redfoot advice

[Box girl]

Wild caught red foots often have naturally in their gut protozoan infections if you feed a high level of fruit this causes these parasites to multiply. i was taudgt this by a good tortoise vet who helped me indentify these infections in the stools. Under his recommendation we reduced the fruit in the diet and have rarely had an outbreak since. We also feed bread soaked in water. The torts we have are not native to this country and the foods we feed and the conditions are not the same as in the wild so it is not possible reproduce the exact same conditions. I am pleased taht you ahve not had the same problem when feeding fruit are yours captive bred?
To Tortielover you can keep redfoots in a vivarium for around 5 years but they will then need a large enclosure mine have the floor of the garage suitably floored and insulated with water tanks round the edge which aids the humidity.

Originally Posted by harwood09

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.

[tortielover]

thank you everyone (even if i am a bit confused about frit now! :P)

I wont be getting any just yet.. i will stick with my hermanns untill i am completely set up for some reds xx

[tortielover]

what kinds of fruit can i give them then?

and what substrate do you reccomend?

[harwood09]

Yes they are CB I imagine that will be the reason why that they haven't had a problem. That bread feeding sounds interesting. How often do you feed it? I might give it a go

[harwood09]

Originally Posted by tortielover

what kinds of fruit can i give them then?

and what substrate do you reccomend?

Pretty much anything, some are bad for them i.e. Bananas aren't good so feed very infrequently and supplement with nutrabol and limestone flour. Fruits I feed are:
Blueberries
Raspberries
Apricots
Plums
Strawberries (1 of mines favourite food)
Cantaloupe
Melon
Watermelon
French figs
Kiwi
Probably missed a few off

The substrate I use is topsoil mixed with orchid bark with a layer of orchid bark on top.

[tortielover]

oh right, never knew it was so varied! thank you so much

[harwood09]

Yes its handy you can vary it alot but its wise to check fruits before hand for things like the Ca:P ratio and oxalate levels. You need a ratio of roughly 2:1 Calcium:Phosphorus so if the fruit is high in phosphorus you should supplement with limestone flour

[tortielover]

oh right okay, thank you

Are there any breeders in the south?

[Box girl]

That would be it then I feed bread every time I feed the adults which is 3 times a week.
How old are your CB?

Originally Posted by harwood09

Yes they are CB I imagine that will be the reason why that they haven't had a problem. That bread feeding sounds interesting. How often do you feed it? I might give it a go

[Box girl]

What do you mean by South I have bred 50 over the past 20 years and have 2 for sale and am in Gloucestershire. Where are you?

Originally Posted by tortielover

oh right okay, thank you

Are there any breeders in the south?