60% greens, 30% fruits, 10% veggies.
Heres some good foods.
Greens:
Collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale (they are good as part of a varied diet, about once a week at the most), radicchio, dandelion greens, escarole, endive, "spring mix", spinach is also beneficial, but its more one of those "if you have it in your fridge" foods. No more than once a month.

Fruits: Plum, peaches, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, canteloupe, honewydew, papaya, mango, kiwi, grapes

Vegetables: Yellow, green, butternut, acorn, and pumpkin squash. Carrots on occasion. Now, I have no clue what classification fungus fall under, so we'll just call it a vegetable. Oyster and portabella are two very good mushrooms that can be offered once or twice a week.

I always recommend any red foot owners to buy a hibiscus bush...The leaves and flowers are an absolute favorite, and VERY healthy. If you have a bush, the leaves and flowers can be offered every meal. Just make sure the bush is not treated or sprayed, as with any other foods.

 

[mike taylor]

Man redfootsrule you hit the nail on the head good job

 

[FLINTUS]

I agree with RedFootsRule but I feed my RF's 40% fruit and 60% weeds supplemented by a little veg(in the wild during rainy season they may consume up to 70% fruit).

 

[redfoot7]

Kale isn't a favorite of mine either. They devour any other greens but really don't like kale too much for whatever reason. I didn't know it wasn't good to feed, so maybe it is a good thing they don't like it.

 

[FLINTUS]

Kale is not bad to feed, it just shouldn't be done in large quantities. It is high in calcium but also high in oxalic acid, just like dandelion greens in fact!

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Also, if you are using a dried food go with mazuri but it is not really necessary as red foots have such a diverse diet, I feed mine no pellets at all.

 

[Nociti]

Thanks for the input. I will head to the store this weekend and try to pick up some mixed greens to change his diet. I have dropped the temperature to ~80 (and this helped raise humidity too). For those interested, he is about 4 months old.