I need help with redfoot care

[Alexanderdatort]

Hey, I need help. I'm taking over care for my
little brothers tortoise which has been
severely neglected. I'm doing so because
I've noticed some issues with poor Alex. Can
anyone help me with correcting some of the
issues? I'll post pictures and advice will be
really nice. Thank you all so much I’m new here.

 

[Alexanderdatort]

He has a weird gap in his shell and an underbite that really hinders his ability to eat food. I took over care today because I feel terrible for the poor baby. Idk if any of these are really issues or not but I feel like they are and as I know very little about tortoises I’m coming here.

 

[Maro2Bear]

There’s lots of valuable info under the Redfoot section here on the Forum. How large of an enclosure do you have it in? Maybe upload a pix of the enclosure. I see you have one of those official petstore watering bowls…..they are very hard for most torts to drink out of. It’s best to sink a large terracotta plant saucer down into the substrate.

So, what have you been feeding? Hows the lighting?

Here’s the Redfoot section…

Redfoot and yellowfoot tortoises

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Alexanderdatort]

There’s lots of valuable info under the Redfoot section here on the Forum. How large of an enclosure do you have it in? Maybe upload a pix of the enclosure. I see you have one of those official petstore watering bowls…..they are very hard for most torts to drink out of. It’s best to sink a large terracotta plant saucer down into the substrate.

So, what have you been feeding? Hows the lighting?

Here’s the Redfoot section…

Redfoot and yellowfoot tortoises

www.tortoiseforum.org

I’ll upload photos when I get back home as I’m out rn and these are pics are I took for Reddit before I left. Before my brother has been feeding him spring mix salad from Winn Dixie a hand full a day. I took over today so I plan on immediately doing some changes for Alex, I’ll look at the forum but I’m wondering if anyone can tell me what to do about his shell and underbite

 

[jsheffield]

Hello,

The first thing you have to do is read through some of the caresheets offered by members... this will help you build a plan for care that is thoughtful, not just reactive:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/redfoot-and-yellowfoot-tortoises.79/

Spring mix is not a horrible place to start as far as diet goes... from there I'd add some more serious greens, like collards, beet-greens, chard, radicchio, and kale... then some fruit and veggies like papaya and butternut squash... then some flowers and weeds like hibiscus and dandelions (greens and flowers)... animal protein can be a small part of the diet and there are various good sources like liver, salmon w/skin, shrimp w/shell, and egg w/shell.

The big change I'd focus on is soaking and increasing the humidity in the tort's enclosure: the skin and shell look dry, and an open-topped table will make it difficult in most places to provide the humidity they need.

Providing adequate temps for them is another big concern... I aim for the mid-80s in my Redfoot enclosure.

If you do some reading and focus on the things I mentioned above, you should be well on the way to providing an awesome home and life for your tort.

Jamie

 

[TheLastGreen]

Hi and welcome, @ZEROPILOT and @jsheffield are the experts

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Where in Florida are you?
I'm in the southeast.
If you're local, I've got quite a bit of extra equipment that you can have.

 

[ZenHerper]

Welcome! Folks will continue to chime in with tips as you read through the RF/YF sub-forum. Redfoots are unique, and their Optimal requirements are specific.

There is a bit of uneven keratin curing at the back of the shell. This should correct itself as you tweak the diet and habitat conditions.

But the shape of his skull and the under-bite are quite concerning. Baby greens don't contain appreciable amounts of nutrients needed for growth. Your tort may be coping with metabolic bone disease. This is a complex issue involving many bodily systems and the management/movement of minerals throughout the body and bones.

Fortunately, a Redfoot is able to eat, digest, and metabolize all sorts of calcium- and mineral-rich foods: boiled egg with the shell on (or egg shells ground into a powder and sprinkled back onto slices of boiled egg if the beak is not strong enough to bite through the whole shell), fruit (kiwi, fig, berries), and mature vegetation (collards, beet tops, kale, Belgian endive, curly endive, dark mature romaine - not the pale hearts), large nightcrawler earthworms.

@Toddrickfl1 @Cherryshell

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome! Folks will continue to chime in with tips as you read through the RF/YF sub-forum. Redfoots are unique, and their Optimal requirements are specific.

There is a bit of uneven keratin curing at the back of the shell. This should correct itself as you tweak the diet and habitat conditions.

But the shape of his skull and the under-bite are quite concerning. Baby greens don't contain appreciable amounts of nutrients needed for growth. Your tort may be coping with metabolic bone disease. This is a complex issue involving many bodily systems and the management/movement of minerals throughout the body and bones.

Fortunately, a Redfoot is able to eat, digest, and metabolize all sorts of calcium- and mineral-rich foods: boiled egg with the shell on (or egg shells ground into a powder and sprinkled back onto slices of boiled egg if the beak is not strong enough to bite through the whole shell), fruit (kiwi, fig, berries), and mature vegetation (collards, beet tops, kale, Belgian endive, curly endive, dark mature romaine - not the pale hearts), large nightcrawler earthworms.

@Toddrickfl1 @Cherryshell

@ZenHerper
My eyes are giving me issues. His entire head looks odd. Does it look like a healed injury?
I don't see an underbite. I see a missing portion of upper beak.
He looks very much like a badly stunted Redfoot that I helped a year or two ago. Same type of facial issue.

@Alexanderdatort Does he stand and walk on all four legs with his body fully off of the ground?
He needs at a minimum. A new closed chamber enclosure. And possibly some other specialized care.
Do you have a UVB light?
Are you giving him warm water soaks? He looks as dry as toast.
How are you providing heat and humidity?

 

[ZenHerper]

@ZenHerper
My eyes are giving me issues. His entire head looks odd. Does it look like a healed injury?
I don't see an underbite. I see a missing portion of upper beak.
He looks very much like a badly stunted Redfoot that I helped a year or two ago. Same type of facial issue.

...

The face is hard to diagnose without a true history on this tot. The nostrils look normal, but the entire top of the head and face look stunted or malformed. The bottom beak sticks far out with respect to the upper.

If s/he eats, then the upper beak is intact, but suffering from whatever is going on with the head/face generally.

On the dietary history alone, MBD is the #1 at the top of my list. Trauma (like falling head-first onto the face from a height) would also be plausible.

 

[ZenHerper]

 

[ZEROPILOT]

View attachment 337965

Thank you.

 

[Mrs.Campos3]

Hey, I need help. I'm taking over care for my
little brothers tortoise which has been
severely neglected. I'm doing so because
I've noticed some issues with poor Alex. Can
anyone help me with correcting some of the
issues? I'll post pictures and advice will be
really nice. Thank you all so much I’m new here.

Definitely needs daily soaks for 20-30 minutes. Because of his underbite it is probably hard for him to take bites himself so he may need your assistance with eating until he figures out how he can do it on his own. Sprouts carries dandelion greens. They are a great staple for red foots. I find that my little RF likes when i prop them up on something so he can get a good bite. It helps a lot.

 

[Jan A]

I’ll upload photos when I get back home as I’m out rn and these are pics are I took for Reddit before I left. Before my brother has been feeding him spring mix salad from Winn Dixie a hand full a day. I took over today so I plan on immediately doing some changes for Alex, I’ll look at the fumorum but I’m wondering if anyone can tell me what to do about his shell and underbite

Welcome to the forum & thank you for taking over this poor tort's care. Zeropilot, ZenHerper, Toddrickfl1, Tom, Zovick, Yvonne G. & others will help walk you thru getting this little guy back on his feet STS. There's a lot to read, so take it one step at a time. We are here to help.