Hi: I'm new to the Tortoise Forum and new to the idea of keeping a Redfoot. My baby redfoot, Gibson, found me, basically. My husband and I keep hurt, blind, and injured (and slow and special needs and deformed-from-birth) birds. We buy our food from a feed and seed store locally (that should stay in their lane, but they are trying to branch out to pets and fish.)
In June I went to stock up for our flock and saw a horrible sight I'll never forget. In a 10 gallon tank with sand on the bottom and a really HOT light above, there were 3 little tortoises, one piece of dry driftwood, some pellets on the floor and about 1/16 inch of water in a tiny little dish- and the water was soiled.
Two of the tortie babies were literally frolicking around and playing together. The other was tucked in, with his face in the corner and his eyes closed. I got the guy minding the store to come with me and asked about the tortoise in the corner, tucked in tight while the other two played. I also asked if they should have more water, since the temperature was showing about 100 degrees F.
He said he didn't know and then went off to fill an order for bulk seed.
I can't explain it but I literally felt the little guy's pain- and I KNEW he was in trouble. Mind you, I know nothing at all about reptiles, but I was completely connected to the little guy in the corner and felt his extreme distress. 24 hours later, we went back to the pet store where I found him in the exact same posture and conditions, and we brought Gibson home.
I started reading literature online, and everything I could get my hands on here- thank you so much to all of you here in the Forum- Gibby would be dead without you all.
Skip ahead- he's growing, thriving, knows I'm his source of food, has flourished in his new TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT, and I found out the other 2 tortoise babies he was housed with were Sulcata's and thrive in a desert environment.
My little Gibby is a rain forest species and was roasting and dehydrated, with no shade, no water and no place to hide from the "sun" the entire time he was kept with baby Sulcatas - it was a couple of weeks, I found out later, since he had hatched and used up his yolk sac.
Having said that, for 2 months, we could not get him to bask or to even come out of the dim hide or shade to sit in the sun for a few minutes. I was very worried about calcium deficiencies because he wasn't taking any sun, and I gave him supplements with D3 and anxiously watched for pyramiding. We've kept him very moist, and he bathes in warm water twice per day before he eats, and he always has 80+ relative humidity, on the warm and cold sides of his cage- we keep the temp range between 75 - 95 and he can choose. Still he avoided bright light- until today.
I think he now trusts that we always give him a way to escape sun. I've put an outdoor pen (kids' wading pool) out for him so he can stay near me while my husband and I work in the yard each weekend.
Today- and for the very first time- I caught him basking in the sun!!! I guess his trust for us taking care of him has grown and his natural instincts kicked in. He ran around his pen a few times, then stopped in a sunny spot and put his head up and just sat there for about half an hour. Then he buried in a wet, muddy spot under his log with a leaf on his head and went to sleep for an hour....
I'm thrilled that his emotional scars are healing and his tortie-ness is blossoming.
And I especially wanted to share a happy story and to say thank you to all of you who have encouraged and helped us on this very unexpected journey with our first tortle!
Karen, and Gibby (and Cliff-my-very-wonderful-and-patient husband and our entire flock, and the school of huge outdoor goldfish too)
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