New to page need help Verifying species

RandyNC

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Hello my name is Randy and we have a amazing pet Crush I have been told she is a Mohaven desert tortoise but want to see if this is right
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Stuart S.

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Hello and Welcome! Your tortoise looks like a redfoot, the second picture is much better for verification. @ZEROPILOT am I right?

Desert tortoises and Redfoots are totally different, how long have you had Crush?
 

Stuart S.

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Yes take some more if you don't mind but I'm almost certain you have a redfoot on your hands :)
 

Stuart S.

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They need to be in a pretty humid environment as well, what are you keeping crush in?
 

SarahChelonoidis

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I second the need for more photos. That photo is blurry, but the head certainly looks more footed than desert to me. Clear photos of the face, carapace (shell), and plastron (underside) will confirm an id.

What state are you in? The NC in your name isn't for North Carolina, is it? If so, that makes the chance of you having a Mojave desert tortoise quite small.

Also, I see the Russian in that photo and perhaps another (aquatic) turtle? I am not sure if you are familiar with quarantine practices, but it's generally recommended to not let tortoises or turtles that are new to you in contact with other tortoises for at least six months until you can confirm they are healthy. There is also a general recommendation to not mix species, as certain species have been known to transfer contagious pathogens to each other (and Russians and desert tortoises are high of the list for species you don't want to mix with other species). General advice explaining a little more of why we strongly recommend not mixing species: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/mixing.htm
 

Stormy Bluu

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I would also have to agree that it looks like you have a redfoot. There are tons of resources on this page to help you adjust your enclosure to suit a tropical species. The photos are hard to make out, but it looks like your redfoot has some pyramiding going on as well so you will want to make some adjustments with your humidity.
 

RandyNC

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Red footed is what I figured she was after seeing one (when to a buturfly Provision and they had one ) looks so much like her. This was just the other day and this has me a little worried as I need to adjust her habit fast if she is not the desert Tortoise we were told .

I am from Wyoming and yes my other one is a Beautiful russian , but when we seen a post on Craigslist of someone selling Crush and they had her in this little 50 Gallon tank we had to take her in.
I have now spent about 3k on her habitat as she was getting cuts on her arms due to the little space she had to turn around. She has a 12ft by 5 ft habitat that I could make small changes to if she needed the humitaty.(would be easy as her cage is built in a way to house my reptiles above and they have everything needed to make it happen)

I am a reptile guy myself and own many many lizards my girl friend is the one that wanted the Tortoises but they truly had been fun pets.

The unfortunate part is we have no vets anywhere near us other then one that are for dogs and cats or for livestock nothing for the kind of pets I have. I take a drive 4hrs to get to the vet for my lizards but she dose not know a lot about Tortoises she did checkout crush for her cuts .

I spent a lot of time and money to get her habitat to the right levels for a Mohaven and them seen the red footed and started to wonder.

Would like to be Very sure of her species so I can adjust or habitat correctly. She is a very fun pet love to be held and loves to run around the house. She is very active likes to move things in her habitat and that's always funny. She dose not ever Burrow like our russian does. If any of that helps. Then you all for your help with crush

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RandyNC

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I hope the above pix help a lot in seeing the Species of tortoise we have. If you need me to take any more I am more then willing to do so.
 

Yvonne G

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You can be very sure, Randy. That certainly IS a redfooted tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria). And it has been kept way too dry. It is in pretty bad shape. There's some pretty good info on the redfooted tortoises here Tortoise Library
 

RandyNC

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Ok I can make the changes that she needs now I am ready have stuff to do this (Misters and Foggers As well as Humanity bedding that I use for my Tropical lizards )
What should her heat and Humidity be at ?
The lady we got her from did not ha e her set up well at all but we did take her word on the type she was (looking back that was a mistake)

I just need to know how high to make the Humidity and I can Accomplish that today I want her to be very healthy.
 

Yvonne G

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Redfooted tortoises can be kept at an overall temp of 80-85F degrees. There's no need for a hot side/cool side like with other tortoises. The humidity can be upwards of 50%, but if you keep the substrate too wet, the tortoise might suffer shell rot. So try to allow the top layer to dry out, but keep it moist underneath.
 

Yvonne G

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Hard to tell the age, but looking at the last picture it seems to be about the same size as your hand???? So maybe it's around 5 or 10 years old????
 

Stormy Bluu

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Hi Randy! You definitely have a redfoot and her skin looks really dried out and has some shell pyramiding, which is usually the result of not having enough humidity. What type of substrate and lighting are you using? Does she have access to water to soak.
 

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