Redfoots and Basking ?

[Jacqui]

Enough of this becoming a personal attack! Stick to the topic.

 

[Watsonpartyof4]

Basking:
Lie exposed to warmth or light for relaxation or pleasure.

Why overcomplicate it? Whatever that light is...If he's lying under it for an extended period of time, chasing it around the cage, he's basking. You CAN complicate it, yes, but why?
My red foots, indoors and out, adult and hatchling, lie under the sun (or heat lights) for large periods of time, commonly with their legs and heads sprawled out, asleep. In fact, my adults have a pattern. They come out of their 8x6 tort fort (raccoon proof ), get a drink, march straight by that nice forest of hibiscus, straight to the front of the cage which is a nice open patch of warm sunlight...And usually stay there til meal-time. They look VERY relaxed, and rather like its pleasureful to them (sometimes I join them, don't judge! ). I call that basking.

What's their reasoning? Pleasure? Thermoregulation? Digestive purposes? Well, when you figure out how to talk tort, let me know. Until then, I'll call it "All of the above".

In all seriousness, I recommend everyone to offer their red foots to bask; because they might thermoregulate, they might need it for digestive purposes, and they might just LIKE IT. Why not, then? It won't hurt them. He's not going to stumble around blindly, "Ah! The light! It burnssss! Don't you know I'm a RAINFOREST TORTOISE?!" just because there is a heat light all the way at one end of his enclosure. This is why I don't see the purpose in harshly disagreeing with red foots basking...I mean, personal opinion of "Mine don't" everyone is perfectly entitled to. Labeling something that MIGHT be beneficial as harmful just because your tort doesn't is what I disagree with.

I So TOTALLY agree! And if I had your set up I would probably sleep in the raccoon proof tort fort....(dont judge!).. All I am saying is my Redfoot likes to lay under an ordinary household 60 watt light bulb ... He has a MVB and and a 75watt heat bulb and the 60 watt household light. At night he has a 75 heat and a 150 heat on and temps go down to 75 at night. For some reason he loves that 60watt household bulb. He lays under it in his "superman pose," arms foreword and legs back with his head stuck out sleeping or just chilling and relaxing. I have one and only one tort. I live in northeast Ohio. He doesn't get lucky enough to live outside with a herd of other torts. I imagine if he had access to FULL sun all day he may not want to lay out in the heat and sun. I am just commenting on the quirks of my Redfoot. If this is not what this forum is about, I will stop posting. I enjoy reading about the silly things we discover our torts doing and thought others would enjoy reading about mine. If this forum is about only about tort breeding and herd handling, and scientific findings rather than someone who has just one tort, then I will stop posting. Hell maybe I should just give up and not say another word ...geesh!

 

[bigred]

Basking:
Lie exposed to warmth or light for relaxation or pleasure.

Why overcomplicate it? Whatever that light is...If he's lying under it for an extended period of time, chasing it around the cage, he's basking. You CAN complicate it, yes, but why?
My red foots, indoors and out, adult and hatchling, lie under the sun (or heat lights) for large periods of time, commonly with their legs and heads sprawled out, asleep. In fact, my adults have a pattern. They come out of their 8x6 tort fort (raccoon proof ), get a drink, march straight by that nice forest of hibiscus, straight to the front of the cage which is a nice open patch of warm sunlight...And usually stay there til meal-time. They look VERY relaxed, and rather like its pleasureful to them (sometimes I join them, don't judge! ). I call that basking.

What's their reasoning? Pleasure? Thermoregulation? Digestive purposes? Well, when you figure out how to talk tort, let me know. Until then, I'll call it "All of the above".

In all seriousness, I recommend everyone to offer their red foots to bask; because they might thermoregulate, they might need it for digestive purposes, and they might just LIKE IT. Why not, then? It won't hurt them. He's not going to stumble around blindly, "Ah! The light! It burnssss! Don't you know I'm a RAINFOREST TORTOISE?!" just because there is a heat light all the way at one end of his enclosure. This is why I don't see the purpose in harshly disagreeing with red foots basking...I mean, personal opinion of "Mine don't" everyone is perfectly entitled to. Labeling something that MIGHT be beneficial as harmful just because your tort doesn't is what I disagree with.

I So TOTALLY agree! And if I had your set up I would probably sleep in the raccoon proof tort fort....(dont judge!).. All I am saying is my Redfoot likes to lay under an ordinary household 60 watt light bulb ... He has a MVB and and a 75watt heat bulb and the 60 watt household light. At night he has a 75 heat and a 150 heat on and temps go down to 75 at night. For some reason he loves that 60watt household bulb. He lays under it in his "superman pose," arms foreword and legs back with his head stuck out sleeping or just chilling and relaxing. I have one and only one tort. I live in northeast Ohio. He doesn't get lucky enough to live outside with a herd of other torts. I imagine if he had access to FULL sun all day he may not want to lay out in the heat and sun. I am just commenting on the quirks of my Redfoot. If this is not what this forum is about, I will stop posting. I enjoy reading about the silly things we discover our torts doing and thought others would enjoy reading about mine. If this forum is about only about tort breeding and herd handling, and scientific findings rather than someone who has just one tort, then I will stop posting. Hell maybe I should just give up and not say another word ...geesh!

No need for you to stop posting, do what you enjoy doing.

 

[RedfootsRule]

[/QUOTE]

I So TOTALLY agree! And if I had your set up I would probably sleep in the raccoon proof tort fort....(dont judge!).. All I am saying is my Redfoot likes to lay under an ordinary household 60 watt light bulb ... He has a MVB and and a 75watt heat bulb and the 60 watt household light. At night he has a 75 heat and a 150 heat on and temps go down to 75 at night. For some reason he loves that 60watt household bulb. He lays under it in his "superman pose," arms foreword and legs back with his head stuck out sleeping or just chilling and relaxing. I have one and only one tort. I live in northeast Ohio. He doesn't get lucky enough to live outside with a herd of other torts. I imagine if he had access to FULL sun all day he may not want to lay out in the heat and sun. I am just commenting on the quirks of my Redfoot. If this is not what this forum is about, I will stop posting. I enjoy reading about the silly things we discover our torts doing and thought others would enjoy reading about mine. If this forum is about only about tort breeding and herd handling, and scientific findings rather than someone who has just one tort, then I will stop posting. Hell maybe I should just give up and not say another word ...geesh!
[/quote]

Yeah, I'm sorry this thread turned into what it did. I realize it was not what you intended.
It certainly is not ALL this forum is about, only a small part...I enjoy seeing you post about Tyrone's antics .

 

[Watsonpartyof4]

No need for you to stop posting, do what you enjoy doing.

Thanks Bigred!

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I So TOTALLY agree! And if I had your set up I would probably sleep in the raccoon proof tort fort....(dont judge!).. All I am saying is my Redfoot likes to lay under an ordinary household 60 watt light bulb ... He has a MVB and and a 75watt heat bulb and the 60 watt household light. At night he has a 75 heat and a 150 heat on and temps go down to 75 at night. For some reason he loves that 60watt household bulb. He lays under it in his "superman pose," arms foreword and legs back with his head stuck out sleeping or just chilling and relaxing. I have one and only one tort. I live in northeast Ohio. He doesn't get lucky enough to live outside with a herd of other torts. I imagine if he had access to FULL sun all day he may not want to lay out in the heat and sun. I am just commenting on the quirks of my Redfoot. If this is not what this forum is about, I will stop posting. I enjoy reading about the silly things we discover our torts doing and thought others would enjoy reading about mine. If this forum is about only about tort breeding and herd handling, and scientific findings rather than someone who has just one tort, then I will stop posting. Hell maybe I should just give up and not say another word ...geesh!
[/quote]

Yeah, I'm sorry this thread turned into what it did. I realize it was not what you intended.
It certainly is not ALL this forum is about, only a small part...I enjoy seeing you post about Tyrone's antics .[/QUOTE]

Thanks RedfootsRule... I enjoy posting and reading about others! Thanks for the support!

 

[FLINTUS]

Basking:
Lie exposed to warmth or light for relaxation or pleasure.

Why overcomplicate it? Whatever that light is...If he's lying under it for an extended period of time, chasing it around the cage, he's basking. You CAN complicate it, yes, but why?
My red foots, indoors and out, adult and hatchling, lie under the sun (or heat lights) for large periods of time, commonly with their legs and heads sprawled out, asleep. In fact, my adults have a pattern. They come out of their 8x6 tort fort (raccoon proof ), get a drink, march straight by that nice forest of hibiscus, straight to the front of the cage which is a nice open patch of warm sunlight...And usually stay there til meal-time. They look VERY relaxed, and rather like its pleasureful to them (sometimes I join them, don't judge! ). I call that basking.

What's their reasoning? Pleasure? Thermoregulation? Digestive purposes? Well, when you figure out how to talk tort, let me know. Until then, I'll call it "All of the above".

In all seriousness, I recommend everyone to offer their red foots to bask; because they might thermoregulate, they might need it for digestive purposes, and they might just LIKE IT. Why not, then? It won't hurt them. He's not going to stumble around blindly, "Ah! The light! It burnssss! Don't you know I'm a RAINFOREST TORTOISE?!" just because there is a heat light all the way at one end of his enclosure. This is why I don't see the purpose in harshly disagreeing with red foots basking...I mean, personal opinion of "Mine don't" everyone is perfectly entitled to. Labeling something that MIGHT be beneficial as harmful just because your tort doesn't is what I disagree with.

Peter no one is making it complicated….
Just my experience with a long time herd of Redfoots and Cherries
( about 10 years now with this group) kept OUTDOORS in SO CAL weather 365 a year ....(other than night times ) with full access to the SUN . Sunrise to Sunset. (I have no use for Basking lights the way I raise my tortoises.) I RARLEY See any of them " Basking in the middle of the day ".. if by chance one would remain close to a structure ( in my case the hut) it would be in the mornings to warm up for 15-30 mins,graze the yard, then moving into a cool sheltered area for the rest of the day until evening.....then back for a graze and finally into the hut mostly voluntary- to sleep the night off……so if we consider this basking I guess they do ….
On the other hand … I really don’t care what you consider basking …..I leave it up to the tortoise to live his/her life as close to the wild as possible. I don’t think anyone has to
“recommend” basking for their tortoise …. I believe the tort can make up his own mind.

JD~

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And as Mark pointed out ... ( and this guy knows his stuff about RF's)
If an indoor set up is some ones " type" . What are the overall temps within the entire enclosure? Maybe a " basking " tortoise is a cold one!

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If you live in southern California I would expect they don't bask in the middle of the day as it's hot and like in the wild burrow down into the substrate because of the high temps. My red foots ambient enclosure temps are about 27 or so but they still bask.

 

[MarissaAndRFTortoiseMilo]

I have a little 3 inch hatchling red foot, and he/she does a mixture of both! I keep a heat lamp on one side of his enclosure for basking, and the other side is a little cooler. The temps range from about 73-lower 90's. When i first got him, he stayed on the cooler side of his enclosure because that's where his log hideout is. But I decided I would change bulbs in my heat lamp to an infrared so it wasn't so bright, and now he is way more active. he climbs on his rocks, he goes in his humid hide (which is by the heatlamp) and I have caught him many a time basking under the lamp. He does not really have a preference as to whether or not to bask. He basks if he pleases and will go to the other end of the cage if he doesn't wish to do so. I think it's mainly a personal preference. I dont think there should be a debate, I think owners should provide the means for their RF to bask if he so wishes.