Redfoot/Cherryhead

[fubab]

Hi, I'm new here so I apologise if there's an answer somewhere already.......my male (?) is 9 years old, tbh we have had very little guidance and no local vets are interested :-/
He seems to be trying to hibernate this winter (it's pretty cold here in the UK) but we've never had this problem before. He has eaten/drank very little over the last week + is just tucked in the corner of his enclosure. When I get him out, he walks slowly for a short time, then just finds a place and tucks himself away.
Any clues what I should do???

 

[Kristina]

What are the temps in your enclosure? More details on diet, please, lighting, size of enclosure, etc. Everything you can think of.

Redfoots do NOT hibernate, something else is wrong and we need to figure it out right away!

 

[Shelli]

Maybe the OP doesn't have any heat on his RF, on my desktop I have the temperature in south west England at 40 degrees F so 5 degrees C..
Could be a good reason for its behaviour... !!!

 

[fubab]

Diet......lettuce, courgette, green beans, mango, strawberry,tomato...he's not keen on carrot or apple.....occasional cat food + something called 'Komodo Complete Holistic Tortoise Diet' , I'm wondering if I'm not feeding him enough animal matter, I've read it can cause them to develop hind leg paralysis??
I'm not sure of temperatures....my hubby sorted that + he's out at the moment. I know there's a heat mat + a heat light too, the main light goes out at around 9pm til 9am but there's a small red heat lamp that stays on all night (sorry for my lack of knowledge, I feel quite embarrassed but too worried to wait for him to return home)
Enclosure is 6ft by 3ft.
Please excuse my ignorance :/

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Yeh but we've had him for 9yrs????

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Hey, I can't work out how to quote etc???
Shelli, what's OP?? Sorry!!! We have heat in with him?? We've had him 9yrs, this is the first year he's done this???

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I'm not good at this eh!!!! Sorry!!

 

[egyptiandan]

Hard to give advice when we don't know the temperatures, but your Redfoot is either to cold or he/she is sick. If it is warm in the enclosure, it sounds like he is having a protozoan problem. Your going to need to find a good reptile vet. Where are you in the UK?

Danny

 

[Shelli]

Fubab--- OP= Original Poster..
Stick around the forum you will get so much help and hopefully get to the bottom of this, it would be such a shame to loose a 9 year old Red-Foot. I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions perhaps at the end if you are still confused you can have someone give you the many suggestions in order of importance so that your RF gets the bigger issues dealt with first...
Good Luck!!

 

[fubab]

Thanks for help so far. Egyptiandan, I'm in Lincolnshire

 

[egyptiandan]

Louise Rayment-Dyble BVetMed CertZooMed MRCVS
All Creatures Healthcare Ltd., Brackenwood, Sandy Lane, Horsford, Norwich NR10 3EB
Tel: 01603 898984 or 07810 697614.
Email: [email protected]
www.allcreatureshealthcare.co.uk
Speciality: avian, REPTILIAN , small furries, AMPHIBIANS and fish.

Thats the best closest vet I can find.

Danny

 

[fubab]

Hi,
thanks for looking but it's a 4 hour trip + I'm a mum of 2 who works full time.....gonna be hard to make that trip

 

[movealongmosey]

With the diet your feeding him now (depending on quantity) may not be giving him the right nutrition. Iceberg lettuce holds no nutritional value at all and I would suggest kale. Also a picture might help so we can see if he has any pyramiding. Some torts can develop MBD if they don't get enough calcium. Also you have to be careful with the heating mat. Make sure it's not too hot. I hope your tort gets better and hopefully he can go to a vet. Try giving him a nice warm soak in the tub, that'll get him moving. He'll want out sooner or later.
Best of luck!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi fubab:

There's no need for you to apologize. You're in need of help, and you need to ask the questions so we can give you the correct answers. That's what we're here for. Sure, we love to socialize, but mainly, we like to help people with good info so they're tortoises grow up healthy and happy. We'll ask you to elaborate, then you ask what you need to know. That's the way it goes. We're glad to help and don't ever worry about asking questions you need answers too.

I don't keep redfoot tortoises, by my first thing to do when I notice a tortoise isn't happy is to move the temperature up a few degrees and give him a good, warm soak. If that doesn't help him, then I have to look further to figure out what's wrong.

So keep those questions coming until you get the answers that help your tortoise! And keep us informed.

 

[Shelli]

The OP is probably sleeping now hopefully she will check back tomorrow.
Do you keep fresh water in your tortoise enclosure?
Is the water dish (if you have one) big enough for your tortoise to have a shallow soak?
Have you seen her drinking lately?
Do her eyes or nose run at all?
Does she feel heavy for her size or light?
Does your husband know anything about humidity as it relates to Redfoot Care?

 

[Madkins007]

Diet......lettuce, courgette, green beans, mango, strawberry,tomato...he's not keen on carrot or apple.....occasional cat food + something called 'Komodo Complete Holistic Tortoise Diet' , I'm wondering if I'm not feeding him enough animal matter, I've read it can cause them to develop hind leg paralysis??
I'm not sure of temperatures....my hubby sorted that + he's out at the moment. I know there's a heat mat + a heat light too, the main light goes out at around 9pm til 9am but there's a small red heat lamp that stays on all night (sorry for my lack of knowledge, I feel quite embarrassed but too worried to wait for him to return home)
Enclosure is 6ft by 3ft.
Please excuse my ignorance :/

---

Yeh but we've had him for 9yrs????

---

Hey, I can't work out how to quote etc???
Shelli, what's OP?? Sorry!!! We have heat in with him?? We've had him 9yrs, this is the first year he's done this???

---

I'm not good at this eh!!!! Sorry!!

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Diet- I'd rank it as so-so. Some room for improvement, but probably not the main issue here.

Temps- It would be nice to know the real temps. Ideally, they should be between 80-90F, with a lot of the space in the 85F range (Sorry, too tired to convert it to metric.)

It may be a difference in temps, in humidity, in lighting (intensity, UV, duration, something) that is making it sluggish.

Not to worry you or anything, but tortoises can take a long time to show problems- it may have had something like a low-level infection for years not and just have it all be catching up on it now.

I would suggest reading up on some good care plans, like the one in my sig below, and seeing how your cares line up. If there are questions or something, let us know.

 

[Kenny]

you want it between 26 and 29* c
as Madkins said the diet isn't ideal but it could be much worse.
I think we're all in agreement, that without temps and humidity % we can't really begin to help.
look forward to the info, and wish you the best of luck

 

[fubab]

Trying to work out how to post a pic then I've asked my hubby to come on her + discuss the temps etc. I've told him Des has to go if we can't look after him better, we must be doing something wrong??

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The 2nd pic is 'him' ? in the garden in the summer.......found + pinched my son's tomatoes :-O

Is he a him??

 

[Madkins007]

Definitely a male- big old tail, big anal scute angle, narrowed waist, indented plastron.

Hows he doing? Are things better for him?

 

[Shelli]

Wow he's beautiful ❤

 

[fubab]

Thankyou. Sorry had a nightmare of a job to access the site as at my dad's :/
Does he look ok from the pics??? Anything obvious??
My hubby says tempt warm end is around 83 f ............... his bowl is not deep enough for him to wallow in + I will confess we are not as vigilant with humidity as we should be, I guess as he has thrived up until now without that vigilance.........+ as has been pointed out, his diet needs reviewing???? I forgot to mention in addition to what I posted earlier, he also enjoys melon + mushroom a lot but I guess that doesn't improve things greatly??
Advice p,lease on diet.....+ ANY other suggestions, other than upping the humidity which is obvious now

 

[Shelli]

It looks like you have him on Aspen, which in itself is good but for a red-foot and humidity wouldnt' work as it would mold.
Have a search on this site about different substrates, many people use cypress Mulch, sphagnum Moss, Orchid bark etc, all which don't mold which will allow you to up his humidity!
Mushrooms are great for him... Melon for a fruit once a week or so is great to!

 

[Madkins007]

In my signature, below, there is a link to the Tortoise Library. You'll find an article on Red-foot care, and another on diet, that may help. You may enjoy other articles there, but those will get you started.

83F/28F is a bit low for the warm area. I'd like to see it closer to 85F/29C overall and 90F/32Cish in the warm space. That itself may be the main reason for the sluggishness.

At his size, humidity overall is not as big of a deal. Help him to have a humid hiding area and just keep the rest of the space from getting too dry. A different substrate will help

Water dishes for the big guys can get tough. People have used plastic plant saucers and paint roller pans for example.

He does look dry to me. I would suggest a different substrate.

Oh, and there is a forum for turtles and tortoises based in the UK- shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/ They might know some other local vets, good local product options, etc. for you.

Is he still sluggish?