Hello everyone my red foot tortoise died a week ago and I want to find help in finding what caused him to die I have recordings of his last day. Please someone help so I don’t make the same mistake again . He would sleep for a day or 2 then be awake for a day then repeat . We think that was normal because when he would be awake he would eat and get soaked and when he was put back in his enclose he would gaze a bit then go to sleep . We kept his temp and humidity the same and at night turn off both lights . He would eat kale and occasionally grapes or raspberries. But most of the time just kale the day he died was the first time he ate a soaked rainforest pallet and also the first time he ate turnip tops. On the day he died He ate outside his enclosure for a bit then we put him in with his food in the enclosure . After that he kept eating the substrate . Idk what I did wrong I’m thinking it could have been compaction but he had never ate the substrate before and the bulbs are not red so please help.
Tortoise died
- Thread starter Jaime15
- Start date
Only a necropsy can tell you for sure. but your thermometer down on the damp substrate says 89.7F, and that is too hot for a RF.
Another good possibility to consider is that most breeders don't start babies correctly. Some of them don't survive. How much did your baby weigh in grams?
What were you using for heating and lighting? Did you have UV?
Another good possibility to consider is that most breeders don't start babies correctly. Some of them don't survive. How much did your baby weigh in grams?
What were you using for heating and lighting? Did you have UV?
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
I am so sorry for your loss. Please answer Tom's questions so we can help you point out anything that might have been off.
When they eat the substrate it sometimes means they're lacking something in their diet. I counteract that by occasionally sprinkling a bit of Miner- all over the food.
tortoising2025
New Member
Sorry for your loss that's sad
We got him on march 2nd and we didn’t weigh him when we first got him but on march 31st he weighed 43.5 grams and I thought 89.F was good because oh the other side of his enclosure it got to 75 degrees. Do you think putting the basking and UV light higher in a taller enclosure will help with that because that enclosure was about 6 inches in height. And where we got him from was a reptile store that had them in a open enclosure causing the humidity to be lower and him along side the other redfoot weren’t moving much but the baby sulcatas and leopards where doing just fine idk if that could have anything to do with you saying the breeder not stating them off good. Below is the receipt of the bulbs I got him. Thank you
Attachments
Okay... Almost everything here is wrong. Please don't be offended. I'm not saying this to be mean. I have to point out was was wrong, so you know what to do better next time. No one can say for certain what caused the death, but any or all of these things are likely to have contributed. This is all constructive criticism with the intention of helping you. It's obvious that you really tried to do it all perfectly and spent considerable time and money on it all. Like most people, you just happened to find all the usual wrong info that everybody else also finds. I know it is demoralizing, but this is not your fault. We want to help you learn and get it right.
1. 75 is too cold. 89 is too hot. The whole enclosure for a RF needs to be around 82-86 day and night, all the time.
2. RFs don't need a basking spot, and if you want them to have one any way, which some people do, it needs to be a flood type incandescent bulb, not a spot.
3. That type of UV bulb is ineffective and sometimes does eye damage. They should not be used. Use an HO UV tube for indoor UV.
4. Your enclosure looks too wet. The upper layer of substrate should be dry-ish to prevent shell rot. The lower layers can be more damp to help with humidity.
5. High humidity is easily maintained with a large closed chamber, even with dry-ish substrate.
6. Minimum interior enclosure height should be 18 inches, but 24 or 30 inches is much better.
7. RFs need protein most when they are little. They can do without for a while when bigger, but they should be getting some protein as soon as you get them.
8. When there is a problem with how they are started, they frequently still grow up to around 50 grams and then stall there. It's a tell tale sign of an incorrect start that causes organ damage. This is more typical with species that are misperceived as "desert" species, like sulcatas and leopards, but too much dryness can do it to any baby tortoise. It doesn't usually happen to RFs because most people have the sense to not house them in a dry open enclosure. Early dehydration usually takes weeks or months to kill them, even though everything seems normal.
9. Being housed all wrong and too dry at the store could be what did this guy in. If the breeder also did it wrong, then this poor guy never had a chance. Open topped dry enclosures can dehydrate them in one day.
10. Mixing species is totally wrong in every way, and it's a very good way to spread diseases. It's also a clear sign of people who don't know what they are doing, or don't care. The thing with tortoise pathogens is that they all have their own that they are equipped to deal with, but they have no mechanism for dealing with other tortoise pathogens from other continents. Mixing species is a huge gamble and often a death sentence to one or all of them.
So that is what I see that was wrong. Here is all the right info for you. If you try again, its best to throw away all that stuff and start over with new stuff, or at least disinfect any smooth, non-porous surfaces with ammonia or 12% hydrogen peroxide that can be ordered on Amazon. Bleach won't kill some of the tortoise pathogens that are circulating around right now. Any wood, substrate or other porous items need to be trashed. Questions are welcome:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
tortoiseforum.org
Redfoot Tortoise Care Sheet
NOTE: I do not keep redfoots, and I only have one tortoise in total. With this in mind, remember that I am in no way an expert, and this should not be used as cold hard proof of how to raise a redfoot. I used information from great keepers on this forum to put everything together. This care...
tortoiseforum.org
No offense taken thank you very much for helping me out . Let me just tell you what I have gathered from everything you said and the links.Okay... Almost everything here is wrong. Please don't be offended. I'm not saying this to be mean. I have to point out was was wrong, so you know what to do better next time. No one can say for certain what caused the death, but any or all of these things are likely to have contributed. This is all constructive criticism with the intention of helping you. It's obvious that you really tried to do it all perfectly and spent considerable time and money on it all. Like most people, you just happened to find all the usual wrong info that everybody else also finds. I know it is demoralizing, but this is not your fault. We want to help you learn and get it right.
1. 75 is too cold. 89 is too hot. The whole enclosure for a RF needs to be around 82-86 day and night, all the time.
2. RFs don't need a basking spot, and if you want them to have one any way, which some people do, it needs to be a flood type incandescent bulb, not a spot.
View attachment 389654
3. That type of UV bulb is ineffective and sometimes does eye damage. They should not be used. Use an HO UV tube for indoor UV.
4. Your enclosure looks too wet. The upper layer of substrate should be dry-ish to prevent shell rot. The lower layers can be more damp to help with humidity.
5. High humidity is easily maintained with a large closed chamber, even with dry-ish substrate.
6. Minimum interior enclosure height should be 18 inches, but 24 or 30 inches is much better.
7. RFs need protein most when they are little. They can do without for a while when bigger, but they should be getting some protein as soon as you get them.
8. When there is a problem with how they are started, they frequently still grow up to around 50 grams and then stall there. It's a tell tale sign of an incorrect start that causes organ damage. This is more typical with species that are misperceived as "desert" species, like sulcatas and leopards, but too much dryness can do it to any baby tortoise. It doesn't usually happen to RFs because most people have the sense to not house them in a dry open enclosure. Early dehydration usually takes weeks or months to kill them, even though everything seems normal.
9. Being housed all wrong and too dry at the store could be what did this guy in. If the breeder also did it wrong, then this poor guy never had a chance. Open topped dry enclosures can dehydrate them in one day.
10. Mixing species is totally wrong in every way, and it's a very good way to spread diseases. It's also a clear sign of people who don't know what they are doing, or don't care. The thing with tortoise pathogens is that they all have their own that they are equipped to deal with, but they have no mechanism for dealing with other tortoise pathogens from other continents. Mixing species is a huge gamble and often a death sentence to one or all of them.
So that is what I see that was wrong. Here is all the right info for you. If you try again, its best to throw away all that stuff and start over with new stuff, or at least disinfect any smooth, non-porous surfaces with ammonia or 12% hydrogen peroxide that can be ordered on Amazon. Bleach won't kill some of the tortoise pathogens that are circulating around right now. Any wood, substrate or other porous items need to be trashed. Questions are welcome:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
Redfoot Tortoise Care Sheet
NOTE: I do not keep redfoots, and I only have one tortoise in total. With this in mind, remember that I am in no way an expert, and this should not be used as cold hard proof of how to raise a redfoot. I used information from great keepers on this forum to put everything together. This care...
1st) get bigger enclosure minimum 18inches in height (closed chamber)
2nd) just to clarify they do not need a basking light at all??
3rd) I read on the link to help with humidity and avoid a basking spot to get a ceramic heat emitter while also providing shade where that bulb is located to prevent from having a basking spot . And would keeping the heat emitter on at night to keep humidity and temp levels good be a bad idea??
4th) will the uvb i attached below be the one you are talking about?
5th) for the substrate I would spray the whole enclosure maybe once a day should I not do that next time and just pour some water on the corners to be make it humid from down below? And is q mix of Repti soil and coco coir good?
6th) what is a good way to give a baby tortoise protein?
Again thank you so much for responding
Attachments
1. Correct.
2. Correct. Forest tortoises do not need a basking lamp. Just over-all warm temps day and night.
3. Ceramic heat emitters or radiant heat panels are both great for maintaining ambient temperature. Either needs to be controlled by a thermostat. They have $30 thermostat on amazon that let you set it for a different temp for day and night. So you could do 80 at night, and let it rise to 85 during the day when the lights are on, for example. Or with a regular thermostat, just set it to 82 all the time, and the ambient lights and UV will raise the temperature up a bit during the day.
4. That one works.
5. Spraying the surface doesn't do much but cause evaporative cooling. So yes, pour water into the substrate. How much water and how often varies wildly and you have to go by feel. Every enclosure is different and the same enclosure is different at different times of the year.
6. Many ways to do this. Hard boiled egg, roaches, crickets, earthworms, canned dog or cat food, etc... They don't need a lot all the time. Most RF keepers recommend a little bit a couple times per week. Some people do every other day. Some people do once a week for grown adults. There is a wide margin of error.
The most important bit of info for you is to buy from the right source. The pet store you described sounds awful. Find a breeder of the species you want that starts them correctly. This can be tough since most breeders don't.
