Redfoot Tortoise/New Owner/New Habitat Questions

Matilda's Keeper

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Jan 25, 2016
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8
Hello All,
I would greatly appreciate any advice seasoned RF owners have here in the forum! We recently acquired a RF tortoise about 2 mos ago. We've already taken her, Matilda, to a reptile vet and had her checked out. She's in great condition, no parasites, etc. and it's said she is around 9 yrs old. She's been a classroom pet for several years at a high school and she has finally met her forever home with us and our twin 9 year old boys. She was temporarily in her "aquarium" with a heat lamp until her tortoise table was built. My husband finally completed the table and we put her in yesterday. We have to add an UVB bulb to the enclosure which is not pictured. My question is now that she has all of this room (2 1/2 ft by 5 feet), she stays in the shade area which is close to 72 degrees in this area. I'm concerned that she's staying in the shaded area all of the time, unless she's moving at night which I doubt. Her basking area is around 85, but she has barely used it in the last 1 1/2 days. I also read that we can put damp beach towels draped over the table to help with humidity and retain heat somewhat? She's also barely eating now that we've moved her to her new home. Do I need to give her an adjustment period and am I doing everything right? Previously when she was in her "aquarium" she spent the majority of her time under the basking light and had no where to hide. What gives?

We feed her fresh veggies in the morning (with calcium sprinkled on the veggies twice a week), fresh water, tortoise pellets at night. Heat lamp around 85 degrees on one end with a saucer large enough for her to soak in, UVB light in the middle, and shade area with cypress mulch and spangum moss on top of the c-mulch. We also have her by a window.

Any other ideas. Thank you in advance!
 

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SarahChelonoidis

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Don't give her a 72 degree area at all - she's too cold to eat. The basking area is likely too bright and potentially too uncomfortable with all those rocks to spend time in so she is staying where she is too cold.

Your cold places should be 80F.

You want soft substrate throughout - you have lots of choices: soil, bark, coir, moss, etc. but not all those rocks. A slate for feeding is good, but beyond that, soft 'earth like' substrate is best.
 

naturalman91

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go for a ambient temp of in the 80s constantly along with high humidity the brightness as stated before i've never had a issue with i use a T5 arcadia 12% uvb and a normal house bulb as a basking bulb

the rocks can be left in but you really need a base substrate something that holds humidty well if the rocks stayed in you'd want to push them down into the substrate

i use coco coir but finely ground orchard bark works well and it's pretty cheap and readily available at most home improvement stores like lowes or home depot the lack of substrate to burrow into and just generally walk on isn't gonna help

also you should find a way to cover the top your just letting out heat and humidity a lot of use here used closed chamber's it looks like you could easily cover the top the idea is to use a thermostat to keep the heat in the 80s and the humidty once you add substrate and a little water to it will come natural with it being covered if you don't cover it your just letting out head and humidity

all that said the make of the enclosure looks nice and well built just add a top and some substrate that will hold humidity and you should be good to go
 

ZEROPILOT

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I agree with all of the good advice given to you.
Redfoot don't like bright light and don't need high heat. But they do need it between 80-90 degrees (I aim for 85) and they need humidity of at least 70 percent and higher.
Can you give us a photo of the lights that you are using? (some of them make tortoises blind, and they will certainly try to get away from the source.)
Also, as soon as you place a top on your enclosure (Plexiglass?) it will raise the humidity. The wood may start to rot. I suggest since your husband seems handy, ask him to remove everything from the enclosure and seal the wood. This will protect it from the humidity levels that you MUST have for your Redfoot. Once it begins to rot, it is too late.
 

Matilda's Keeper

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THANK YOU all so much for the advice, I'm so impressed how quickly and detailed you are, we are deeply appreciative! I'll change and work on the things that you mentioned today. I'll add more substrate to the other end and remove a majority of the rocks, I'll keep a couple for her to climb on. I'll also work on the over all temperature to become 80 degrees and add a plexiglass top to help maintain the humidity and heat. Makes sense that she doesn't want to move around because she's cold. I moved the basking light to the end where the moss/substrate is and she came out and is sleeping in the light on top of the substrate. So seems she does prefer soft things to nestle into. She really is lots of fun and we certainly enjoy her. We want her to have a good quality of life now that she's with us and we want her to be happy. Zeropilot we are using "All Living Things" 5.5 inch heat lamp with a 75w Exo Terra, Intense Basking Spot (rated 2 out of 5 for reptile vision,reptile lamp rating system). Also, the UVB tropical bulb (not pictured) we bought is 13 w, Exo Terra, Reptile UVB 100 (rated 4 out of 5 - light quality/ reptile bulb rating system) Thank again, Sarah, Naturalman and Zeropilot!!
 

ZEROPILOT

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Keep in mind that Redfoot don't really bask like some other species. (There is very little direct sunlight were they live.)
The dangerous type of light is a compact florescent. It's a UVB light bulb that is coiled or looped. Please include a photo of your UVB tropical bulb. They can be devastating and EVERY pet shop still sells them.
 

Matilda's Keeper

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THANK YOU Zeropilot, THAT is exactly what I have, I'll return it and get something different. Thank you so much for you help. Wouldn't want to do anything that would hurt Matilda. :) It's coiled and compact, Repti Glo 5.0 Compact and you are right, my husband bought it from the pet shop. I will get something different.
 

naturalman91

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just because they don't really bask doesn't mean they shouldn't be given the option tho as i stated before to bright has never been a problem for me i use a T5HO Arcadia 12% uvb fluorescent tube along with a normal house light to bask

go for something fluorescent that way it can span the over the whole enclosure
 
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