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Very well put John! 
Unusual RedFoot Shell Color?? (pic heavy)
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Very interesting! Thanks for all the expert responses. I think it's super cool that they can look so different as babies and grow up to look similar... either way I love my little guy and he will always be special in my eyes!
I will post some pictures of a few hatchlings and adults. I am VERY overdue on posting pictures because of all the work out in the enclosures. Really excited to show my redfoot and yellowfoot enclosures because I have been working on them ALL of my Christmas break.
Thanks JD!
Thanks JD!
N2TORTS said:Very well put John!
Thank you! Yes, it does look like he has hearts on his scutes and those markings are even more defined now. He is one of my holdbacks from this year. I have never seen a hatchling like him before.
immayo said:jrcrist4 - I was looking through some of your hatchling threads and saw this little guy! He is super cute, looks like there are little red hearts on his shell!
Redfoots have the most varying colors as hatchlings; in my opinion, more-so then any other species. They can be almost completely black with dark, dark red (had a few hatchlings like this, gorgeous ), or super light to the point you want to call them hypo...The couple I have raised up of either variations all turn out to be the same.
Jay from turtlesouce is a good guy, and he sells the tortoises as they are...He has some beautiful hatchlings, but notice he makes no guarantee what they will look like as they age? Basically, enjoy the stunning coloration for the first 2-3 years until it fades away .
), or super light to the point you want to call them hypo...The couple I have raised up of either variations all turn out to be the same.Jay from turtlesouce is a good guy, and he sells the tortoises as they are...He has some beautiful hatchlings, but notice he makes no guarantee what they will look like as they age
? Basically, enjoy the stunning coloration for the first 2-3 years until it fades away .
Baoh said:
Yeah, Marc is turtle source and Jay is turtlesandtortoises, I got confused there for some reason I thought he meant turtlesandtortoises instead...
Wow, and I even put "jay from turtle source".....My fingers typed it before my brain thought it.
RedfootsRule said:Redfoots have the most varying colors as hatchlings; in my opinion, more-so then any other species. They can be almost completely black with dark, dark red (had a few hatchlings like this, gorgeous
Jay from turtlesouce is a good guy, and he sells the tortoises as they are...He has some beautiful hatchlings, but notice he makes no guarantee what they will look like as they age
Not all redfoots loose their beautiful markings as they age. I have many adults which have retained their color with age and those adults have produced incredible hatchlings!
jrcrist4 said:RedfootsRule said:Redfoots have the most varying colors as hatchlings; in my opinion, more-so then any other species. They can be almost completely black with dark, dark red (had a few hatchlings like this, gorgeous
Jay from turtlesouce is a good guy, and he sells the tortoises as they are...He has some beautiful hatchlings, but notice he makes no guarantee what they will look like as they age
Not all redfoots loose their beautiful markings as they age. I have many adults which have retained their color with age and those adults have produced incredible hatchlings!
They keep their original color; dark yellow, light yellow, dark red, light red, etc. The markings, they lose. Can you show me an adult that still looks like this (or even similar)?
Or this...
Sometimes, in rare cases in all red foots besides brazilians, they get white marbling....I saw one tortoise once that was somewhere similar the the second picture I posted, but it was still not even close to as beautiful.
Post some pics of your adults
. I wanna see them now.
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Actually they Don’t keep their baby shell coloring, and as John mentioned if kept in the sun it will even get darker , *contrary to people thinking the sun will make them lighter. And no I don’t think anyone has an adult that looks like that - like mentioned your little guys will change too~ As far as the markings changing.... you mean head/scale pattern ? That does not change much if any ..... and there aren’t too many RF's out there with Patterns on the carapace. In Cherryheads ... hatchlings will show tiny highlights of marbling which progressively gets bigger
( spreads) as the tortoise matures. Not just your typical
“new growth†visual . This holds true for a recessive gene for " that particular " variegation/marble within it's shell.
( spreads) as the tortoise matures. Not just your typical
“new growth†visual . This holds true for a recessive gene for " that particular " variegation/marble within it's shell.
N2TORTS said:
The base color...red...yellow...they seem to keep mainly from what I see. The sunlight darkens it a little bit, but it also seems to "color them up" more. I was talking about the markings of the color in the scutes, the scales pattern on the head obviously never changes
. All babies seem to change, the only adult I can find that has much marking is this...
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Just look at my profile picture. He has a black outline on all of his scutes.
Yup...Nice growth lines there....
That was a joke, right?
That was a joke, right?
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I'm not even sure thats a RF.....but I will assure you your babies will darken , loose most of the pattern if any in the shell , and end up being dark with perhaps the uppermost part of the scutes resulting in " some slight hue" of lighter coloring. Now ..............if ya wanna talk hypos and coloring
Nope, all redfoot . Found it on here...I might have to attempt some financial persuasion to acquire her from the owner...
You are agreeing with me right JD? You almost sound like you think I'm saying that the markings will stay...This is what I've been trying to say, all of the pattern will be lost, and the color will slightly darken.
Hypos are obviously different....One day I will get my pair of hypo red foots....Or albino Hehe...
. Found it on here...I might have to attempt some financial persuasion to acquire her from the owner...You are agreeing with me right JD? You almost sound like you think I'm saying that the markings will stay...This is what I've been trying to say, all of the pattern will be lost, and the color will slightly darken.
Hypos are obviously different
....One day I will get my pair of hypo red foots....Or albino Hehe...
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I guess from my own experiences any bright ,patterned or in different hatchling with no known “sneaky odd gene code†will usually darken and pattern somewhat blend with age. Now with Redfoots it’s hard for me to say as I have not seen too many captive born “unusual redfoots grown to adult age†with patterns ….(I know a little about hypo’s ) with documentation/pics to prove it . In 10 years or so I have only owned one CB “patterned RF†as seen in the beginning of the thread. In the 4 -5 years I have seen her grow , the pattern is not growing as much with her carapace size. This is more on a genetic level , but then either highlighted or “washed†as the animal matures.
Again here is a " Golden", Light' ....ect Redfoot hatchling and it’s progression to about 4 years….just look at the color change….dark like mentioned.
Next to a young cherry for comparison ……
As it ages ……………
See what I mean ……..Now 4 years later ……same baby as in first picture.
Although I do Love COLOR!
JD~
) with documentation/pics to prove it . In 10 years or so I have only owned one CB “patterned RF†as seen in the beginning of the thread. In the 4 -5 years I have seen her grow , the pattern is not growing as much with her carapace size. This is more on a genetic level , but then either highlighted or “washed†as the animal matures.Again here is a " Golden", Light' ....ect Redfoot hatchling and it’s progression to about 4 years….just look at the color change….dark like mentioned.
Next to a young cherry for comparison ……
As it ages ……………
Although I do Love COLOR!
JD~
Yes, especially with the light golden torts like the one you showed...Those very much darken up. How much it darkens up seems to depend on the over-all color...If its already dark, doesn't darken to much; if its super light, darkens up a lot.
I love that marbled one...I've never seen a marbled red foot thats not a cherry-head.
The "pattern" I'm talking about however, is the second picture I showed in my first thread I posted pictures...This pattern never remains. Your golden red foot is beautiful, but there isn't much of a variegated "pattern" in the scutes.
I love that marbled one...I've never seen a marbled red foot thats not a cherry-head.
The "pattern" I'm talking about however, is the second picture I showed in my first thread I posted pictures...This pattern never remains. Your golden red foot is beautiful, but there isn't much of a variegated "pattern" in the scutes.
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