Update on my baby Taylor since Sept

[Taylor2313]

Hi guys!

I got Taylor in Sept 2021 and he was a 3 inch boy


Now he grew to over 4 inch and doing fansastic! He does have his own personality!

I want to tune in to see if you can guess his age? I think he probably is at one year old by now? Also is his shell looking good? we try our best to prevent pyramiding as much as possible. Our air here are very dry so we have a fogger machine for his enclosure to keep humid above 80% all the times with the temp at 86 f all the times.

He started to eat every 2nd days and sometimes daily if he is up for it. His favourite food are blueberry, strawberry, butternut squash and kale!
He loves his insect meats. He ate all when he gets it once a month!

Attached a few photos

 

[Redstrike]

Hi there,

Sexing most tortoises takes lots of time. The person you purchased Taylor from may have incubated him at a lower temperature and is assuming that produced a male, but it will take at least a few years before those anal scutes and tail start indicating whether s/he is...well, she or he!

The enclosure looks well planted and I like the hides and plants. Nice feeding rock, etc. Is it fully enclosed? I would assume with 80% humidity it is. I prefer to use other means for humidity over foggers but if it's working, great! I used to bury waterproof heat ropes and leave about an inch of water under the substrate. The ropes would humidify the enclosure from the bottom-up. Now, I spray things down a couple times/day, especially on the warm, bright end of my closed chamber.

I hear you on the insect protein, most redfoots love fruits and animal proteins but I'm an advocate of moderation. I provide 80-90% high fiber diet (weeds from the yard and lettuces) and fill in the rest with the animal proteins and fruit. This usually means animal proteins once every 2-3 weeks and fruits 1/week. Your diet could be resulting in the bumpiness on Taylors carapace but It's hard to say with all the things that can lead to slight pyramiding.

 

[Redstrike]

This is one of my favorite books for redfoot care:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1441494030/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

It's easy to read, interesting, and instructive.