Yellowfoot popularity?
- Thread starter tyguy35
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Good question. I haven't seen anyone post about them in a while.
tyguy35 said:
Although closely related to redfoots, yellowfoots have some important differences that have made them less common in the pet trade.
For one thing, they appear to be a bit more delicate than their cousins. Redfoots inhabit both forests and savannas in South America, but yellowfoots live only in forests (and exclude redfoots from those forests). So, their humidity requirements are even higher than those of redfoots, which can make them harder to care for in captivity.
Another thing is their size. Redfoots grow to 12-14", but yellowfoots get much bigger, more like 18" in length, and sometimes more. This means fewer owners will have room to house them.
I have had several yellowfoots in the past, very fun torotise!
Not all YF tortoises get that big. I have an adult male and female and they are both quite small. The female is 13.5 SCL and 14.5lbs and the male is 13.5 SCL and 9lbs. I've had them over 5 years and they haven't grown any in that time.
I have a pair, the male is younger than the female,Their personality is great and care is basically the same as the red footed tortoise.
They are much more fragile than a redfoot. As well as there growth rate. You can easily breed and house adult red foots way easier than a yellowfoot. Redfoots tend to be breedable much quicker than the yellowfoots. They are very slow growers. Redfoot are more savanna south american species, where as yellowfoots are very deep forest, requiring more of a difficult housing and sensivity levels. They cannot have semi humid environments for very long unlike the redfoot. They like more low light levels, and have a more specific diet than redfoots. They arent imported very often because they are treated like redfoots and usually die, as well as take almost twice as long as a redfoot to become sexually mature. Ounce you can them established they will do just fine in captivity, but still need to be heavily planted enclosures and sprayed down numerous times a day.
Ive got 7 of them and love them. They just require different needs. Way more docile then redfoots.
And yvonne they are very very slow growers once they hit that age. Ive had one for 8 years and shes only grown 2 inches, from 12 to 16" Im sure she wont get much bigger.
Heres some photos for yah
Those guys are from suriname. and then the smaller one is from peru.
Ive got 7 of them and love them. They just require different needs. Way more docile then redfoots.
And yvonne they are very very slow growers once they hit that age. Ive had one for 8 years and shes only grown 2 inches, from 12 to 16" Im sure she wont get much bigger.
Heres some photos for yah
Those guys are from suriname. and then the smaller one is from peru.
I've had them for 5 years, but they were fully grown when I got them. They haven't grown at all in the time I've had them.
Hmm. They probably wont get any bigger then, maybe a hair or two theyre great torts.
theyre great torts.
It's funny Kelly and I were just talking about Yellowfoots. I told him I had had a couple in the past and have been wanting to get some once more. I keep waiting for Yvonne's to have hatchlings, but so far that isn't meant to be. I had one named Bonner, who had just the best personality. We use to take him to all the reptile talks we use to give.
Yeah I was thinking about that when I saw this thread. They usually have to be kept seperate and reintroduced with a simulated rainy season to get them going. Ive only gotten 2 eggs this year so far. They are developing though, so hope they both hatch.
Here is a pic taken in 1973 of my first yellowfoot, at that time I thought they all got big. he measured 28 inches.
Thats awesome len. Hes a biggen. Thats about how big the parents of the peruvians I have they are 90 pounders around 28-30" I cant wait. Might be 20 years but I still cant wait.
emysemys said:
Remember, reptiles are never really fully grown. They continue to grow throughout their lifetime, albeit much more slowly after a certain age.
I have three of them. For me, they have been easy to care for. My big female has a great personality but can be a bit aggressive at time. The boy is smaller and shyer.
God, I really don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but... considering that the average size of a yellow-footed tortoise is about 15.75" in the wild according to Vinke in "South American Tortoises", and they often get a lot bigger than that... is it possible that the ones we are keeping that are not growing are not getting what they want or need in captivity?
This was considered a 'difficult' species in the 70's-80's when I started keeping red-footeds (in my second go-round as a tortoise keeper- this is my third) because of rather fidgety temp, humidity, diet, etc. needs.
In my third go-around now, I have not tried to keep them, and have heard both really good and very mediocre reports about them as far as growth, longevity, and reproduction, here and on other sites. I find myself wondering why some people have big breeding machines, and others have less luck. Sometimes, I suspect, the difference is climatic- that as usual, people in semi-tropical locales have an easier time than us in the cold zones. Other times it is less obvious what the issues are.
When I hear 'same care as a red-footed', I sort of cringe. Reds are a pretty laid-back, forgiving species that do well in a wide variety of biomes with a wide variety of temps, diets, etc. People have kept and bred reds for decades, even without things like low light levels, UVB lighting, anything special for diets, etc.- but by pretty much every account I have read, yellows are not nearly this forgiving.
Of course, those same accounts rarely seem to be able to pin-point anything specific. More humidity, good heat control, some suggest more fungi or invertebrates, others suggest more fruits with high calcium levels... but these sound more like guesses than proven techniques.
Of course- like I said, I have NEVER kept one, so this is all pretty theoretical on my part.
This was considered a 'difficult' species in the 70's-80's when I started keeping red-footeds (in my second go-round as a tortoise keeper- this is my third) because of rather fidgety temp, humidity, diet, etc. needs.
In my third go-around now, I have not tried to keep them, and have heard both really good and very mediocre reports about them as far as growth, longevity, and reproduction, here and on other sites. I find myself wondering why some people have big breeding machines, and others have less luck. Sometimes, I suspect, the difference is climatic- that as usual, people in semi-tropical locales have an easier time than us in the cold zones. Other times it is less obvious what the issues are.
When I hear 'same care as a red-footed', I sort of cringe. Reds are a pretty laid-back, forgiving species that do well in a wide variety of biomes with a wide variety of temps, diets, etc. People have kept and bred reds for decades, even without things like low light levels, UVB lighting, anything special for diets, etc.- but by pretty much every account I have read, yellows are not nearly this forgiving.
Of course, those same accounts rarely seem to be able to pin-point anything specific. More humidity, good heat control, some suggest more fungi or invertebrates, others suggest more fruits with high calcium levels... but these sound more like guesses than proven techniques.
Of course- like I said, I have NEVER kept one, so this is all pretty theoretical on my part.
All Good info from everyone. Also great looking torts in everyones photos. There is a breeder I found up here sells them for 150 which is cheap for here. I know its not a scam. People I know have bought from him. I dont think Im ready just yet for a second tortoise but in time maybe. once I get making more money.
Have always admired the south american type tortoises YF RF Cherries etc. Neat creatures.
Have always admired the south american type tortoises YF RF Cherries etc. Neat creatures.
I think YF are beautiful. I don't have one, personally..but I do love them.
I was considering getting a yellowfoot at some point, but reading this makes me very hesistant. I have a medium difficulty time getting good temps and humidity for my redfoots, and now you're telling me yellowfoots are even harder? I think I'll stick to redfoots (and maybe a leopard!)
Can any of you that do have them post pictures of what you keep them in? I'm interested to know because they require higher humidity levels.
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