New member

[Butcher]

Hi folks. My name is Bill. My wife and I live in Willow Grove Pa. When I met my wife 23 years ago she had a female Eastern box turtle"Shelly". A few months after moving into our current home Shelly escaped into the back yard. In the years after I would find her grazing in the back yard. My wife and I decided to let her live wild. I started finding an occasional male box turtle in the back yard so I figured Shelly was fine and living a good turtle life. It has been a couple years since I have seen Shelly. This spring I purchased a Redfoot baby from My Turtle Store. The little girl arrived safe and appears to be healthy. She is eating well and is finding a favorite spot to hide, inside a half log full of moist moss. I also ordered a tort for myself. A "well established" baby Leopard tortoise. I should be receiving that item in the next few days. "Happy birthday" me!

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you don't let these tortoises to "live wild" or to live together.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, Bill, and welcome!

I've got a couple things to share just in case you don't already know:

Species should not be mixed. They might make each other sick or even dead.

Besides that, pairs don't work. Three or more is ok, but with only two there's a dominant and a subordinate,, and it's stressful in a captive environment.

Lastly, if male box turtles can get into your backyard then your little female can definitely get out!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Just a heads up, I’d remove the moss asap! It can cause lethal impactions.

Perhaps you’ll find this thread below useful to double check your equipment and materials

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

And you might find this one helpful to go over too

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome!

 

[Butcher]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you don't let these tortoises to "live wild" or to live together.

Hi and welcome!

Welcome to the forum. I hope you don't let these tortoises to "live wild" or to live together.

No they will be supervised closely.

 

[Butcher]

No they won't be in the same enclosure. They will both use the outdoor enclosure but on alternating days. When the wea

Welcome to the forum. I hope you don't let these tortoises to "live wild" or to live together.

No they have separate enclosures. They may both use the outdoor enclosure but on different days.

 

[wellington]

No they won't be in the same enclosure. They will both use the outdoor enclosure but on alternating days. When the wea

No they have separate enclosures. They may both use the outdoor enclosure but on different days.

Hello and Welcome.
Not a good idea to have them share the outdoor space even on separate days. Make them their own space and put them out daily when weather permits. The older leopard, if an adult or 10 inches can live outside all summer while the hatchling should be in a closed chamber with short visits outside.
Btw, the Redfoot needs high humidity its whole life.
Please read the care sheets on both.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[EppsDynasty]

@Butcher Welcome,
Please don't get put off by the responses but you are definitely doing some things very wrong. The people you interact with on this site have a 'True' Love for any tortor turtle which includes yours. These people have seen an unimaginable amount of suffering and try to stop any situation that promotes that. You will learn everyday you are here and in turn provide better and better care for your loved ones.

 

[Butcher]

Hi, Bill, and welcome!

I've got a couple things to share just in case you don't already know:

Species should not be mixed. They might make each other sick or even dead.

Besides that, pairs don't work. Three or more is ok, but with only two there's a dominant and a subordinate,, and it's stressful in a captive environment.

Lastly, if male box turtles can get into your backyard then your little female can definitely get out!

The baby red foot is doing well, gaining weight, very active she is currently housed in a Hefty 66 qt. container with a 50 watt basking lamp and 50 watt CHE. there is also a 5.0 UVB lamp. Her basic diet is green/red leaf lettuce, collard greens with dandelion greens or rose leaves. I also add some Mazuri tortoise food and an occasional piece of cucumber. No treats so far as I believe she is very young. I have a portable outdoor enclosure that she can enjoy when the weather is right. Today was in the low 80s with bright sun so she is spending most the day outside. She will come in around sunset.
Lenny my leopard baby is doing well. Twice the size of Shelby the red foot. He is housed in the wood box enclosure we used for the box turtle we had for 25 years. Maintaining the humidity has been a challenge but I seem to have it worked out. Today Lenny had his first outside walk that lasted an hour. he grazed through the grasses for about 20 minutes before heading for the house and shade. Over the course of an hour I was never more than a few feet from him. We enjoyed the interaction and the time outside on such a beautiful day. Hopefully we will have more days like this in the coming weeks. Next spring both tortoises will be outside.
I finished clearing the area today. The area is 20x20 and will contain two 10'x5' enclosures. I should have them ready by the time night time temps stay in the high 60's, probably mid May. I will post pics at a later date.

 

[Ink]

What proteins and fruit do you give the redfoot? They have a different diet than the leopard.

 

[Butcher]

What proteins and fruit do you give the redfoot? They have a different diet than the leopard.

For protein I add some chopped up boiled egg, for fruit a thin slice of grape. The red foot had a small piece of banana about the size of a small marble while she was outside today.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

For protein I add some chopped up boiled egg, for fruit a thin slice of grape. The red foot had a small piece of banana about the size of a small marble while she was outside today.

Red foot can definitely have more fruit than that, they’re a fruit eating species

The baby red foot is doing well, gaining weight, very active she is currently housed in a Hefty 66 qt. container with a 50 watt basking lamp and 50 watt CHE. there is also a 5.0 UVB lamp. Her basic diet is green/red leaf lettuce, collard greens with dandelion greens or rose leaves. I also add some Mazuri tortoise food and an occasional piece of cucumber. No treats so far as I believe she is very young. I have a portable outdoor enclosure that she can enjoy when the weather is right. Today was in the low 80s with bright sun so she is spending most the day outside. She will come in around sunset.
Lenny my leopard baby is doing well. Twice the size of Shelby the red foot. He is housed in the wood box enclosure we used for the box turtle we had for 25 years. Maintaining the humidity has been a challenge but I seem to have it worked out. Today Lenny had his first outside walk that lasted an hour. he grazed through the grasses for about 20 minutes before heading for the house and shade. Over the course of an hour I was never more than a few feet from him. We enjoyed the interaction and the time outside on such a beautiful day. Hopefully we will have more days like this in the coming weeks. Next spring both tortoises will be outside.
I finished clearing the area today. The area is 20x20 and will contain two 10'x5' enclosures. I should have them ready by the time night time temps stay in the high 60's, probably mid May. I will post pics at a later date.

it’s good the baby gets some outdoor time, but as hes so young I wouldn’t let him spend the whole day out there just yet, a few hours at a time is ok until he’s a bit older, he won’t be able to live outdoors full time till he’s measuring around 10 inches, until then, he’ll need housing in a closed chamber.
Same will go for your leopard baby, is lenny in a closed set up? It will be impossible to maintain the humidity where you need in a wooden open top.

For night temps, as adults they could withstand high 60’s(definitely not as babies) but ideally they do like it warmer, perhaps you could think about building them each a their own heated night box when the time comes for them to move outside

For more diet ideas for the red foot, and some inspo on a closed chamber, give the threads I linked above in my first response a read, I think you’ll find the diet suggestions useful to look through