Hi everyone I'm new to this whole thing and I need some help. I purchased a redfoot from petco about two weeks ago and I would like to know about how old is it and what's the sex. The guy at the store didn't know anything so I'm coming here for some help. The redfoot is pretty active and I currently don't have anything to measure it, but I can take all the pics you may need. Please help me determine the sex cause it's driving me crazy and the pressumed age
Newbie needs some help
- Thread starter adair554
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Welcome! Looks female to me, and around 2 years old.
Bit small could change. But I would have to say a female as well. 2 years old would also be my determination of age as well.
Also looks to be a venezuelan. Good looking tortoise. And welcome.
Also looks to be a venezuelan. Good looking tortoise. And welcome.
Hello and welcome to the forum...
I will say female also but don't quote me on it, lol...
I will say female also but don't quote me on it, lol...
Wow thanks for far all the info. Also i can't seem to get her to eat greens, cause all she wants to eat is Zilla fortified food land turtle & tortoise. What could I do to change this I try and mixing with her food but all she will eat is the dried food. Does anyone think it could be because of my setup as to why she won't eat her greens?
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Perhaps. A lot of commercial pet retailers feed those. Just keep offering it in salad form to entire her to it. 2 times a week or so mix in some treats like banana or strawberries, bell peppers and yellow squash. Gives the greens a color and more of a reason for her to be healthy by offering beneficial veggies and fruit. She will come around. Redfoots love water. Make sure you always have clean water dish big enough for her to soak in. Keep her on mulch and give her a good hide. And of course UVB source. If you haven't had her long she will take a little bit to acclimate to her new surroundings.
try on the first day give her the usual food with some greens, and then every day start to give her less and less fortified food. Or start to mush it(soaking it for about 5 min) and mixing it onto the greens, she will identify with the smell and see that greens are good
Also, i don't see a hide inside the enclosure, you should get one, it's kinda an essential thing
Also, i don't see a hide inside the enclosure, you should get one, it's kinda an essential thing
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I'm a newbie as well, have had my red foot for about 2 months. He used to not eat greens either, actually I couldn't get him to eat anything and after trying a lot of different foods I found one that worked (It's multicolor small pellets, forget the name right now) and feed different fruit with the dry pellets 3 times a week, then put a few pellets with a bunch of mixed greens all other days, he's finally starting to eat the greens more and more. I do soak the pellets in water first, or else he doesn't really eat them.
adair554 said:
Same for me - she was used to eating what she was being fed when I got her. But, I want to plant edible food in her outdoor summer home so I've been trying different things I can grow in the garden - (I don't have weeds...). ... Yesterday - She ate Violla! She loved the pretty Purple flowers! You can but them sheep at Home depot..
1. Age and sex: Too small to tell the sex for sure yet, but female so far. This may change in the next few years. Age is about 2, maybe 2.5 or so- it is not really possible to 'back guess' a tortoise's age with any accuracy. That is OK, though, because unlike humans, they mature by getting bigger, not just older.
2. Diet: Make a nice pile of something like Spring Mix or other very colorful salad mix. Add some slices of banana or strawberry, and sprinkle with some pellets. See if that helps.
You can learn more about diet at: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/nutrition/overview-and-basics
3. Habitat: It is a nice start, but there are some things you can do to make it better. I don't know what your temps or humidity are like- they should be about 83ish overall with the warmest spot almost 90ish and an overall humidity of about 70-80%ish. Good temps and humidity are important for health and appetite.
There needs to be a hide. Here are some ideas for that: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/shelter-hides
Those are commonly used food and water dishes, but not my choice for tortoises. To drink, a tortoise generally reaches down and immerses their head, so something like a plastic or ceramic plant saucer, sunk to the rim, is generally a better choice. You can make a really good food dish by just folding a sheet of newspaper into a flat plate- then you can toss it after use.
Not sure what sort of lighting you are using (an MVB bulb?), but it is important to...
-a- not use too bright of lights in general- a habitat that size can generally be lit with less than 40 watts.
-b- use UVB emitting bulbs, as per the package instructions. These help the animal make vitamin D in their skin and vitamin D is absolutely critical for healthy animals. You don't need to worry about this if it gets about an hour of sunlight, unfiltered through glass or plastic, every week- ideally over several short sessions. (If it IS an MVB bulb, you have this covered.)
You can learn more about light at: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/lighting-1
The habitat is a bit small for that size of tortoise, but will be OK for now, and you may want to consider adding a couple live plants or something- they have a lot of benefits!
2. Diet: Make a nice pile of something like Spring Mix or other very colorful salad mix. Add some slices of banana or strawberry, and sprinkle with some pellets. See if that helps.
You can learn more about diet at: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/nutrition/overview-and-basics
3. Habitat: It is a nice start, but there are some things you can do to make it better. I don't know what your temps or humidity are like- they should be about 83ish overall with the warmest spot almost 90ish and an overall humidity of about 70-80%ish. Good temps and humidity are important for health and appetite.
There needs to be a hide. Here are some ideas for that: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/shelter-hides
Those are commonly used food and water dishes, but not my choice for tortoises. To drink, a tortoise generally reaches down and immerses their head, so something like a plastic or ceramic plant saucer, sunk to the rim, is generally a better choice. You can make a really good food dish by just folding a sheet of newspaper into a flat plate- then you can toss it after use.
Not sure what sort of lighting you are using (an MVB bulb?), but it is important to...
-a- not use too bright of lights in general- a habitat that size can generally be lit with less than 40 watts.
-b- use UVB emitting bulbs, as per the package instructions. These help the animal make vitamin D in their skin and vitamin D is absolutely critical for healthy animals. You don't need to worry about this if it gets about an hour of sunlight, unfiltered through glass or plastic, every week- ideally over several short sessions. (If it IS an MVB bulb, you have this covered.)
You can learn more about light at: https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/lighting-1
The habitat is a bit small for that size of tortoise, but will be OK for now, and you may want to consider adding a couple live plants or something- they have a lot of benefits!
nickercrombie said:
Hi nicercrombie: Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi adair554:
Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!
What would you like us to call you?
...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?
Thanks for sharing your pictures with us. Your tortoise is very pretty.
Hi everyone and thanks again for all the great replies. I'm also getting a hide for her today and I'm about to build another wooden den for her. Also my name is Aaron and I'm from Louisiana. My light source are a UVA/UVB bulb(the guy said it emitted both UVA/B) so I took his word on it. It came with one fixture I didn't wanna get the two lights cause I only brought a 20gal long tank and I was worried about her hot and cold sides of the tank. I'm not sure about the temp just yet but she seems to like to move when she wants to and just as of yesterday she just kinda dug two small spots for herself on both sides and just lays there. She is usually active and moves a lot but all she seems to want to do is sniff around and then either eat or drink and just goes chill in her corner lol for the past two days. Im just trying to figure out if that's normal so future signs of her getting sick r something?
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