How is my Redfoot doing?

[CharlieD]

This morning's weigh in crossed the 100g mark, and I thought I would see how you all think my Redfoot, Darwin, is doing. 102.7g was the actual weight, and he has been gaining a few grams every week since I began weighing him at about 72g. His SCL was 3.25" a couple weeks ago. He is approximately 4-5 months old.

I have him in a closed chamber and temps are 80-82 with 85% humidity.

For diet I have been following a modified version of the turtletary care sheet.
Days 1,2,4,5 - Greens (endive, romaine, greenleaf, red leaf, and occasionally dandelion, collards, watercress and herbs.)
Days 3,6 veggies (mostly cactus, squash, mushrooms and zucchini. I have done sweet potato, pumpkin and cucumber as treats.)
Day 7 protein 1x a month (boiled chicken)

I offer about 5 grams daily in the morning (sometimes a little less for veggies and protein) and at the end of a day it will be mostly gone with a few tiny scraps remaining.

For calcium supplements I have been using Repashy Superveggie a couple days a week. Should I change this to just a calcium powder?

I plan on introducing fruit to the diet sometime next month. My reason for this is just that a resource I read had mentioned holding off on fruits until they are about 6 months.

Warm soaks daily and I will mist him any time I happen to see him out.

Initially he had some plastron fungus which I have treated, but there are still some black areas on his plastron that I wanted some opinions about.

Thanks!

 

[pfara]

So far, so good. Your little one looks great. I've never been one to follow strict plans (found that out the hard way when I had kids) but yours is working well. I couldn't see the plastron too well but I'm on my phone. Hopefully someone will help you on that.

 

[N2TORTS]

You little guy looks fine~

Honest not directed at you but ALL RF owners.......
They are scavengers in the wild and will eat what ever comes their way. A strict regime of selected food items looks good on paper , feels good for the keeper but is far from "truth" of what a wild tortoise might eat or just owning one in captivity and keeping it healthy.
Mixed foods of " the right kinds" given whenever needed is the key. Over-abundance of one preferred item can lead to problems in health or just plain attitude to what your tort may and may not eat. The problem arises to where keepers live and what's available to them in the stores ....or even better collected naturally in the field . There are tons of plant/weeds that grow naturally depending on where you live and what time of the year it is that can fulfill your tortoise diet. My wife always insisted on "fresh fruit" ....But I asked her " How many Torts climb trees?" The truth is they eat the ripened and rotted fruit that falls to the ground. Thus "fresh" is just appealing to us. Now to really blow your mind ... my Adults will eat baby mice ...baby chickens..... large grubs ...ALL Alive!
I don't think they have ever had cooked chicken...