Sir.PokemonRedForeman

[TortoiseParade7979]

This is my first time on the Tortoise Forums, and this is my first Tortoise, who i call Sir.PokemonRedForeman, or Foreman for short, . It has Been difficult keeping the right humidity and temp up here in PA, but i think I'm starting to manage. I have a Heat lamp, heat pad, repti-fogger, UVB lamp, and a pretty good enclosure. The temp is usually around 75 degrees, and the humidity is stable at around 75%. I hope I'm paranoid but I've been noticing dry skin constantly, and I'm not too sure on early signs of pyramiding. He also doesn't like greens, For example, since i was concerned i fed him only greens for three days and he didn't eat any of it, he only likes strawberries, Tomatoes, grapes, and the weekly butter worm. Please give me the facts about my Tortoises Health and ask for more information, or pictures. I've had him for about 8 months now, and i got him from TurtleSource.com by the way.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi TortoiseParade7979 and welcome to the Forum!

There's a bunch of good reading for redfooted tortoises here:

Tortoise Library

 

[Baoh]

Hilarious name. Even just Red Foreman would have been great.

 

[Rover15]

Is your temp 75 accross the bored or do you have it higher on one side?
Do you soak your tortoise?
How often are you feeding straw berrys, tomatoes, and grapes?
What type of greens have you tried?

Great sorce as mentioned above
http://tortoiselibrary.com/

And here is a site that shows results and lots of pictures, you can also e-mail them for questions. There is a lot of reading but worth the time
http://turtletary.com/main.htm

Do you have a picture of your enclosure? And where is the heat pad why did you decide to use a heat pad?

 

[immayo]

I would try again to introduce greens into his diet. I don't believe it is healthy for him to be living off of just tomatoes, strawberries, grapes and a worm. My redfoot seems to enjoy spring mix and dandelion. I also like to feed him Mazuri tortoise diet, maybe you could give these a try?

Hope everything works out for your little one! Redfoots are awesome!

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

Thank you for the sources. As for the temps, I posted another photo of the enclosure and it is winter so the temp drops to 70 degrees and i do have a heating pad under the right side of the tank, and the left is the lamp since the fogger is above it and i dont want mold to grow anywhere. I have tried all of the good greens, i never let it try ice berg too. I usually let it eat tomatoes and fruits every other day. I always have greens in there though, and not too much fruit

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

Also, This is Foreman underneath, (not great quality)

 

[Yvonne G]

you've cut off the most important part of the picture. We'll need to be able to see the bottom of the shell near the tail, plust the tail.

 

[Rover15]

Thank you for the sources. As for the temps, I posted another photo of the enclosure and it is winter so the temp drops to 70 degrees and i do have a heating pad under the right side of the tank, and the left is the lamp since the fogger is above it and i dont want mold to grow anywhere. I have tried all of the good greens, i never let it try ice berg too. I usually let it eat tomatoes and fruits every other day. I always have greens in there though, and not too much fruit

Here are my concurnes I have a yellow foot theey are fairly simular yellow foots like iit hotter and eat more protiein to name a few differences.

Your substrate seems really dry, I understand you don't want mold but try mixing it with coco coir/fiber or soil. I'm not 100% sure what it is but looks like just wood chips. I use multch and coco fiber mix on one hald long ways and moss on the other half. My humidity stays at 70-75% (I'll be adding silk and real plants this week to raise it to 80%+) and that is with no fogger just a misting in the morning and at night plus I mix/fluff the moss each time.

The tomatoes,strawberry, and grabs should be offered once a week. The spring mix is a great as well I feed spinach every 2 weeks. The worm once a week is good, try callard greens, kale, mustard greens. I know it is winter but in the spring weeds are good as well.

As for temp I would raise it higher then 70 red foots don't hybernate so there is no reason for a lower temp, however it is good to have different temps how big is your enclosure. Right now I have my temps 76-79 on the "cooler" side the middle is about 79-84 then the warm side under my CHE is high 80's low 90s.

Tortoises can't regulate there belly temps so the under the tank pad worries me but if your substrate is thick 3" or more it should be okay as long as it is damp and it will raise your humidity as well.

Hope this helps more. But those sites are great reads

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

I do try to raise the temp as much as possible, but i can seem to find many ways, I've also read somewhere that too much light is bad for the Tortoise? since they never got too much light in there original habitat. The substrate is 100% cypress mulch, and i have already found mold once about 6 months ago, so i guess i should add some soil, what do you recommend? And wouldnt a substrate that is very moist soften its shell?

 

[immayo]

To raise the temps I recommend buying a Ceramic Heat Emitter. They don't produce light at all. I purchased one recently after having my tortoise for 6 months and I have noticed he has become much more active with his enclosure at a higher temp.

I also recommend what Rover said about stirring the substrate. I don't stir mine daily but I have noticed, since I use orchid bark, if the top starts to dry up and I stir it I don't even have to mist the whole thing over again. Just stirring it brings the humidity levels back up and it prevents mold from growing under the top layer.

 

[Rover15]

A CHE is key and make sure your using a tube uvb bulb or a mercry vapour bulb (MVB) if useing a MVB right now add a 60w CHE to the opposite side.

Immayo is right the activity should increass. The shell won't get soft, you want a mosit substrate to wet/damp can cause problems. You will have to find what works for you. I toss the substrate at least once just to allow it to breath for lack of a better word.

As for the soil make sure it is natural not white bits. Look at thouse sites I'm not sure what other options would be a good mix with the cypress multch. I haven't used soil but hopefully others will add advice.

But I can't stress about soaking if you think there is dry skin only. Get a container big enough for foreman and put only enough water to coverup to his chin and let him soak for 10-20 mins but surpervise

 

[RedfootsRule]

Never had a problem with mold with cypress mulch...But the mulch should all be removed and cleaned once a month. Spray the substrate itself with a water bottle and that should help with humidity...100% humidity isn't to high, so get it as high as you possibly can. As for the temperature, try to get it to around 82 overall temperature. A basking spot of 90-95 is appreciated and utilized by the tortoise commonly, but isn't needed.

The diet should be something like 60% leafy greens, 30% fruit, 5% vegetables and 5% protein. Here are some good foods.

Greens:
Mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, radiccio, kale (sparingly), spinach (also sparingly).
Fruits: Fig, plum, peach, melons (canteloupe, honeydew), blackberry, papaya, mango, raspberry
Vegatables: yellow, green, butternut, and acorn squashes. Carrot can be fed bi-weekly with benefits, as it has some anti-helmith qualities (limits nematodes (parasites) naturally)
Protien should be offered once a week...Chicken and turkey are good, but if you have access to worms like butter worms, silkworms, and earthworms those are better choices.
Limit the tomatoes, as they are very acidic..

Do you soak your tortoise? At that size, he should be soaked in warm water for at least 15-20 minutes a day. Hydration is very crucial, and helps eliminate some of the salts from the leafy greens we feed....Daily mistings of his tank are also needed.

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

I do let him soak but not as often, so good advice. I would like to know where to get the plants for humidity you guys were talking about, and if I do get a CHE should i keep the heat lamp and put the CHE on the right side of the tank, and remove the heat pad?

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

Longest. Name. Ever. Lol!

 

[immayo]

Use of the CHE will most likely eliminate your need for the heat pad. I don't know what type of lighting you use but I have a double dome lamp that I keep my CHE in one socket and a PowerSun Mercury Vapor Bulb in the other. At night I just leave the CHE on. It really helps a lot though, my temps were pretty low too until I purchased the CHE.

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

I have removed the heat pad and I now own a CHE! Also immayo, i only had one light on the UVB wasn't on. Thank you all so much for this great advice and references.

 

[Rover15]

Glade to hear the CHE should raise your temps how are you monitoring your temps? Also what type of uvb bulb are you using? Is it a coil one or tube type?

 

[TortoiseParade7979]

My UVB bulb is tube type, and I just got the CHE, but I'm not home now so i don't know how the temps have improved. Before I get home I'm gonna get some plants for the humidity.

 

[Rover15]

A good idea that terryo gave me is silk plants they will hold water they can be bent over to make a humid hide and no worries about dying XD I'm still looking for some myself but I trust terryo