New redfoot under here!

[Darthmaulsmom]

Hey everyone. I just recently got a redfoot who I very affectionately have named Darth Maul. He is a fiesty little bugger! I have him in a 4ft by 3 ft enclosure with a UVB light and standard heating bulb for day and a ceramic heating build for night time as well. They aren’t in the attached picture because the screen cover is off in it. I also just put in a fogger to help with humidity since my apartment gets very dry during winter. The hot side is sitting at 90F with80% humidity and the cool side is sitting at 80F with 80% humidity. He has a hide on both sides. I’ve been soaking him for 20-30 minutes daily followed by feeding him. He has been eating and drinking great but he seems to only eat and drink when I put him there. Every night before I turn out the lights I put him in his water dish and he drinks a bunch before roaming around a bit before going to his food bowl and eating a ton and going to bed. I’ve never seen him actively leave his hide to eat or drink though. Is that just something hatchlings do?

Also side note the rocks in the center have been removed since I took that picture. He thought they were food. So I removed them immediately after he came in contact with him.

 

[LaLaP]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I don't know much about Redfoots or hatchlings so I can't tell you about his behavior... hopefully someone more experienced will give their opinion. I just wanted to point out that those food and water dishes can be tipping hazards which is dangerous especially around water. Most people on this forum use terra-cotta plant saucers for water dishes and a flat stone for a food "dish". The stone will wear down their beaks so you won't have to trim them. Glad you noticed the problem with the stones before he gulped one down! Happy Torting!

 

[Pinkshdw]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I don't know much about Redfoots or hatchlings so I can't tell you about his behavior... hopefully someone more experienced will give their opinion. I just wanted to point out that those food and water dishes can be tipping hazards which is dangerous especially around water. Most people on this forum use terra-cotta plant saucers for water dishes and a flat stone for a food "dish". The stone will wear down their beaks so you won't have to trim them. Glad you noticed the problem with the stones before he gulped one down! Happy Torting!

Thank you! Can you explain to me what you mean by tipping hazards? Do you mean him tipping himself over or the dish being tipped over? The food dish is really shallow and he walks over the edge no problem without his shell ever touching it. I have burried the water dish deeper since this picture so it is more flush with the substrate and have added more stones into it since it was too deep for my liking. I plan on buying a shallower one though until he’s much larger.

 

[LaLaP]

Thank you! Can you explain to me what you mean by tipping hazards? Do you mean him tipping himself over or the dish being tipped over? The food dish is really shallow and he walks over the edge no problem without his shell ever touching it. I have burried the water dish deeper since this picture so it is more flush with the substrate and have added more stones into it since it was too deep for my liking. I plan on buying a shallower one though until he’s much larger.

Yeah I mean that he could tip over and land on his back. I'm actually just repeating something that I've read here over and over and over again. I haven't seen or experienced it myself since I don't have those types of dishes but it's such common advice given I thought I'd give it. I see the stones in the bottom now and that plus burying it deep in the substrate might be enough to keep him from having an accident but I'm not too sure.

 

[rmn813]

Most baby tortoises have a strong instinct to hide for most of the day. Redfoots are forest tortoises. Areas where they originate from have anywhere from 40%-70% foliage coverage. I would suggest getting some artificial plants. They will likely encourage more exploration of the habitat. You're doing the right thing by encouraging soaking once daily. As you see, soaking triggers feeding. As he gets bigger, you'll notice an increase in activity. He'll become more secure with himself and the environment.

 

[Darthmaulsmom]

Most baby tortoises have a strong instinct to hide for most of the day. Redfoots are forest tortoises. Areas where they originate from have anywhere from 40%-70% foliage coverage. I would suggest getting some artificial plants. They will likely encourage more exploration of the habitat. You're doing the right thing by encouraging soaking once daily. As you see, soaking triggers feeding. As he gets bigger, you'll notice an increase in activity. He'll become more secure with himself and the environment.

I’d love to get artificial plants but since he already tried chewing on the rocks I’m nervous he’ll try to eat the fake stuff too.