New owner- "Craigslist" rescued Redfoot

[kevans]

So glad I found this forum. My son had been asking for a "turtle" for several months, so after speaking with several owners and doing some online research we started looking. Being a resue fan I started browsing rescue centers and Craigslist. After speaking (okay texting) with someone looking to rehome we decided to have a look. She has lived the first year of her life in 20 gallon tank with no strata, no lights, no calcium and no humidity other than what is found naturally in our homes in Western Washington (approx. 40%) and occasional swims in a sink- yes I mean swim, she had to swim to stay afloat. Needless to say...we took her. 1 week in she is starting sleep less, LOVES strawberries, and loves to bask. She is about 5 inches long, and has a quite a bit of pyramiding, but I am hopefull with proper care that her sheel will eventually recover some. Looking at plans to build a tortoise table soon to give her more room than her 20 gallon tank offers, so any suggestions are welcome, in addition to size, growth patterns and behavior patterns of redfoots. Oh, and my 9 year old aptly named her Speedy.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. For not having the best first year of life, she doesn't look too bad.

 

[AnnV]

Congrats on your new tort. She isn't too badly pyramided considering.
Glad she is about to receive much better care.

 

[mike taylor]

She is not bad at all ! With the proper care and humidity the pyramiding will subside. Good save here is a picture of my red foot at the same size as yours and a year later . So you can see how it will start smoothing out.

 

[sibi]

I think that you and your daughter are wonderful to even think of rescuing a tort instead of buying a hatchling. The bonus is your RF who looks great considering how he lived. Best to you all

 

[edwardbo]

That red foot is beautiful , respectfully, is that considered pyramiding ? As AnnV said "it isn't too bad". I'd like to ask the experienced members to rate the severity and extent of pyramiding on a scale of 1-10 . I don't see much difference in the two different turtles they both look good to me , I don't have enough hands on experience with red foots to compare . How bad is it?

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By the way ,I've been looking for a YELLOW headed Red foot . I still have trouble seeing a big difference except for the price between cherry heads and red foots in most of the for sale adds . I also been told " a red foot is a red foot". Set me strait , That rescue is is very beautiful with her bright colors ,isn't she?

 

[Saleama]

Wow! Nice save. Pretty baby.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!!

Pyramiding? I think you all have "pyramiding" on the brain. This tortoise is as smooth as can be. A beautiful speciman.

 

[abclements]

I agree with Yvonne! What a great looking tort! On a scale of 1-10 of severity, I give it a 1.5-2! She looks great and is going to be one awesome looking tort and a great addition to the family!

 

[kevans]

Thanks everyone! She entered her water dish on her own for the first time this morning which was exciting. I am so glad her health appears to be fairly good, and the forum has been great on determining how much she should be eating and frequency.