Redfoot Tortoise question

[Stephenblock]

I was wondering how much a bbaby red foot tortoise would eat? I gave him some kale but he only took a few bites and that was it. Is that normal for 1 and a half inch hatchlings. I received him from tortoise supply yesterday. I have him in a twenty long with a 25 watt heat bulb. Substrate is coconut brick and he has a hide and a shallow water dish. He doesn't seem to move around a lot. Is this normal?

 

[cemmons12]

I would suggest get'n a Zoo Med Powersun UVB bulb. They are not cheap but they are worth it if they have to be indoors a lot.

 

[Madkins007]

1. Shyness, poor appetite, etc. are normal for brand new animals. Give it a few days.

2. I am less worried about what kind of lamp, and more interested in the actual temps on the ground under the lamp and in the shade. Do you know what they are?

 

[Stephenblock]

I ould guess maybe eighty degrees.

the room tems upstairs are aboutt that or little higher maybe. Very humid and hot here.
Should I use a basking bulb or a uvb light? Eventually when he is larger he wiull spend three months out ofthe year outside when my rabbit and self or dying of the weather and my sbnnakes are happy as can be. There seems to be a lot of contradictoryu info out there.My ocal reptile store says that only green reptiles need uvb light but mmy vet says otherwise.

1. Shyness, poor appetite, etc. are normal for brand new animals. Give it a few days.

2. I am less worried about what kind of lamp, and more interested in the actual temps on the ground under the lamp and in the shade. Do you know what they are?
[/quote]

 

[Redstrike]

I ould guess maybe eighty degrees.

the room tems upstairs are aboutt that or little higher maybe. Very humid and hot here.
Should I use a basking bulb or a uvb light? Eventually when he is larger he wiull spend three months out ofthe year outside when my rabbit and self or dying of the weather and my sbnnakes are happy as can be. There seems to be a lot of contradictoryu info out there.My ocal reptile store says that only green reptiles need uvb light but mmy vet says otherwise.

1. Shyness, poor appetite, etc. are normal for brand new animals. Give it a few days.

2. I am less worried about what kind of lamp, and more interested in the actual temps on the ground under the lamp and in the shade. Do you know what they are?

[/quote]

A lot of us use long tube fluorescent lights with UVB wavelengths (Zoo Med reptisun is what I have good luck with but there are other good brands out there). If you get your tort outside often for at least 30 minutes at a time, you should be providing enough UVB for your little one to synthesize Vit. D3. I shoot for at least 3-4 days per week, but the more the better! Outside housing is obviously the best scenario but isn't always practical in cold climates or for tiny tortoises. I use a mercury vapor bulb in the winter when I can't get my torts outside (I live in the northeast).

You should get a temp gun or a thermometer under that basking light to see what those temps are. It's really important to maintain the proper heat and humidity levels for a young hatchling. I don't mean to sound harsh here, but guessing on these two parameters is going to lead to vet visits and/or tragedy. I shoot for 80ºF on the dark, cool side and 85ºF on the warm, bright side with a basking temp of 90-92ºF. This is based off of the information provided in this book (http://www.pingleton.com/redfoot/redfoots.htm) and information from the tortoise library (in Madkins007 signature above).

Temp gun:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053Y6IPE/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Thermometers I like a lot!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MD3MFA/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I've yet to find a good hygrometer... hopefully someone else can give you a good recommendation on this...

 

[Mgridgaway]

Although redstrike covered it mostly, I want to reinforce that you absolutely need a uvb bulb for any tortoise and most other reptiles (I don't know of one that doesn't need uvb, to be honest) that spend most of their times indoors. You won't need it if it's mostly outside, obviously.

Remember, the first thing to know about reptiles is that pet shop employees are wrong more often than not.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Ditto on what everyone else said, especially Redstrike and Mgridgeaway.

Also, take a look at the thread in my signature how I set-up my baby redfoots. I use a 5.0 tube florescent bulb for UVB (only 12 hrs a day) and a ceramic heat emitter bulb that stays on 24/7.

 

[Redstrike]

I just wanted to add, that if you take your little RF outside, be sure there is shade. Small tortoises have a large surface area to volume, meaning they can overheat quickly. I like to bring a spray bottle of water with me to mist them them down every 10-15 minutes to keep them from overheating. Shade with filtered patches of sunlight is also really helpful for avoiding overheating.