Red footed tortoise help please!

cmhern0213

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Hi, my name is Christian and I'm new on here and I just recently bought a red footed tortoise. He's adorable and I got him 2 days ago and he seemed lively at the expo but once I put him in his enclosure he seemed to bury himself or hide. Is that normal? Are they just shy? All I wanna make sure is if the little guy or girl is happy in their new home can you help me?
 

wellington

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Hello and Welcome. Yes, we can help. However, we need to know everything about his enclosure. Size, substrate, heating and lighting your using, temps all over day and nigh, humidity, diet, and how often do you soak him and do you have water available 24/7 and what kind of bowl?
Hidin is normal until they get used too you. But, if anything with the enclosure is wrong, he could get sick or always hide.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm not sure it's especially redfooted tortoises. All tortoises tend to hide when taken out of their territory and placed in a new enclosure. Give him time. Once he realizes you are the food god, he'll start looking to you for treats. I'd love to see his picture.
 

cmhern0213

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IMG_0487.JPG

I used two pot dishes for food and water
Substrate is coco coir and I have sphagnum moss inside his hut and outside and he has a basking rock which reaches up to 90 degrees mid day and yeah he just seems to stay in his hut.
I got him Sunday and I'm still trying to learn the routine of this guy. He has the two UVB lights in the back one heat and the other UVB I think. And all I've fed him was romaine lettuce and tried to feed him red peppers yesterday
 

Anyfoot

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Hi Christian and welcome. He looks good.
It's normal for a tortoise to be subdued when dropped into a new environment. However I think you need to make some changes to your enclosure. You need to aim for an ambient temperature of 80 to 88f throughout your enclosure 82/86f is better. You also need high humidity, like 80%+. You can't achieve that in an open enclosure. You need to some how put a lid on that open table enclosure. It looks too dry. Ideally you want s CHE(ceramic heat emitter) on a thermostat to control your heat. Aswell as that I would use a uvb tube type light instead of a basking uvb light. Put some orchid bark over half that coir, this will help retain moisture whilst offering a dryer surface too. Put some moss in the hide too.
Sink the water dish level to the coir and feed off a flat slate or rock. Spray your torts carapace twice a day and make sure your substrate is not dry.
Feed weeds, greens, mushrooms and fruit. Soak the guy daily in warm water for 15mins or so. If your tort is raised in a dry climate it will pyramid.
If that was my enclosure I would make an apex shape lid so you can hang the che and uvb light from inside that.
Good luck.
 

Redfool

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Your table looks awful dry. Remember, these are creatures of the Amazon basin. Humidity is a must. Any way to subdue the lights and keep the heat? Redfoots are forest floor torts and at this size they know they are prey. It takes a while for them to loose their inhibitions and relate you to food.
 

Jennifer G

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So cute! Looks like my guy I've had about a month. They like it humid and warm. Mine hid a lot the first week or so. He still sleeps a lot but is more and more outgoing. He waits at his house door for breakfast.
 

Anyfoot

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Many many opinions on feeding menu.
If I had only one baby like you do I would feed weeds/greens every day. With that a piece of fruit or mushroom about size of your torts head, alternate mushroom and fruit daily. This way your tort won't be able to pig out on fruit or mushroom. It will eat the fruit then have to turn to the weeds. Introduce protein at around 6 months old. earthworms, slugs, woodlice (pill bugs) for example are good options.
 

cmhern0213

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Another question... does anyone know a quick easy way to make a lid for this enclosure or does anyone have any ideas?
 

Jennifer G

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Another question... does anyone know a quick easy way to make a lid for this enclosure or does anyone have any ideas?
I'm not sure of the size, but maybe the top to a Rubbermaid container (clear top) or the like, cutting off one side where the heat lamps are may be an option. In the summer it's humid enough here (yesterday was 91 degrees!) that I got a screen top and keep half covered by a towel. As it gets cooler I may opt for the Rubbermaid cover.
 

cmhern0213

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I guess I'll try something and do you guys have live plants in your enclosures? I was thinking of putting succulents in my enclosure is that a good idea? All I have in there is sphagum moss and I feel like so green could spruce things up.
 

Jennifer G

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I bought some aluminum cake pans and plant green bean seeds (they grow really fast). When they are about 6 inches tall I put the whole pan in one end of his enclosure. It's like a mini forest. Marvin enjoys "chopping" them down and munching on the leaves. I'm trying other seeds too, like lettuce, but green beans grow great. I also put a bromilian plant in it's pot in his place, just for a more "forest-y" feel. I spray the enclosure a couple of times a day. The water drips off the plants to keep humidity up.
 

TammyJ

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He is adorable and lucky to have someone who cares so much to give him all he needs!
 

cmhern0213

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So I might try the green bean trick, but for now I'm putting fake ferns and spider plants until I get something to grow in the coco coir. Does anyone have any recomandations
 

Anyfoot

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So I might try the green bean trick, but for now I'm putting fake ferns and spider plants until I get something to grow in the coco coir. Does anyone have any recomandations
Coco coir has no nutrition in it at all, so plants won't grow, seeds will sprout and die off shortly after. One of the reasons we use coir is because there are no additives in it that are harmful to tortoises. You'll need to mix some soil in it if you want to grow plants.
 
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