new red foot tort mom

tamstorts

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I recently acquired a 3 month old red foot, then a few days later brought home a couple month old cherry head red foot, they are eating well and seem to enjoy "bath" time and don't mind being handled, I show no signs of aggression towards each other but they seem to be in their hide a bit more than I had anticipated...any thoughts or reasons to be concerned.
 

MysticCaribou

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I recently acquired a 3 month old red foot, then a few days later brought home a couple month old cherry head red foot, they are eating well and seem to enjoy "bath" time and don't mind being handled, I show no signs of aggression towards each other but they seem to be in their hide a bit more than I had anticipated...any thoughts or reasons to be concerned.

Congratulations on your new acquisitions. Young tortoises spend most of their time sleeping in their hides. Do you have enough plants, etc. in the habitat so they have their privacy if desired? Tortoises are solitary for the most part and can easily be intimidated by other tortoises for all sorts of reasons that don't appear to be obvious to us.
Maybe post a photo of their habitat.
 

tortdad

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Welcome. There are many many things that new tort owners do wrong that kills there tort and you won't even know until they get sick and it's too late.

Is it normal for them to hide most of the time.... absolutely. But they will hide a lot of the set up is wrong too so the best thing you can do right now is check out our care sheets and ask as many questions as you want. There are no stupid questions except the one you didn't ask.

If you post several pic of your set up we can help make sure it's correct. Tell us all you can about the equipment you have and the food you feed. Be very detailed. Brands of bulbs, distance above the tort the bulbs are mounted, temps you have (day and night) equipment you are using to measure said temps. Types of food, time of day you feed and so on and so on. The more detailed you can be the easier it is for us to help.
 

tamstorts

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Congratulations on your new acquisitions. Young tortoises spend most of their time sleeping in their hides. Do you have enough plants, etc. in the habitat so they have their privacy if desired? Tortoises are solitary for the most part and can easily be intimidated by other tortoises for all sorts of reasons that don't appear to be obvious to us.
Maybe post a photo of their habitat.
I have a hide, a larger green plant they can get under, a rock formation with a ledge one can be under so I think I've provided multiple options, they are in the hide together most of the time seems to be and have even "peeked in" and found them burrowed in next to each other so it appears they are ok with each other they just don't seem to come out as much as I'd thought but it might be they are still young and new to us and their new home. I'll post pictures when I can!
 

ZEROPILOT

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Redfoot will often cohabitate when young better than most tortoises.
But if you end up with a pair or two males you will need to consider keeping them apart or adding more tortoises.
They do better either alone or in herds. Not as pairs. Pairs are a recipe for bullying and aggression.
Also, in the future you should always quarantine any new animal for months before introducing them to avoid transferring pathogens.
 

tamstorts

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Welcome. There are many many things that new tort owners do wrong that kills there tort and you won't even know until they get sick and it's too late.

Is it normal for them to hide most of the time.... absolutely. But they will hide a lot of the set up is wrong too so the best thing you can do right now is check out our care sheets and ask as many questions as you want. There are no stupid questions except the one you didn't ask.

If you post several pic of your set up we can help make sure it's correct. Tell us all you can about the equipment you have and the food you feed. Be very detailed. Brands of bulbs, distance above the tort the bulbs are mounted, temps you have (day and night) equipment you are using to measure said temps. Types of food, time of day you feed and so on and so on. The more detailed you can be the easier it is for us to help.
I have a 40 gallon reptile tank (one end has a 2-3 inch vented upper area)
 

tortdad

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What is your day time temp?
What is the humidity?

What is your night time temps?
What is the humidity then?
 

tortdad

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Is one of those 2 bulbs uvb? If so you've got the wrong kind of bulb. If one of them is not uvb then you need to get one asap
 

tortdad

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Did you find the care sheets? Because you're going to need a crash course on red foot. There's not much correct about your set up and if you don't Start fixing things now you'll be back here in a month or so posting about your babies being sick and what to do to make them better.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Most of us use an 18" strip florescent for a setup like that for UV and a CHE for heat. Maybe two. Drop the lights and mount them to the lid and close off the top for help in maintaining warmth and humidity.
Your parameters are roughly Temperature between 81 and 88. Redfoot do not like high heat and generally do not require a "basking" area.
Humidity all over above 75%.
Humid hides and areas of darkness.
Lights that are not very bright. Like a strip florescent. Redfoot are not fond of bright lights.
Your 40 gallon will do for now. It's also very tall, so you can secure the light to a plexiglass top and it should be close to the correct height. Maybe an 18" 5.0 from a pet shop in a cheap fixture from Home Depot or Walmart?
Also, I use a layer of Orchid bark covered by a layer of potting soil. Pour some water into the corners and the bark absorbs it, giving off humidity while leaving the top layer pretty dry.
 

tamstorts

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What is your day time temp?
What is the humidity?

What is your night time temps?
What is the humidity then?
the day temp runs 89-92 and humidity about 70% / the evening drops to about 72 and the humidity is about 85%
 

tamstorts

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Did you find the care sheets? Because you're going to need a crash course on red foot. There's not much correct about your set up and if you don't Start fixing things now you'll be back here in a month or so posting about your babies being sick and what to do to make them better.
thanks for the abrupt slap in the face "new to tortoise care idiot" approach. I did do research, I get differing opinions from differing areas. I thought I could come on here and get some kind pointers not a complete please start over suggestion
 

ZEROPILOT

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Sometimes it seems rude to get a lot of info in one big pile.
We're all just passionate about tortoises and we answer the same questions and deal with the same issues each and every day.
After a while, sometimes the replies get a little stiff.
But each of us wants to help. The respondents have been fellow Redfoot keepers.
Future friends.
 

tortdad

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thanks for the abrupt slap in the face "new to tortoise care idiot" approach. I did do research, I get differing opinions from differing areas. I thought I could come on here and get some kind pointers not a complete please start over suggestion

It's not meant to be rude at all so please don't take it personal.

The current set up you have screams "pet store advice" which is horrible

Your bulb is bad for the torts eyes

You are using the wrong source for heat

And 72 is too cold at night for baby's

You haven't had them in this set up long enough to make them I'll yet but I can promise you it's coming.

They way you're set up is dooming them for a respiratory infection. Next is the vet bills, the vitamin injections, the antibiotics... and still the cost of fixing your set up.

I promise you that our intention is help you get you're set up to where your tortoise can thrive and be healthy. Plus you'd be surprised by how inexperience the correct items are when you're not buying from a pet store.

We aim to educate, not insult. Sometimes we come off harsh but that only because we see this time and time again. To include myself when I got my first tort. It's far better to fix it now that try to do it once your tort is sick.
 

tortdad

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Quick easy things you can do are switch out the uvb to a tube fluorescent

Replace the other bulb with a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) the put out zero light, just heat. The uvb bulb will be plenty of light and you only need a 60w Che for that tank

Then hook that uvb light up to a $5 Home Depot timer and put that Che on a reptile thermostat. Unfortunately the t-stat is something designed specifically for pets so it's more expensive. They're $55 at petco but you can order on online from LLL Reptiles for like $30. Set the temp for 80 degrees and it will kick on and off all day and night but only as needed to keep your tort at the optimal temp.
 

tamstorts

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It's not meant to be rude at all so please don't take it personal.

The current set up you have screams "pet store advice" which is horrible

Your bulb is bad for the torts eyes

You are using the wrong source for heat

And 72 is too cold at night for baby's

You haven't had them in this set up long enough to make them I'll yet but I can promise you it's coming.

They way you're set up is dooming them for a respiratory infection. Next is the vet bills, the vitamin injections, the antibiotics... and still the cost of fixing your set up.

I promise you that our intention is help you get you're set up to where your tortoise can thrive and be healthy. Plus you'd be surprised by how inexperience the correct items are when you're not buying from a pet store.

We aim to educate, not insult. Sometimes we come off harsh but that only because we see this time and time again. To include myself when I got my first tort. It's far better to fix it now that try to do it once your tort is sick.
Thank you for your clarification of intent, I did not buy the set up the 3 pet stores I spoke with showed me or disguised with me. I bought pieces of what other tortoise owners suggested (spoken to in person and online sites on RED FOOTS... I've read and heard heating one end to about 90 is best, I mist 2-3 times a day to keep the humidity up, I have a couple places they can get in / away from each other but had not heard or read anything about a different UVB light? I am open to suggestions on subtle changes but please remember two things 1 I already have some money sunk into this habitat and 2 everyone / every site / pet store seems to have a differing opinion on what I need for the perfect habitat. Of course I want to take the very best care of my Scarlett and Sonny but with so many different thoughts on ideal temp / humidity level / substrate / enclosure I've got to at some point go with a plan and pray for the best outcome.
 

tortdad

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Thank you for your clarification of intent, I did not buy the set up the 3 pet stores I spoke with showed me or disguised with me. I bought pieces of what other tortoise owners suggested (spoken to in person and online sites on RED FOOTS... I've read and heard heating one end to about 90 is best, I mist 2-3 times a day to keep the humidity up, I have a couple places they can get in / away from each other but had not heard or read anything about a different UVB light? I am open to suggestions on subtle changes but please remember two things 1 I already have some money sunk into this habitat and 2 everyone / every site / pet store seems to have a differing opinion on what I need for the perfect habitat. Of course I want to take the very best care of my Scarlett and Sonny but with so many different thoughts on ideal temp / humidity level / substrate / enclosure I've got to at some point go with a plan and pray for the best outcome.

Advice is always different where ever you go but you can ask the many redfoot owners here and they will all say the same thing as far as care goes.

Just look at some of the pictures of the nice health smooth tortoises on this website and that should convince you that we've got this down to a pretty good science.

Red foot do not need temperature zones like other torts where we heat up one side more than the other. Give your baby reds a steady 80 degrees and they'll be just fine and dandy.

Redfoot torts live in the shade so super bright lights keep them hiding instead of out and about. That's why a Che is best for heat... all heat, no light. The thermostat is the only way to assure you've got optimal temps all day and night.

We're not telling you to start all over, just modifying what you've got. However, soon.... sooner than you probably think, you'll need to start over on that rank. They will out grow that pretty quickly.

Good new with that is we can show you how to build your own broiler better enclosure for less than a store bout tank. Go check out the enclosure section of this website. You can get lost for hours looking at all the ideas people have come up with.
Rubbermaid containers, book shelfs flipped o there backs, kiddy pools... the list goes on and on.

Humidity is very important and your levels seem decent but to be honest I don't trust the numbers you're giving me because I can see you're siding one of this disc type analogue gauges.

Two things wrong with that. 1 they are super inaccurate. 2 it's mounted at the top of the tank not down at tort level. Home Depot sells a digital gauge made my Accurate... they're out in the garden isle next to swimming pool chemicals. That's where all the wireless weather stations are. This digital gauge will measure temps And humidity, not only that it will tell you what the daily high and low for each were. It cost $10
 
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