Thinking about it

Status
Not open for further replies.

lMorphine

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
107
Location (City and/or State)
New York
Hello all! Im interested in buying a red footed tortoise. Im also considering a russian tortoise. I know the requirements of a RT, is the RF tortoise the same? Ill be able to take the tortoise out for atleast 30 mins to an hour everyday. Would I need a UVB bulb? What other things do I need to know? Thanks so much for the help!
 

StudentoftheReptile

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
1,705
Location (City and/or State)
Alabama
I don't have much experience with Russians, but I can tell you their care is rather different than redfoots. Russians are more of a cold-tolerant, temperate climate species, while redfoots are tropical, forest species.

Personally, I LOVE redfoots because of their color and personality. I'm sure others can will elaborate, but in general, baby RFs can be shy and reclusive, and require lots of cover and foliage in their enclosure. RFs are more of a omnivore, eating a wide variety of both vegetation and animal matter in their natural diet, although in captivity, it is debatable on how much protein they actually need. If you are able to take them outside for regular periods each day, I don't think a UVB light is needed (for either the RT or the RF). Just a simple tube floresecent for white balance, and ideally, a ceramic heat emitter for basking heat.

For more info on redfoots, I suggest the Tortoise Library at www.tortoiselibrary.com
 

lMorphine

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
107
Location (City and/or State)
New York
Ah thank you. I do like the way RF's look and I like the size they get. I really want a bigger tortoise then a RT but who knows lol\
 

tortadise

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
9,541
Location (City and/or State)
Tropical South Texas
One thing to consider is the size of redfoots. If you can only take your tortoise outside for only an hour I would say stay with a smaller species that can have a large enough enclosure indoors. All tortoises and reptiles in general have to have UVB. Do you have any way of creating an outdoor enclosure if you were to so choose the redfoot. Even the dwarf cherry heads still get large.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

New Posts

Top