Venezuelan 'Proven' Pair

Not what would be called rare.. but not real common.
And [ like most all ] the colors are determined by locale.. from the wild anyway. In private collections...
anything goes!

These [ this blood-line ] must have come from the "Western" part of Venezuelan. The old "Clown-face"
most likely came from far East... integrating with Guyana, etc. West = Yellow and East = Red.. and all
of both in between

The short of the long is:

About a month ago received an email from a lady stating I had helped her with her adult redfoots
10 months ago that were laying eggs. And she now wanted to send them to me because they were
getting more than she could handle.Little did I realize their size !

The smaller male -



[ pic doesn't show true size ] He's 14" SCL and weighs 15 pounds!!!!

Much more yellow on crown with orange cheeks and leg scales -



And what a tail .. wide anal scutes .. and concave plastron -



WATCH THIS - HER -



A true 15" SCL and tips the scales at 21 POUNDS. [ I know there are as big or bigger out there.. but she's
the largest redfoot I've ever had ] -



Distinct difference in their plastrons -



To show their locale of origin -



Their original owner claims she acquired the female as hatchling 23 years ago.. and the male as 'farm-hatched'
when he was about 6" SCL in 1999. Their last clutch was incubated at 89F - they were cooked! Her pic.



All in all .. she did a fantastic job of rearing them!!!

Hey Craig -- @Anyfoot

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That's a great narrative and photos.

Thanks Will - got any Bolivians to show?

It was quite the challenge to create the 'indoor' habitat at short notice. I should have waited until spring.
But I didn't want to miss the opportunity that she may lay again in a few months. Unfortunately there was an
"incubation-temps" communication break down and she cooked her last clutch.
Anxious to see their babies.

Anyone who wants a "different" redfoot that is not the typical/boring RED!!!! is welcome to contact me
to be on the '2020 Wish List' of true Venezuelan locale redfoots - [email protected]

Hello! This is an amazing story. I was born and raised in Venezuela and I would love to have an original countryman red foot BUT we already have a red foot and It's been a bit of a challenge to keep her, as she has grown faster than we expected and we have to keep her indoors (Calgary weather...). Never the less, I would love to see pictures of their next offspring

I posted a single head shot awhile ago. On Facebook, NFS, LOL.

Thanks just the same - no clue what that means - has nothing to do with here however...

Redfoot Nerd, I liked your “Venezuelan ‘Proven’ Pair post! I’ve had a productive pair since 2001. My male looks very similar, but larger: just over 17” and 31.2 lb:

Hello Terry. Not spoke in a long time and I’ve not been as involved with the tortoise community.

They look amazing. It would be interesting if you could find out how she cared for the female.

@Hllrnnr Hard for others to tell how big they really are with no size comparison.. can we see something to compare please?

They are really dark.. have never seen that dark! Would you show us their plastrons please ?

Craig .. not sure what you are wanting to know ???

Those are some real beauties!

Redfoot Nerd, forgive me for not cleaning up Tango for some photos, but it’s cool here today so I didn’t want to give him a bath. Hopefully, you can zoom in on these 2 photos well enough to see the yardstick marks, showing that he is over 17” in length!
He is very strong, so I had to use my foot to press him up to a wall to get an accurate length.

Hllrnnr [ a real name please? ] thanks for the "taped" pics!!! He has to be an "old-timer".
Depending on who you ask.. Venezuela has the largest recorded.. Bolivia has the largest recorded!

A 15" redfoot is the biggest one I've ever had.. so I was 'drop-jaw' when I first saw them .

Didn't take me long to establish the 'catch-phrase' -- "There's always exceptions and extremes".

Tango and his female mate, Salsa, aren’t very old, possibly 30 at the most. When I adopted the pair in June 2001, he weighed 6lb and was 9 5/8” in length; Salsa weighed 5lb 12oz and was 9 1/2”, so I expect that they weren’t more than 10 yrs old. I was told they were from Paraguay, but never considered that as reliable info. Salsa ate all the time and he grew. Salsa is now 14.6 lb and 13 5/8” long.