redfoot advice

[tortielover]

What do i need for a redfoot?

set up, diet etc?

i really want some

[Box girl]

Redfoots require the same as a mediterranean except they need lots of humidity. I provide this by using a water bowl in their area. The water bowl needs to be big enough for the animal to sit in up the the top of their head.They eat similar foods to the mediterranean torts for the adults I add bread soaked in water this helps to combat the problem of Flagellate and Balantidium infection often present in their gut.
They live with this and the bread acts as a food source for the bugs.
I presume you are aware that they do not hibernate but do have times when they aestivate go off their food. I feed my hatchlings every day till six months and then every other day and the adults 3 times a week.
Red foots tend to have watery eyes so do not panic if you see this.
I have 2 3 year olds for sale if you are interested Glos area.
use this forum to ask any more questions I'd be happy to answer them. We have kept redfoots for over 25 years now.

[tortielover]

Thanks for the reply. So the humidity comes from the water bowl alone? I have water in my hermanns table, but it isnt humid?

Do they eat fruit? I have seen pics of non meds eating fruit quite a lot?

[Box girl]

We have ours in enclosed viv's whcih keeps the humidity up, and the water bowl is large.
Yes they can have fruit as all torst a balance. Don't give too much as you can start the balantidium etc off. I usually feed fruit no more than once a week.

[harwood09]

Originally Posted by tortielover

Thanks for the reply. So the humidity comes from the water bowl alone? I have water in my hermanns table, but it isnt humid?

Do they eat fruit? I have seen pics of non meds eating fruit quite a lot?

Yep they love fruit there's an article on the tortoise trust which suggests that during a rainy season upto 70% of their diet is fruit http://www.tortoisetrust.org/article..._redfoots.html, which is a good thing seein as 2 of mine are absolute fruit-aholics

As for humidity you there are plenty of ways of keeping humidity in the 60-80% range
-Such as a large tray of water in the enclosure
-Spraying the enclosure everyday
-There are misters or humidifiers you can buy and install
-Your substrate can play a large part in this as well using a combination of damp moss and topsoil I find maintains the humidity very well

Most importantly though make sure they have a humid hide so that if the humidity levels drop they have somewhere to retreat to

[Box girl]

I would not feed that level of fruit as you will give them diarrohea and start the protozoans breeding in the gut. I know when we started feeding in our early years plums etc and the mess was incredible. that level of fruit is also not giving a balanced diet.
Damp moss and soil is ok for adults but not hatchlings as the may eat this and this can cause them blocked guts.
We have to be aware that these tortoises are not in their natural habitat.

[tortielover]

okay thank you. So i can use a vivarium for redfoots then?

[Eire_Ade]

Hi Paris,

A vivarium would give you high humidities, but many redfoot keepers manage to keep a suitable and sustainable humidity level using an open topped tortoise table too.

[swad1000]

You can use a well set up Viv with a Redfoot, but Redfoots get quite large so if you do go the Viv route, I'd get a very large one.

[harwood09]

Originally Posted by Box girl

I would not feed that level of fruit as you will give them diarrohea and start the protozoans breeding in the gut. I know when we started feeding in our early years plums etc and the mess was incredible. that level of fruit is also not giving a balanced diet.

If feeding fruit is causing your reds to have diarrohea then I personally think some other part of their diet is wrong as its is normal for redfoot to encounter high amounts of fruit in the wild and so their digestive tracts are capable of managing fruits unlike other torts eg Leopards. When I took on red from a pet shop which had never seen fruit its stools were foul however my other who have fruit 2-3 times per week have solid stools. I was not saying feed that level of fruit, however I would say feed it more than once per week.