Red Footed Tortoise Hatchling Woes

[Tom]

Oh I have two ceramic heat emitters. So are you saying I should put one on each side of the enclosure and add a thermostat to turn them off and on to regulate the temps? Chuck the flood bulb? I think I have a thermostat somewhere, so long as it’s made it the million moves we’ve made since my bearded dragons 15 years ago. I can see how having the open top will make things hard. I have a double lamp on one side with day/night timer for the two bulbs. And I covered the other side with cut vinyl and wrapped it in plastic wrap. It has worked wonders. But if I put a bulb on both sides I’d have to chuck that idea.

The issue with converting screen top enclosure is that the ceiling is too low to hang the heating and lighting inside. Having the heat and lights outside doesn't work very well.

I'm glad you already knew about the sand.

FB and pet shops are two of the most notoriously bad places to go for tortoise care info.

Misters outside can help, but you have to be careful with this species because wet conditions will cause shell rot. They need high humidity, but they also need it dry. They really do best in South FL, or Louisiana and that sort of climate. I've never thought of north TX as humid. What sort of humidity do you have there?

Have you seen this thread? It will offer some insight:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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[TheArmedSparrow]

The issue with converting screen top enclosure is that the ceiling is too low to hang the heating and lighting inside. Having the heat and lights outside doesn't work very well.

I'm glad you already knew about the sand.

FB and pet shops are two of the most notoriously bad places to go for tortoise care info.

Misters outside can help, but you have to be careful with this species because wet conditions will cause shell rot. They need high humidity, but they also need it dry. They really do best in South FL, or Louisiana and that sort of climate. I've never thought of north TX as humid. What sort of humidity do you have there?

Have you seen this thread? It will offer some insight:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Hi Tom, thanks again for the reply. It isn’t Houston humid here but as a Los Angeles/Ventura County native, it isn’t nearly as dry as the chaparral coast. For instance our summers are hot here but humidity runs 75 to 95%. Today has a high of 98% and a low of 60% at around 1pm (sun’s highest point). There’s a lot of people in the area that successfully keep them outside including a rescue that won’t even adopt out their tortoises to someone that will only keep them inside. But I don’t intend on keeping them exclusively outside. My husband and I like to do projects when he’s home from orders or deployment. It’s a nice way to reconnect. Ultimately when we move to our land in East Texas (even more humid), the goal is to build an insulated structure to keep them in at night and access to an enclosure giving them freedoms to roam a bit during the day. Winters are mild but it is Texas so there are random dates in February that freeze. It never lasts long. I’ve been here 5 years now and it’s snowed twice, both times melting completely in a few days. Temps start dropping below 60 at night in November but it stays pretty warm until January/February. It rains like crazy April thru June. Summers get stupid hot July thru beginning of September, but humidity is kind of a constant except at the hottest point of the day.

Anyway, I struggled between getting a p.pardalis Leopard Tortoise and Red Footed tortoise for months. I’ve talked to a lot of people that have both here in Texas and I liked the variety of the redfoot diet, their inquisitive nature, and size. If I got a leopard I only wanted the bigger South African variety but had more concerns about how wet it can get here and the increased likelihood as adult that I’d need to keep him inside when it gets too wet and cold. So I decided on redfoots. Maybe I made a mistake for my area? I don’t know.

So here’s where I can use your help. I have a spare room and an essentially empty garage. I can use either and build something customer this summer. I just need instructions. My husband is very handy and enjoys carpentry. I like electrical stuff so together we like big projects. He has 1 to 4 years left in the Navy (depending if he makes rank this summer) and I’m staying in Texas regardless of his orders. What setup will work for these babies that doesn’t look like trash and will serve it’s purpose for the next few years until he’s retired? Ultimately I’d love to convert an insulated shed into a reptile habitat so bonus if the enclosure can be used in that once we upgrade.

Everything I see looks either way too small or like a diy project. It would be cool if I could find a way to create a closed chamber using my existing terrarium but it’s a crap shoot when I look online. If you’re open to it, maybe we can chat on the phone or zoom? So I can pick your brain a bit?

Lately all I’ve done is work because I’m trying to keep myself distracted but it would be cool to distract myself with something other than 60 hour work weeks.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom, thanks again for the reply. It isn’t Houston humid here but as a Los Angeles/Ventura County native, it isn’t nearly as dry as the chaparral coast. For instance our summers are hot here but humidity runs 75 to 95%. Today has a high of 98% and a low of 60% at around 1pm (sun’s highest point). There’s a lot of people in the area that successfully keep them outside including a rescue that won’t even adopt out their tortoises to someone that will only keep them inside. But I don’t intend on keeping them exclusively outside. My husband and I like to do projects when he’s home from orders or deployment. It’s a nice way to reconnect. Ultimately when we move to our land in East Texas (even more humid), the goal is to build an insulated structure to keep them in at night and access to an enclosure giving them freedoms to roam a bit during the day. Winters are mild but it is Texas so there are random dates in February that freeze. It never lasts long. I’ve been here 5 years now and it’s snowed twice, both times melting completely in a few days. Temps start dropping below 60 at night in November but it stays pretty warm until January/February. It rains like crazy April thru June. Summers get stupid hot July thru beginning of September, but humidity is kind of a constant except at the hottest point of the day.

Anyway, I struggled between getting a p.pardalis Leopard Tortoise and Red Footed tortoise for months. I’ve talked to a lot of people that have both here in Texas and I liked the variety of the redfoot diet, their inquisitive nature, and size. If I got a leopard I only wanted the bigger South African variety but had more concerns about how wet it can get here and the increased likelihood as adult that I’d need to keep him inside when it gets too wet and cold. So I decided on redfoots. Maybe I made a mistake for my area? I don’t know.

So here’s where I can use your help. I have a spare room and an essentially empty garage. I can use either and build something customer this summer. I just need instructions. My husband is very handy and enjoys carpentry. I like electrical stuff so together we like big projects. He has 1 to 4 years left in the Navy (depending if he makes rank this summer) and I’m staying in Texas regardless of his orders. What setup will work for these babies that doesn’t look like trash and will serve it’s purpose for the next few years until he’s retired? Ultimately I’d love to convert an insulated shed into a reptile habitat so bonus if the enclosure can be used in that once we upgrade.

Everything I see looks either way too small or like a diy project. It would be cool if I could find a way to create a closed chamber using my existing terrarium but it’s a crap shoot when I look online. If you’re open to it, maybe we can chat on the phone or zoom? So I can pick your brain a bit?

Lately all I’ve done is work because I’m trying to keep myself distracted but it would be cool to distract myself with something other than 60 hour work weeks.

I'd be happy to chat on the phone. I can talk about tortoises all day!

I would have recommended the SA Leopard for where you are now, but the RF is great in wetter East TX. RF don't do as well in dry climates, but it sounds like you will be fine in your area. And the RF do usually have great personalities. I'm up in dry SCV.

Outdoors full time is ideal for adults with the right climate and the right set up, but indoors is better for little babies. My general rule of thumb is one hour of access to sunshine per inch of tortoise, until they get to around 5-6 inches. After that, outside all day is fine, weather permitting.

I tried many times to build suitable indoor housing. There is just no way to keep the wood from rotting, no matter what you "paint" it with. You can make your own enclosure using expanded PVC sheets, but what I discovered is that it is actually cheaper to just buy a cage already made than to buy all the stuff and spend the time building it yourself. I started with Animal Plastics, and they are great, but the wait time is nearly a year. After I had bought a few AP cages, our own @Markw84 designed and started building his "Smart Enclosures". These things are the most perfect tortoise life support system there is. They come with all the electrical stuff and lights already installed. You just put it together, plug it in and program your timers and thermostats, and its ready to go. He recently told me the wait time is usually around 4-8 weeks currently. With two of these for indoors, and a couple of night boxes attached to large outdoor enclosures, you'd be all set. You can stack them to save space, if needed, and they look sharp.

Where the building skills will come in handy is the outdoor night boxes when they get bigger. I do use wood, but I paint the outside and coat the inside with Pond Shield. It works for me so far, but I have still experienced some rot that needed patching after a few years. The tortoises wear through it, and the moisture finds every little pin prick of an opening to get into. Here are two examples that you guys can adapt to your situation:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TheArmedSparrow]

I'd be happy to chat on the phone. I can talk about tortoises all day!

I would have recommended the SA Leopard for where you are now, but the RF is great in wetter East TX. RF don't do as well in dry climates, but it sounds like you will be fine in your area. And the RF do usually have great personalities. I'm up in dry SCV.

Outdoors full time is ideal for adults with the right climate and the right set up, but indoors is better for little babies. My general rule of thumb is one hour of access to sunshine per inch of tortoise, until they get to around 5-6 inches. After that, outside all day is fine, weather permitting.

I tried many times to build suitable indoor housing. There is just no way to keep the wood from rotting, no matter what you "paint" it with. You can make your own enclosure using expanded PVC sheets, but what I discovered is that it is actually cheaper to just buy a cage already made than to buy all the stuff and spend the time building it yourself. I started with Animal Plastics, and they are great, but the wait time is nearly a year. After I had bought a few AP cages, our own @Markw84 designed and started building his "Smart Enclosures". These things are the most perfect tortoise life support system there is. They come with all the electrical stuff and lights already installed. You just put it together, plug it in and program your timers and thermostats, and its ready to go. He recently told me the wait time is usually around 4-8 weeks currently. With two of these for indoors, and a couple of night boxes attached to large outdoor enclosures, you'd be all set. You can stack them to save space, if needed, and they look sharp.

Where the building skills will come in handy is the outdoor night boxes when they get bigger. I do use wood, but I paint the outside and coat the inside with Pond Shield. It works for me so far, but I have still experienced some rot that needed patching after a few years. The tortoises wear through it, and the moisture finds every little pin prick of an opening to get into. Here are two examples that you guys can adapt to your situation:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

Great advice on purchasing the enclosures. I’m currently looking into both AP and Mark’s smart enclosures as options. The enclosures are affordable but shipping is insane. Mark sent me a message saying it will be between $400 and $700 to ship. I’m not sure if I have more local options.

For the time being, I took out the flood bulb and added a second CHE to the existing setup on a thermostat. I need to return this double light fixture I bought and just get two separate fixtures. One for each side of each enclosure. Temps are between 80 and 85 right now. Humidity holding between 80 and 90%.

I bought some items on recommendation from the reptile store that I’m returning. They have a 10 day return policy for store credit so I’m taking back the heat projecting bulb, the basking bulb and the light fixture. I’m sure I have things I can’t return but I figure I’ll just try and resell on Facebook market place.

Baby is more active. I can’t say whether he’s eating or not for sure. My husband took our team scale (no idea why) to his current duty station so I’ll need to buy a new one. But he seems more active for sure. Definitely not dehydrated. I’m dialing twice s day right now.

Big baby is eating like a champ. Very active. Pooped. He even comes out when I go into the enclosure. Very cool considering he’s a hatchling. He seems really confident.