Wierd behaviour

[vickyb]

I have had my redfoot for only two weeks and the temperature/humidity etc is all constant for the past week and a bit and here is what happened:

she finished playing and eating yesterday and went and burrowed herself in the COLD part of the tank just before the automatic lights went out and the night light came on. I thought it may be too cold for her in that corner so I picked her up and placed her under the night light (Infra Red, 100W). she sat there for a minute and then crawled back to the same corner of the tank (Coldest corner). that was last night. Its been 24 hours and she hasnt moved from there. I was out all day since the morning and thought she would come out later in the day but I know she didnt because my sister was in and out of the house and said she hadnt moved. Is this normal? Its Winter here right now and the COLD part of her habitat is about 70F

Right now its the night schedule (night light) I picked her up and moved her under the red light (which is close to the water etc) and she moved over and is drinking water. I have noticed that atleast 75% of the time, she will not move from where she is till I pick her up and put her near the food/water, in which case she WILL eat and soak in the water and drink for a while.... confused. I thought I would leave her alone today and she didnt move for over 24 hrs from the cold spot of the enclosure which I find very odd..

Please assist with some thoughts.

thanks

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Could you please describe her diet and what type of lighting/heating you are using? Remember the tortoises regulate their temperature by moving and burrowing when they feel they need to. She may just need what she is doing... but to be sure please describe in greater detail about your enclosure and her diet.

 

[vickyb]

Enclosure dimensions:

36 inches long
19 inches wide
19 inches high

Heat:
Spot heat lamp for Tropical Reptiles: 100W at the RIGHT side of the enclosure 20 inches off the surface. I put a thermometer probe directly below the spot light and temperature is between 95-100. On 7:30 am - 7:30 pm
100W Infrared lamp for night. Same place as the Spot.

Two UV lights bulbs, produce no heat. Center of enclosure. 20 inches off the surface.

Good hiding log for her to go under in the COLD part of the enclosure. Temp in the cold part is about 65-70F.

I feed her romaine lettuce hearts (When she eats them). Grass mix for rabbits and tortoises (when she eats them). One strawberry in 2 weeks, About 3 cubes of mango in 2 weeks and 1 cube of papaya. Fruits she eats instantly if placed so I have stopped placing fruits at all. I will giver her fruit about 20% of the time.

The thing is, if I move her around and say, place her near the food, she will eat and then walk around and go back to sleep.

If I take her out and leave her loose in the house, she boots around the house at the speed of lightning, exploring, not shy. If I place her back in the enclosure, she will boot around for a while and then settle down and NOT MOVE till I likely move her after about 20 hours.

At the time of making the original post, I moved her (after more than 24 hrs) from the cold part to the warm part of the encl. and she and a large drink of water and has now burrowed herself directly below the night warm lamp which confuses me because if she does what she "needs" to then why is she waiting for me to move her?? This happens about 75% of the time.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Romaine lettuce is an empty food, grass mix is not good either, you should really been feeding your redfoot things like endive, escarole, dandelion greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, chard, collard greens, and/or grape leaves (along with a mixture of various fruits several times a week). What are you using as a substrate and what is the cages humidity (it should be 70-100%!). How old is your girl too? Please make these dietary changes to ensure you have the healthiest , happiest redfoot.

 

[vickyb]

I tried things like Dandelion greens, Endive and Kale. She won't touch it. I leave it there for a few hours till it withers. sometimes overnight too. She won't touch any of that. the only greens I could get her to eat was the romaine lettuce. The humidity is about 60-70%.... she is about 7-9 months old.

---

Substrate is coconut fibers lower, covered with Reptile Bark.. Holds moisture etc.. made from bark of non-aromatic trees etc.....specifically for tortoises.

---

Hmm. The "enclosure" is a glass aquarium designed for reptiles (apparently)by being wider than normal. it even had all the branding on it that it is specifically for reptiles and NOT meant to hold fish. But, for all practical reasons and apperances, it is a fish aquarium tank.

could this be a reason for stressing her our? Should I cover the sides with cardboard tomorrow?

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...What brand and type UVB do you use? Is it a MVB, long fluorescent tube, coil, or compact?
Redfoots don't naturally live in the bright sun.

It wouldn't hurt to try covering the bottom 6" or so of the tank to see if she is happier. It doesn't seem to bother mine, but they aren't all the same.
good luck
Patsy

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Check out http://www.redfoots.com/hdiet.htm and http://www.redfoots.com/henclose.htm

Torts can be hard to put on a good diet--they are stubborn--but it must be done.

I use a full spectrum florescent (its either dura or vita-lite) that I got offline and I use ceramic heat emitters and have a coconut, bark, sphagnum mix for my substrate.

 

[vickyb]

Now it get wierder. I picker her up this morning (she was burrowed sleeping as usual) and put her in a different part of the encl. just below the spot heat lamp. she sat there for 5 mins then burrowed herself and went to sleep. I picked her up and placed her near the food dish (Dandelion greens) and she started eating..she is still eating....

couldnt she smell the food the first time? or see it? It was about 4 inches away from her when she burrowed and went to sleep

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Update: She has eaten more than half the Dandelion leaf. Something she would not touch for 2 weeks.

 

[Madkins007]

At 95-100F, it is pretty hot in the hot area. Red-foots generally enjoy warm, humid places, but not actual heat. If the food was in the warm area, it might have been TOO warm to enjoy- and she may have wanted the moisture in the Romaine and fruit because she was feeling a bit dehydrated.

Based on her behaviors, I would guess she was hot, thirsty, and stressed. I would suggest making the habitat more evenly 80-88F or so, nicely humid, and so forth. I would bet that once the habitat was tweaked, her appetite will pick up.

If you need ideas to accomplish this, let us know!

 

[vickyb]

When I first got her, the habitat was indeed 81-89 but some tortoise owners at the pet store told me to raise it to 110 for Redfoots. Now I have reduced the wattage of the bulb so lets see how that goes. how do I "regulate" the temperature?

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I think you are right. Even with temps of 85, she has now moved below the log. Almost like its too hot. I have put a kale leaf (wet) in the cool part of the tank for her. Thanks so much

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I would advice keeping the cool end around 75-80 and the warm end at about 89-90f. I hope she starts to eat better. Just keep feeding her the right stuff and make the necessary adjustments to the enclosure/environment and she will learn and start to eat right and perk up

PS If she at any point looks more sick please don't hesitate to rush her to the veterinarian

 

[llamas55]

my CH Redfoot arrived from CA to MN ematiated and weak. It took months of soaking her in warmish water, and placing her right by food, for her to weakly chomp and then promptly sleep for a day.
Now she is great, altho the original plastron that was eroded by shell rot apparently will never return.
Anyhow,
It seems to me most do not like to look out but that yours was mostly waaaay too hot, and yours should eat now that you've lowered temps to around 80 (what's with the info these pet shop people dish out?!).
Keep us posted, and welcome

 

[tortoisenerd]

Do you have hides available in warm areas? Many torts will stay on the cold side even if they would prefer a warmer area, just because a warm hide is not available. I recommend at least three hides in different temperature zones.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Three hides if you have a lot of room, otherwise that could get restricting... I have two in my enclosure but its pretty "big."

 

[Madkins007]

When I first got her, the habitat was indeed 81-89 but some tortoise owners at the pet store told me to raise it to 110 for Redfoots. Now I have reduced the wattage of the bulb so lets see how that goes. how do I "regulate" the temperature?

---

I think you are right. Even with temps of 85, she has now moved below the log. Almost like its too hot. I have put a kale leaf (wet) in the cool part of the tank for her. Thanks so much

---

You have to wonder where some people get their info- there are not a lot of torts that want 110F!

You can regulate temps in a lot of ways- move the heat source further away (the easiest), use a thermostat (my favorite method), use a smaller unit, angle the heat source so it 'glances' instead of 'beams', etc.

I'm glad she's doing better.

Once you have the temps in the 80-88ish range overall, the next thing to look at would be humidity. We would like almost 100 in at least some of the habitat- like a hide. We would also like to see about 60% or higher in the rest of the space if you can.

Humidity is one part of keeping your Red-foot well hydrated- which is important in its overall health.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

You forgot to mention down grading the heat wattage bulb

 

[Madkins007]

You forgot to mention down grading the heat wattage bulb

I included 'use a smaller unit', which meant lower wattage, smaller heater, etc.- although I could have put it more clearly! Thanks!

 

[vickyb]

The heat lamp is 100W now and I also have TWO 26W 5.0 (higher power) UVB lamps on at the same time as the heat bulb... ie.. 12 hrs a day. Is that too much UVB?

should I reduce it to ONE bulb and put that on a separate timer? For how long?

---

I just read that coil UVB bulbs are bad? I just got TWO in my little encl. and they are the 26W 5.0....

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

For that size of an enclosure I would say yes.

 

[vickyb]

Ok. I returned it and bought an 18" florescent tube. it is a tropical forest spectrum with UVB 2.0 Hope that is okay