LittleFoot adjusting to his new life

Status
Not open for further replies.

Luckie

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Messages
48
The little guy is SO cute! I can't believe he's been neglected for his first 2 years of life. How can you not want the best for that sweet little face??

LittleFoot has been very shy- which is understandable. He hides in his hide 98% of the time. Should I soak him? I've noticed that the skin on his face is very dry!! I'm not sure if he's drinking. I've been misting his tank... I haven't seen it drop below 70% so I'm very happy with that. However since he's mostly in the hide, I'm wondering if that's ok... I don't want to mist the hide because he's ALWAYS in there- I don't want him to get shell rot. Should I mist the hide too?

I bought some heat rope and really like the stuff!!! I want another heat lamp so I can put the smaller one on the "cool" side and the bigger one on the "hot" side. The temps get to about 90 on the hot side and about 75 on the cool.

Question- where should his hide be in relation to the "hot" and "cool" side? I wasn't sure so it's right in the middle but he literally does not leave the hide.

Yesterday, I fed him and he didn't even leave to eat. Today I helped him out by showing him his food bowl again.
In his old 10 gallon tank, I'm pretty sure he didn't need to walk more than 4 steps to get from his hide to his food bowl. I don't want to scare him and push him but I can't let him starve and dehydrate himself inside that hide!!!

Alright, enough talk. Here's the picture of how absolutely sweet this little guy is. His head it very red, do you guys think he's a cherry head?
IMG_0739.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,606
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Luckie said:
The little guy is SO cute! I can't believe he's been neglected for his first 2 years of life. How can you not want the best for that sweet little face??
Gorgeous :)

Luckie said:
LittleFoot has been very shy- which is understandable. He hides in his hide 98% of the time. Should I soak him?
He's very new and in a strange place. Until he settles in properly he should be soaked every day. My soaking tips are:
1. Soak first thing before your tort has warmed up properly to reduce escape attempts.
2. Use a high sided bowl or box so your tort can't see out
3. Use enough warm (not hot) water to just come over your tort's plastron (undershell). Get the temperature right and your not-warmed-up tort is more likely to lounge and absorb the heat.
4. Soak for a good 20 minutes. Don't worry if you don't see him drink; torts can absorb water through the skin. The length of soak is important.
5. Your tort may wee and/or poop in the water - it's more likely to concern you than him. You can change the water if it's truly disgusting. Don't worry if your tort eats his poop; it's said to improve gut flora!
6. Feed straight after the soak. Joe is always hungriest straight after his.

Luckie said:
I've noticed that the skin on his face is very dry!! I'm not sure if he's drinking. I've been misting his tank... I haven't seen it drop below 70% so I'm very happy with that.
Tortoises are reptiles and shed shed their skin like snakes... except snakes do it all in one go. Tortoises tend to look tatty and sometimes look worse than others. Do't worry about it, the old skin will rub off. :)

Luckie said:
However since he's mostly in the hide, I'm wondering if that's ok... I don't want to mist the hide because he's ALWAYS in there- I don't want him to get shell rot. Should I mist the hide too?
Mist everything going! Redfoots (Redfeet?) need high humidity. Do you have any kind of lid to keep the humidity in? Many keepers use plex glass.

Luckie said:
I bought some heat rope and really like the stuff!!! I want another heat lamp so I can put the smaller one on the "cool" side and the bigger one on the "hot" side. The temps get to about 90 on the hot side and about 75 on the cool.

Question- where should his hide be in relation to the "hot" and "cool" side? I wasn't sure so it's right in the middle but he literally does not leave the hide.
He's not leaving the hide because he's scared... he will settle down. Usually the hide is cool end.

Luckie said:
Yesterday, I fed him and he didn't even leave to eat. Today I helped him out by showing him his food bowl again.
In his old 10 gallon tank, I'm pretty sure he didn't need to walk more than 4 steps to get from his hide to his food bowl. I don't want to scare him and push him but I can't let him starve and dehydrate himself inside that hide!!!
Once he decides that you and his environment won't hurt him, he'll be more active. Until then... keep a routine so he learns what to expect at what time.

use a timer for lights on and heat on, then soak him and then feed him. the same start at the same time every day with the lights and heat going off on the timer at the same time every day will really help him.
 

Luckie

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Messages
48
I can see how a routine would be good for him. He has had a 100% change in his world!
We'll start the process tomorrow. Morning soak and then food. I bought some squash so maybe we'll try that tomorrow.

I also got him some mustard greens, collard greens, and dandelion yesterday and am trying to incorporate more good things in his diet.

I spend so much time on here looking at everyone's beautiful BIG RFs and I'm a bit mad at his previous owner from being so ignorant. Why get a pet if you're not going to take care of it!? I'm not going to bash but it's so frustrating!!
 

Madkins007

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
Messages
5,393
Location (City and/or State)
Nebraska
Which side should the hide be on? The cool side, as long as it is not TOO cool, and there is good humidity. There is lots of anecdotal evidence that they prefer cool hides to warm ones, but it does not seem to be a really big issue overall.

Based on my tests, the bigger issues are does it feel SAFE there? And is it reasonably dark there?
 

ascott

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
16,138
Location (City and/or State)
Apple Valley, California
Yes do warm water soaks every day.
Yes bother him and set him out ... right nose to food every day.
And yes their skin can sometimes appear dry....so mist him every so often during.g the day with warm water.
I personally do not use a solid hide for the two bigger RFs here (approx. 6 inches each) but rather I place a large silk plant cluster which serves as a canopy and they enjoy that side when they want to cool off as well as they retire there for sleeping....now the two baby RFs I provide a solid hide for each as well as a plant canopy so they have a choice and I place their hide at the middle temp location....I do not want the little babies to get in a too cool area ...
:D
 

Hustler

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
383
Location (City and/or State)
Alberta Canada Eh
Very good advice guys :) How long do you guys continue the soaking till? Is there a size you stop at or age ect?
 

DixieParadise

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,085
Location (City and/or State)
Georgetown, TX
You seem to be making up to him what he seemed to be lacking. He does look pretty good, though. He will get used to your routine, and continue the soaks. You may want to consider getting him a larger tank. He does have a cute face. Good luck to you...keep up the good work.

I am sorry you do have a larger tank. I misread that he was still in the 10 gallon tank. My bad, keep on doing what you are doing. He looks happy
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top