Red footed tortoise-new

[Alithany]

Hello all. I live in California and I was given a red footed tortoise as a birthday present. Now I'm doing a crash course in the care. I'd like to clarify I don't condone giving live animals as gifts...I'm not complaining, I'm a bit thrilled but again...it doesn't usually offer the best of care from the giftee! I was pointed to this forum from a crested gecko forum and am very grateful. I'm trying to find out as much as possible about this little guy. He/she measures 5 inches by 3 3/4 inches.

This is Sheldon (I'm a big bang theory fan):

I also thought his/her shell looked pretty good but after reading about red footed tortoises for the last two days, I see it has some pyramiding and it should be smoother. Thoughts?
Is it too young to sex? I've read they should be around 6 inches to sex but here are some photos and I'd love to hear what you think:

I'm also guessing Northern red footed tortoise?? Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Meg90]

Hey! Glad you came over! Lots of GREAT red foot keepers here! Your new tort is adorable

 

[fhintz]

Grats on the cute new tort!

The shell looks a little bumpy, but not bad, and I would agree it's a Northern. I'm still pretty much a newbie at tortoise care, so hopefully the experts will chime in soon to clarify.

http://www.redfoots.com/redfoot.htm is a good place to start getting a lot of care info.

 

[N2TORTS]

Nice looking lil red .... looks to be a lil boy ..would be my opinion! And yes ... a Northern ...

 

[Traveller]

Congrats on your new tort.
You've come to the right place, lots of great info here.
Great pics.

 

[Tropical Torts]

I have to agree your new one does look like a boy. Congrats!!!

 

[Alithany]

Meg90: Thanks again for pointing me to this forum! I've really learned a lot so far. I was able to find a nice list of safe plants for an outdoor enclosure. I hope to start it this weekend.

Thanks for all the nice comments to all of you. I was thinking it was female but then I was convinced it was male...then I realized I didn't know much so I should ask. I was told it was a cherry head but after looking at pics...it doesn't fit the description. He does like to bob his head at me when I pick him up. Do only males do this head bobbing?

There are three tortoises at the local pet store. Would you be able to tell the sexes of these? They are horrible pictures taken with a camera phone and I had to sneak the pics real quick.

Thanks to all for the nice comments. I did find a nice diet regime to follow and I'm off to the enclosure section to do some studying.

---

Correction...that first camera phone pic was my attempt to take a picture of Sheldon. SO the last two are pics of the pet store tortoises.

 

[Madkins007]

They look like girls to me.

 

[Alithany]

I was going to get Sheldon a friend but read on some posts that red footed tortoises do fine alone. HhmmmMmmm. The last one did bob it's head at me when I picked it up. Does anyone know if this is a female and male thing?

 

[Redfoot NERD]

Too young/small to "classify" anything other than that's a Northern redfoot tortoise. And I believe most enjoy the company of others.. providing the space is ample.

Since I don't have "a life".. I've just taken pics of redfoot tortoises over the past 5 years or so.. and recorded a few observations - see here - http://www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm

NERD

 

[Alithany]

Thanks redfoot nerd. that is one of the first sites I found online and I'm following the diet from it. I think I've gone over that site about 5 times in the last few days. Great stuff!! Thanks