New Tort Mom,

dsbrogan0425

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Joined
Jun 16, 2017
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6
I have been reading on these guys for weeks and days, but one thing I am trying to figure out is how you can tell what is a redfoot and what is a cherryhead redfoot. Then I see some with marbling and I'm like how can you tell what they will look like? The majority of the adults look close to black with some yellow scutes. All of mine look different and it baffles me as to whether they will stay the same colors on their heads and shells or if they will look marbled, or if they will all eventually look the same. The person I got them from say they were cherryhead redfoots, but I'm not experienced enough to really know. The reason why I ask is because I am not sure if there husbandry is kept the same or if there is a variation when it comes to humidity, lighting, and temperatures. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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dsbrogan0425

New Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Messages
6
Hi,

Sorry it took so long to respond back to you. I do know that the carpet is not the right substrate, we do have spagnum moss as well, the vet actually recommended because they are hatchlings with their egg tooth not to put a lot of substrate in the enclosure because when they are hatchlings they can eat it and get bound up. I'm not sure this is true, I'm just beginning this adventure, so I would definitely welcome any advice since you have the experience.

I have only had these guys about 3 weeks, I have them separated from the 2 other tortoises I have because they came from a different breeder. We bought 2 terrariums that are 36l x 18d x 12h, we have the uvb lights in a hood that goes across the top, one half of the enclosure is covered, the other half is screened and has a 50 watt heat bulb on one side. We do have some spagnum moss in the enclosure for humidity with their hide. One side of the enclosure is in the mid 80's, the other side is around 80, with the humidity at 70-80 on both sides. Eventually we will be putting them together in a tortoise table, but for right now we are keeping them separate for quarantining.

I am attaching the underside, one has little white spots on the plasteron, the vet said it isn't rot, they said it was from the water.

I really hope they are cherryhead redfoots, my son wants the ones that marble and these looked different that the other ones the breeder had, so I'm hoping we have at least 1 out of this group but knowing my luck we prolly have the regular ones.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have been reading a lot and it's all good information and I want to learn. The vet said well they aren't dead yet, that wasn't very comforting. I want to do what is right, the frustrating part for me is they will go for days and be so good and then you have 1 day that their is one getting flipped every couple minutes and I worry if we aren't home how it would survive because they can't flip themselves back over. They aren't aggressive they just want in the same place.

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ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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I'm on my phone and the photos are tiny.
I see no shell fungus. But I can't 100% say if you have Cherryheads because I can't see the leg spurs, etc.
All Cherryheads don't "marble" and most marbling fades away. Babies often have lighter plastrons than the dark adults.
Let's wait for someone with more experience with Cherryheads.
I just keep Northern Redfoot.
I didn't realize they were so tiny. I keep my very new babies on warm, damp paper towels. The carpet might foul with waste or grow mold.
 

xirxes

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Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
175
Twinkie is the only oddball to me possibly a yellow head variety Eastern, or not an Eastern at all, but rest seem like standard Eastern to my untrained eye.
 

Anyfoot

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Brazilians have the dark area around the egg sack and along the scute seams on the plastron.
Some of my northerns had the same pattern as the the Brazilians but it wasn't a as dark, over a few months these dark patches faded to the color of the rest of the plastron.
If you look at cupcake he has the same pattern as Batman but not as dark just like my northerns did.
What I don't know is if some Brazilians start off light then go dark, this is where experience of hatching 100's of babies comes in. Hence. @cdmay
The only 2 Brazilians I hatched are very dark.
 
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