Unusual RedFoot Shell Color?? (pic heavy)

[immayo]

So I have been trolling the forum looking at other redfoots around the same age as my little guy and their shells all seem really black. My T Rex is more of a chocolate color and I wasn't sure if this is unusual or not? If anyone has pics of their reds who are 8months-1year I'd love to see as comparison!

Here's some I took today on the back patio:

Also another quick question: He has always had two little "dimples" on his middle front scute. Is this fine?

 

[mainey34]

Definitely very pretty..im just getting into redfoots. Ive just adopted one which he is older..but i would think it is because he is young.

 

[Jacqui]

A very beautiful and great colors little guy!

 

[Tom O.]

very nice, reminds me of one of mine.

 

[immayo]

Any pics?? I am curious to see if my guy gets darker with age!

 

[FLINTUS]

I have one with a similar shell but quite a bit lighter who's 2 years.

 

[thelub]

Thats a beautiful little tort you have right there

 

[bigred]

Good looking little guy, sometimes they darken up with age- sometimes they dont

 

[Tom O.]

Any pics?? I am curious to see if my guy gets darker with age!

my is smaller then yours, but i will gonna take some pics tomorrow.

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here is a pic of him not the best but you can see why yours reminds me of mine

 

[FLINTUS]

[/i][/b]Here's mine 6 months ago at 1 and a half years.

 

[immayo]

Tom O. yours looks almost a yellow color! That's pretty cool! I'd love to see some of him in better lighting.

FLINTUS you are right your little one does look pretty close to mine. How is it's coloring now? Still pretty light?

 

[FLINTUS]

Tom O. yours looks almost a yellow color! That's pretty cool! I'd love to see some of him in better lighting.

FLINTUS you are right your little one does look pretty close to mine. How is it's coloring now? Still pretty light?

Still the same colouring. He's darker on that picture than he usually looks as this is the way the camera photo comes out. He's a Northern(as you can see) but quite small for near enough 2 years, just over 2.5 inches as I've grown him slow. Being in the UK he doesn't get much outdoor access, I reckon I might get him out for about 50 days a year max because of the weather but he's kept under a very powerful mercury vapour bulb inside.

 

[immayo]

Wow that's tiny! Mine is already 3 inches and not even a year old! My guy hasn't had too much access to the outdoors yet either but I plan to bring him out more as the weather warms up here! It's so nice to hear and learn from others who also have the same kind of tortoise!

 

[FLINTUS]

Wow that's tiny! Mine is already 3 inches and not even a year old! My guy hasn't had too much access to the outdoors yet either but I plan to bring him out more as the weather warms up here! It's so nice to hear and learn from others who also have the same kind of tortoise!

I've had him since he was just over a year old and he was the smallest of the hatchlings. The breeder has about 10 of them, her largest is 33cm(a 40 year old) and most are only just over 25 cm so a small line. I've deliberately grown him slowly to avoid pyramiding problems but Cerezo(means Cherry in Spanish) isn't a pig at all when it comes to feeding.

 

[Tom O.]

Her the same guy the left one when he was one month old you see hes become more yellow now

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this is a better pic

 

[immayo]

Very cute!!
The only thing that confuses me is that when I was looking into buying my tortoise I looked at some on Turtle Source.com and they seem to have quite a few in their "rare and exotic" section that look lighter like ours. They charge way more for them than their "regular" redfoots, but obviously lighter color shells don't seem to be anything too unusual. Other than hypos of course... Opinions?

 

[N2TORTS]

Very cute!!
The only thing that confuses me is that when I was looking into buying my tortoise I looked at some on Turtle Source.com and they seem to have quite a few in their "rare and exotic" section that look lighter like ours. They charge way more for them than their "regular" redfoots, but obviously lighter color shells don't seem to be anything too unusual. Other than hypos of course... Opinions?

Mayo .... the RF's with the light coloring will darken as they get older. Here are a couple of shots of the torts from the same source you speak of from years back ...... All have darkened to the more typical RF coloring. True they look extra light and it's a great marketing "visual" ...but I can assure you they will darken like all the rest of the RF's ... Speaking of that , RF's in general except Cherry Versions are very rare with any type of marbling, patterns or coloring ... Unless of course you start talking hypos~

JD~

 

[immayo]

So basically you are saying it is just a ploy to sell them to people who don't know any better for a higher price? I'm glad I didn't end up paying an arm and a leg for mine since he is just going to end up having a dark shell in the end. Did you buy some of the pictured Redfoots from turtle source?

 

[N2TORTS]

* BINGO *
Jay is a good guy and has some nice animals , so I'm not trashing his rep . I've just been very focused on RF's and Cherrys for the last 10 years....and probably own or have owned a RF/Cherry from any reputable breeder across the globe ( including mentioned/pictured), to add to my collection and in my eyes " the perfect RF/CH herds' " in coloring, size and health. With that in mind , I have had the years of watching them grow , and seeing the changes occur as they mature.

JD~

* Speaking of neat~o Redfoots* ..... here is one of my favo RF's I have raised since around 3" She is close 7" and I can't wait to see in a few years what she might produce. The marbling on her shell is an amazing yellow not your typical white. Unfortunately the camera flash "zaps" the true color out.

PS: In the above pics of the lil rf's... that is the same tort 1st and 2nd to last pic.....about 6-9 months later. Notice the darkened areas

 

[Tropical Torts]

Your hatchling is very nice looking. I have produced several like that. I only have one pair of adults which I am certain of origin and they are Venezuelan. Those Venezuelans have produced hatchlings like yours. Yes, your hatchling will become darker with age, especially as he gets more time in the sun. My other adult redfoots have produced hatchlings like yours but I am uncertain of origin.

Also, most businesses like turtle shack will sell "special" redfoots for marked up prices even though they will end up looking like the typical redfoot as it matures, most of that is based upon origin. I base my prices upon the color and quantity of color of red on the head, legs, plastron, and neck. Those colorations will not change as they grow older which is why I choose that characteristic to base prices upon. Some people will pay higher prices to know where the parents of their hatchlings originated, but for all they know the supplier could simply be saying a hatchling is from a specific country just to get a few extra bucks.

Now I'm not saying turtle shack or turtles source lie about where their hatchlings are from. In my honest opinion, unless I watched the adult redfoot be taken from its habitat and then bought it there on the spot, I would not trust where it was said to have orginated. I also believe that trying to guess which South American country the redfoot came from is pure speculation. I have seen so many variations in this species that I believe that determining origin based upon characteristics is a very tricky guessing game. True, someone who has imported many redfoots could guess somewhat accurately, but the possibility of being wrong is not worth charging higher prices on a guess.