Just wanted to share pics of my new cherryhead RF tortoise! His name is Fabio (long story) and hes picked up to his new habitat like a champ! He's eating well and is very personable always peering out of his hide in the morning to see when i am going to lay down his breakfast! I use fresh grass that we change out weekly as he is outdoors because i live in miami.. I was wondering if there was any negatives to using grass? As soon as he is big enough he'll move out of his tub and into a huge outdoor enclosure where hopefully ill have a partner in there for him =)
My new Redfoot!
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I don't keep redfoot tortoises, but I do have some Yellowfoot tortoises. I personally wouldn't use grass. You want something that you can keep moist. Grass will heat up and mold. I like to use cypress mulch or orchid bark. You can keep both of them moist and they don't get sour or moldy.
Yvonne
Yvonne
emysemys said:
Yeah i see what your saying thats why we change it out every week and when he gets the new grass its always so moist and he loves it.. i also mist his hide and keep it nice and humid.. not that it needs help being in miami lol. i have coconut coir substrate would that be a good choice for bedding?
Yes. Quite a few folks like to mix the coir with either clean dirt or sand.
Yvonne
Yvonne
I have seend people use real grass and it works great! seem like you got it under control
We've had a number of redfoot owners contact us about 'commercial' substrate such as coconut coir substrate. To keep the humidity UP to a 'desired' % they have experienced a fungus starting to grow on the plastron.. because the coconut coir substrate holds the humidity like a sponge.
Cypress mulch retains humidity but does dry on the surface when the temps are kept up.. so you will want/need to mist your redfoot "until-he-drips" to keep his carapace from pyramiding.
He may be doing fine now on the 'grass'?.. but will lose activity when the temps and humidity stay below low to mid 80's F/%.
What are you using for heat and light and hide?
Terry K
Cypress mulch retains humidity but does dry on the surface when the temps are kept up.. so you will want/need to mist your redfoot "until-he-drips" to keep his carapace from pyramiding.
He may be doing fine now on the 'grass'?.. but will lose activity when the temps and humidity stay below low to mid 80's F/%.
What are you using for heat and light and hide?
Terry K
We live in Miami so humidity is always in the 80% or higher range and in the winter im gunna be bringing him inside with a basking light. Hes outside in a tote with and then brought inside at night so as not to be attacked at night by predators. we cover him with a mesh screen and hes brought into my dads outdoor office where humidty is still kept up at night and then hes brought right back outside in the morning. I mist 3 or 4 times a day and the grass is changed every 3 to 5 days when it starts to dry out. My dad works from home and is constantly checking up on him and he has a standard log hide you can pick up from any pet store.
Also i have coconut coir which was suggested by Blue beast reptiles which is where we got him from.. but i havent put any down and i doubt im going to now with the revelation that it could cause shell rot. I've read where you use sphagnum moss (sp) and i may consider buying that if the grass is gunna cause problems later.
Redfoot NERD said:
Also i have coconut coir which was suggested by Blue beast reptiles which is where we got him from.. but i havent put any down and i doubt im going to now with the revelation that it could cause shell rot. I've read where you use sphagnum moss (sp) and i may consider buying that if the grass is gunna cause problems later.
The sphagnum can cause rot as well if it is too wet. Here in Omaha I struggle in the winter to keep the balance that prevents the wet 'shell to soil contact' that causes the rot (especially in the humid hides where they are in longer-term contact), and keeping humidity up. In Florida, with the better background humidity, it would probably work just fine for you... but with your humidity, so would a lot of other options.
Coconut coir works for a lot of people, especially if you mix it with sand to improve the drainage. Some people then cover it with something a bit drier, like a shredded or chipped wood mulch (although that can be a lot of work by this time.) I stopped using it period because I always seem to get fungal gnats with it- at least the more acid environment of the moss helps prevent that.
Coconut coir works for a lot of people, especially if you mix it with sand to improve the drainage. Some people then cover it with something a bit drier, like a shredded or chipped wood mulch (although that can be a lot of work by this time.) I stopped using it period because I always seem to get fungal gnats with it- at least the more acid environment of the moss helps prevent that.
Madkins007 said:
So can the grass im using cause shell rot as well? the way it works usually is i mist him on his shell and his hide and the bottom layer of the grass is nice and moist while the top layer is moderately dry.. i just dont wanna harm him or cause pain if grass is gunna be a bad idea
My experience is that if he is basically sleeping on a WET surface, there will probably be rot. As far as your grass goes, if it is dry or only slightly damp on their plastron it is probably OK- but that is a guess without seeing the stuff.
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