My new rescue redfoot tortoise with pics!

[Momo]

Hi guys,

So this is my new tortoise, I saw him online, and I felt so bad for him, that I went and got him the next day.
He's 7.5 x 5 inches, and they had him in a tiny enclosure. I'm guessing from all the help on a different thread his about 4 or five years old. He is wonderful, and very inquisitive. They mainly feed him romaine lettuce, there was no UV light, and he is severely pyramided!!!



I'm hoping that there may be a way to repair some of the damage. I'm planing on building him an outdoor enclosure,
so that he gets proper UV, and some nice room to walk around. I will be putting a very humid hide for him, along with another dry one. Plus lots of plants for hiding, and a nice big water dish. I've checked out Terryo's tortoise
enclosure's for inspiration.

Plus could we possibly sex the tortoise?

Thanks in advance everyone

 

[allegraf]

Your little girl will be fine with the right care. The pyramiding isn't debilitating and should have no effect on her from here on out, (nor is it severe). Make sure you feed her correctly and keep her well. Glad you did a good thing!

 

[Momo]

Your little girl will be fine with the right care. The pyramiding isn't debilitating and should have no effect on her from here on out, (nor is it severe). Make sure you feed her correctly and keep her well. Glad you did a good thing!

Yea is she a girl?!?!? That makes me happy that shes not severe, I guess in comparing with other tortoises on the forum, I thought it was quite extreme! But that is a huge relief! Thanks so much!

 

[mikeylazer]

Yea is she a girl?!?!? That makes me happy that shes not severe, I guess in comparing with other tortoises on the forum, I thought it was quite extreme! But that is a huge relief! Thanks so much!

Thats not severe at all! Its sure as heck not flat, but it isnt too awful. Definitely a female.

 

[kathyth]

She's very beautiful and darn lucky you took her in.
Nice!!

 

[Momo]

Thats not severe at all! Its sure as heck not flat, but it isnt too awful. Definitely a female.

Thanks so much! I was very concerned! Mommy alert was going off! Now i have to figure out feeding her, and how often, cause I always let the babies eat as much as they want! So is she still a juvenile?

 

[mikeylazer]

It is hard to say without knowing exactly how old he is. I would say that 7.5 inches is not full grown for most or all redfoots, though the cherryhead variety are smaller in length. I would say he is not a fully grown adult, but I would not say juvenile.

 

[Mantissa3]

Hi guys,

So this is my new tortoise, I saw him online, and I felt so bad for him, that I went and got him the next day.
He's 7.5 x 5 inches, and they had him in a tiny enclosure. I'm guessing from all the help on a different thread his about 4 or five years old. He is wonderful, and very inquisitive. They mainly feed him romaine lettuce, there was no UV light, and he is severely pyramided!!!



I'm hoping that there may be a way to repair some of the damage. I'm planing on building him an outdoor enclosure,
so that he gets proper UV, and some nice room to walk around. I will be putting a very humid hide for him, along with another dry one. Plus lots of plants for hiding, and a nice big water dish. I've checked out Terryo's tortoise
enclosure's for inspiration.

Plus could we possibly sex the tortoise?

Thanks in advance everyone View attachment 133094

View attachment 133090 View attachment 133091 View attachment 133092 View attachment 133093
View attachment 133089

At 8x5 inches, my two-year old looked the same size but a bit wider- she may not be as old as 4 years- therefore, "she" may still turn out to be a boy...

 

[Momo]

It is hard to say without knowing exactly how old he is. I would say that 7.5 inches is not full grown for most or all redfoots, though the cherryhead variety are smaller in length. I would say he is not a fully grown adult, but I would not say juvenile.

The previous owner said they've had her for four years however they believed that romaine lettuce was redfoots main diet. So with that type of misinformation, I'm going to believe they don't know when they got her either. So I'll just say four or five and not sweat it!

 

[Momo]

At 8x5 inches, my two-year old looked the same size but a bit wider- she may not be as old as 4 years- therefore, "she" may still turn out to be a boy...

Wow! That's huge! Lol. Well right now just getting Trinity ( finally choose a name, lol) used to real food. Her stool is a bit soft, but I'm hoping that in a few days with the right diet she'll be all good!

 

[Mantissa3]

Wow! That's huge! Lol. Well right now just getting Trinity ( finally choose a name, lol) used to real food. Her stool is a bit soft, but I'm hoping that in a few days with the right diet she'll be all good!

I love the name you chose for Trinity- beautiful! My friend has a 28-year-old redfoot, Carl Sagan, who weights almost 38 pounds, so size and weight are not only dependent upon diet, exercise and habitat, but also on region and gene pool.

If you look in my avatar picture here, the largest tort you see in the bath is about 7 inches, and s/he is only 1 and a half years old... the other redfoot baby on the right in my avatar picture is from exactly the same clutch of eggs, hatched within a few weeks of the bigger one, and has exactly the same leg markings and patters on the front legs as his big brother/sister. Having said that, the "little one" in the picture was deathly ill when we got both of them under very, very poor, neglected conditions and found they had been living housed as sulcatas- 101 degrees F, sand substrate, no shade, no water for days (the Feed store thought they only needed to eat a couple of times per week) and they had never had any soakings at all.

The little one was the huge one compared to the other when we rescued them. Then when we took the little one in due to breathing problems (turned out to be a severe case of pneumonia) the "experienced reptile vet" gave him a Vitamin A shot in one HIND LEG, Baytril shot in the other HIND LEG, and then ran a needle under his shell and into his spine to get blood, then when he was weighing the poor traumatized baby, he dropped him and the baby landed on his back and started spinning like a top- then he swiped and grabbed him up again and violently set him upright on the exam bench again.

That baby is still really, really small as you see in the picture. After 2 months of nursing him and stretching out the Baytril shots (not every-other-day as the old school vet told us) he lost all gut bacterial and couldn't eat for a month- you could look inside his shell and see him wasting away. My husband basically laid on the floor on a towel with him for hours every single night, dripping Pedialyte and water into his beak and trying to get some egg yolk into him.

We finally bought some white grubs which he gobbled hungrily, and then we started putting fine grind Oxbow Critical Care for herbivores on his white grubs to pump up his calcium, phosphorous, fiber and gut bacteria. This "growing season" this year is promising for him- he's active, eating like a horse, putting on 3 or 4 ounces every 6 weeks, etc... We are hoping he "baloons out" like his now-big brother since he's eating and running our big backyard and eating the grazing tortoise mix of plants outside, and devouring mango and all types of tortie greens.

Please see attached for a lovely picture of Carl Sagan if you would like to see a 28-year old redfoot that they have never taken to a vet except for some ointment to treat a scratch on his nose that wouldn't heal for 3 months- so they finally caved and took him in. They want him to live as wild as possible so they fixed up the backyard and he simply roams around, sleeping in an "igloo" dog house with a large electric heating blanket fastened to the top of the igloo for winter heat.

Good luck with Trinity- I can tell you love your tort very much!
Karen

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Some Redfoot get larger than others. I have two over 14" and one that is 15". (and one that is 10.5")
We've got people here that can tell at a glance what type they are and the locality of the species.

 

[Onidara]

I love the name you chose for Trinity- beautiful! My friend has a 28-year-old redfoot, Carl Sagan, who weights almost 38 pounds, so size and weight are not only dependent upon diet, exercise and habitat, but also on region and gene pool.

If you look in my avatar picture here, the largest tort you see in the bath is about 7 inches, and s/he is only 1 and a half years old... the other redfoot baby on the right in my avatar picture is from exactly the same clutch of eggs, hatched within a few weeks of the bigger one, and has exactly the same leg markings and patters on the front legs as his big brother/sister. Having said that, the "little one" in the picture was deathly ill when we got both of them under very, very poor, neglected conditions and found they had been living housed as sulcatas- 101 degrees F, sand substrate, no shade, no water for days (the Feed store thought they only needed to eat a couple of times per week) and they had never had any soakings at all.

The little one was the huge one compared to the other when we rescued them. Then when we took the little one in due to breathing problems (turned out to be a severe case of pneumonia) the "experienced reptile vet" gave him a Vitamin A shot in one HIND LEG, Baytril shot in the other HIND LEG, and then ran a needle under his shell and into his spine to get blood, then when he was weighing the poor traumatized baby, he dropped him and the baby landed on his back and started spinning like a top- then he swiped and grabbed him up again and violently set him upright on the exam bench again.

That baby is still really, really small as you see in the picture. After 2 months of nursing him and stretching out the Baytril shots (not every-other-day as the old school vet told us) he lost all gut bacterial and couldn't eat for a month- you could look inside his shell and see him wasting away. My husband basically laid on the floor on a towel with him for hours every single night, dripping Pedialyte and water into his beak and trying to get some egg yolk into him.

We finally bought some white grubs which he gobbled hungrily, and then we started putting fine grind Oxbow Critical Care for herbivores on his white grubs to pump up his calcium, phosphorous, fiber and gut bacteria. This "growing season" this year is promising for him- he's active, eating like a horse, putting on 3 or 4 ounces every 6 weeks, etc... We are hoping he "baloons out" like his now-big brother since he's eating and running our big backyard and eating the grazing tortoise mix of plants outside, and devouring mango and all types of tortie greens.

Please see attached for a lovely picture of Carl Sagan if you would like to see a 28-year old redfoot that they have never taken to a vet except for some ointment to treat a scratch on his nose that wouldn't heal for 3 months- so they finally caved and took him in. They want him to live as wild as possible so they fixed up the backyard and he simply roams around, sleeping in an "igloo" dog house with a large electric heating blanket fastened to the top of the igloo for winter heat.

Good luck with Trinity- I can tell you love your tort very much!
Karen
View attachment 133324 View attachment 133325 View attachment 133326

Wow that redfoot is you beautiful!

 

[Mantissa3]

He's a lovely, friendly, happy boy who loves to just come over to your feet and legs and sit down on your foot if you are standing, or lay his (heavy, huge) head on your leg if you are sitting down with him- he looks up adoringly whenever you speak with him, and politely takes mushrooms and fruit bits from your fingers whenever offered.

Carl's tortie-mommy gives him orchids in the spring and summer as a special treat. I've actually seen him trot and nearly "scamper" after her as she walks towards the lovely old orchid bushes to pick a bloom for him. :>)

 

[Mantissa3]

I think s/he may be a bit too young to tell what sex yet- but if you want to check to be sure there is no additional changes going on, there is a good chart you can check periodically that I downloaded from another tortoise forum discussion board here - I've reposted the chart and posted the link where I got it:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sexing-my-redfoot-please-help.110373/

 

[Mantissa3]

Wow that redfoot is you beautiful!

Here's some more lovely shots of Carl Sagan, our friends' wonderful red foot they've had for several decades.

 

[stojanovski92113]

I love redfoots, they are awesome. Well... all tortoises are truly amazing. But there's something about those redfoots that speak to me!

 

[Momo]

I love the name you chose for Trinity- beautiful! My friend has a 28-year-old redfoot, Carl Sagan, who weights almost 38 pounds, so size and weight are not only dependent upon diet, exercise and habitat, but also on region and gene pool.

If you look in my avatar picture here, the largest tort you see in the bath is about 7 inches, and s/he is only 1 and a half years old... the other redfoot baby on the right in my avatar picture is from exactly the same clutch of eggs, hatched within a few weeks of the bigger one, and has exactly the same leg markings and patters on the front legs as his big brother/sister. Having said that, the "little one" in the picture was deathly ill when we got both of them under very, very poor, neglected conditions and found they had been living housed as sulcatas- 101 degrees F, sand substrate, no shade, no water for days (the Feed store thought they only needed to eat a couple of times per week) and they had never had any soakings at all.

The little one was the huge one compared to the other when we rescued them. Then when we took the little one in due to breathing problems (turned out to be a severe case of pneumonia) the "experienced reptile vet" gave him a Vitamin A shot in one HIND LEG, Baytril shot in the other HIND LEG, and then ran a needle under his shell and into his spine to get blood, then when he was weighing the poor traumatized baby, he dropped him and the baby landed on his back and started spinning like a top- then he swiped and grabbed him up again and violently set him upright on the exam bench again.

That baby is still really, really small as you see in the picture. After 2 months of nursing him and stretching out the Baytril shots (not every-other-day as the old school vet told us) he lost all gut bacterial and couldn't eat for a month- you could look inside his shell and see him wasting away. My husband basically laid on the floor on a towel with him for hours every single night, dripping Pedialyte and water into his beak and trying to get some egg yolk into him.

We finally bought some white grubs which he gobbled hungrily, and then we started putting fine grind Oxbow Critical Care for herbivores on his white grubs to pump up his calcium, phosphorous, fiber and gut bacteria. This "growing season" this year is promising for him- he's active, eating like a horse, putting on 3 or 4 ounces every 6 weeks, etc... We are hoping he "baloons out" like his now-big brother since he's eating and running our big backyard and eating the grazing tortoise mix of plants outside, and devouring mango and all types of tortie greens.

Please see attached for a lovely picture of Carl Sagan if you would like to see a 28-year old redfoot that they have never taken to a vet except for some ointment to treat a scratch on his nose that wouldn't heal for 3 months- so they finally caved and took him in. They want him to live as wild as possible so they fixed up the backyard and he simply roams around, sleeping in an "igloo" dog house with a large electric heating blanket fastened to the top of the igloo for winter heat.

Good luck with Trinity- I can tell you love your tort very much!
Karen
View attachment 133324 View attachment 133325 View attachment 133326

Wow! That Carl is beautiful! I'm so sorry about the bad vet! That's one thing about unusual pets...finding a vet who actually knows what their doing!
I'm hoping that if the babies grow that quickly I can do a intro, and have all three together. However now the babies are too small. I weighted, and measured everyone today. Considering how big Trinity is she doesn't weigh much.

Trinity L 7.5 W 177 gram
Rudy L2.5 W 50 grams
Seraphina L 2.5 W 55 Grams

When I got the babies, Seraphina, was 43, and Rudy was 45. So I'm happy their growing. They are from the same breeder, however different mothers. So I'm hoping everyone is a girl! LOL. The previoius owner did check up on Trinity today, which I was pleasantly surprised about! They got her from Tortoise supply! Which is a great company, and I've looked at their babies, and site numerous times! Also that means that trinity, and the babies arent related, which is good to know!

Thanks for all the help! Super busy building her a permanent home outside, and the babies their day enclosure. I've taken lots of pics, and will post as soon as I've finished!

 

[Momo]

I think s/he may be a bit too young to tell what sex yet- but if you want to check to be sure there is no additional changes going on, there is a good chart you can check periodically that I downloaded from another tortoise forum discussion board here - I've reposted the chart and posted the link where I got it:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sexing-my-redfoot-please-help.110373/View attachment 133421

Thats a great chart. I'll take a closer look at Trinity tommorow, during her bath. I'm bathing her everyday to make sure she's doing ok, and she seems to love it! She watches me make her breakfast from the sink. It's super cute!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

He's a lovely, friendly, happy boy who loves to just come over to your feet and legs and sit down on your foot if you are standing, or lay his (heavy, huge) head on your leg if you are sitting down with him- he looks up adoringly whenever you speak with him, and politely takes mushrooms and fruit bits from your fingers whenever offered.

Carl's tortie-mommy gives him orchids in the spring and summer as a special treat. I've actually seen him trot and nearly "scamper" after her as she walks towards the lovely old orchid bushes to pick a bloom for him. :>)

My tortoises had been eating lillies and orchids also. A member here pointed out that some of them were actually harmful to tortoises.
I'm not familiar with an orchid "bush", but are you quite sure that it's safe?