New Owner - Rescued Redfoots

Turtlife

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May 31, 2017
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Hey guys! Been lurking the forum on and off the last few months since I got two 4 yr old Redfoot Tortoises; Ron Swanson & Lil' Sebastian. Here is our intro:

I had been wanting a baby Redfoot for awhile, but after seeing a lot of info on this forum and realizing that there a lot of little guys that need homes...I decided to adopt instead of get myself a baby. So I ending up getting 2 instead of 1 Lol, and rescued these dudes (or dudettes?) from my local Craigslist about 4 months ago.

The previous owner said that they'd had them since they were babies, were about 4 years old (now 4.5) and had always housed them together. They lived in an indoor enclosure for the first 3 years, but then lived in an outdoor enclosure (Central FL - and was way too small) the last year. They seemed to think one was a boy and one was a girl, but weren't entirely sure.

So like I said I've had these guys for a few months now, living outside in Central FL, and have a few questions for the fine people of this forum.

1.) Can anyone sex these guys? I've tried looking it up myself and still am not sure Lol

2.) How do they look overall? I know they have some pyramiding going on..but is there anything else that catches your eye that I should be aware of?

3.) I am wanting to tackle their Pyramiding as best I can. I'm trying to combat it through:
- good nutrition (Dandelion Leaves, Mustard Greens, Mazuri-original-Tortoise food, along with various fruits/veggies weekly)
- supplementation (Calcium w/D3 3- 4x/wk, Calcium w/o D3 c1/wk).
- Humidity in their enclosure. Even though it's god awful here in FL in the summer and I don't understand how any living thing could want more humidity

Any advice/tips/critiques are welcomed and appreciated, thanks!!

* EDIT * - I plan on making a separate post about their new outdoor enclosure I just completed...didn't want too many things going on in one post!

IMG_3142.JPG IMG_3143.JPG IMG_3140.JPG IMG_3139.JPG
 

wellington

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Hello and Welcome. Cut back on the calcium. With natural sunlight you don't need the D3 and too much calcium is as bad as too little. Give a small pinch of the calcium without D3 once a week no more. Can even be less with a really good diet.
I'm not that good on sexing, does either one have a concaved plastron, bottom shell?
 

Turtlife

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Hello and Welcome. Cut back on the calcium. With natural sunlight you don't need the D3 and too much calcium is as bad as too little. Give a small pinch of the calcium without D3 once a week no more. Can even be less with a really good diet.
I'm not that good on sexing, does either one have a concaved plastron, bottom shell?

Meant to say I give the Calcium w/ D3 once a month not week. Eitherway, I will cut back on the Calcium w/o D3 to once a week. I had been sprinkling veryyy small amounts (small pinch) a few times a week...but no more!

As far as their bottom shells go...neither is concave, both are flat.
 

wellington

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@allegraf can probably ID the sex much better then me. I would say they look the same sex and my guess would be female. They could possibly be too small to sex even though they do seem to be old enough. Mine is just a guess. What and see what allegraf says.
 

allegraf

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First dirty one is a girl, the second, still developing, so a girl until the something pops out and makes an appearance. Too small to breed so no worries right now. Their pyramiding is not bad, with good care the new growth will grow out smooth. They will always have those bumps, but it will look better with time.

Here is Tallulah, you can see what I am talking about the smooth new growth.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tallulah-and-pyramiding-over-7-years.15242/

That thread was done in 2010, looks like Tallulah needs updated pics to continue to track the shell changes. Feel free to ask any questions, that is what this forum is all about. Glad you saved them. The bumpy ones always seem to have the most personality!
 

Turtlife

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First dirty one is a girl, the second, still developing, so a girl until the something pops out and makes an appearance. Too small to breed so no worries right now. Their pyramiding is not bad, with good care the new growth will grow out smooth. They will always have those bumps, but it will look better with time.

Here is Tallulah, you can see what I am talking about the smooth new growth.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tallulah-and-pyramiding-over-7-years.15242/

That thread was done in 2010, looks like Tallulah needs updated pics to continue to track the shell changes. Feel free to ask any questions, that is what this forum is all about. Glad you saved them. The bumpy ones always seem to have the most personality!

Thanks so much! Funny...I always thought the "dirty" one was a boy just because he's noticibly bigger than the smaller one, ha! Maybe I'll be able to definitively sex them within the next year or two.

Your Tallulah is beautiful, And I love her story! What would you say is the key to success for over coming pyramiding? I noticed you mentioned soaking them even though you live in a humid climate (I'm in Central FL - can confirm, it's humid as hell this time of year). Whatever needs to be done I'm willing to do it!
 

lisa127

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Welcome! I agree with allegraf as to comments on gender.
 

HarvestHerp5

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Hi, My RF is a craigslist rescue too. It seems like hatchlings are more difficult even though they are soooo cute. I'm glad mine is larger and stable. She's 2 1/2 years old and almost exactly 1 lb. Maybe 5" ? or so. I grew up in central FL. The weather there seems great for a pair of RFs. I will have to bring in mine this fall/winter.
 

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