Time to do a little update on my "Black Cherry."
I got this little fellow in September of 2010 from Terry Kilgore. He is unusual in that there is almost NO red on this Cherryhead. He has a little red nose, a couple of red scales on his head, two tiny red scales on the heel of both back feet, and a single red scale on each of his front legs. The scute centers that are usually bright yellow or orange on Cherryhead hatchlings are dark, almost solid black.
At a year and a half old, he is 4 12/16" long and weighs 326.4 grams. He started out VERY tiny, less than 2". You can see his newborn pictures in Terry's thread, here - http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Lil-RUNT-Cherryhead#axzz1jqOWqMJu
One of the questions both Terry and myself have been wondering about was if he was going to develop marbling. Just in the last week, I am finally seeing signs of it.
It is hard to pick out, but there is a TINY bit of white in two spots between the second and third vertabral scutes and the pleurals.
And a little on the plastron seams as well.
Oh and.... He is still growing smooth![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
The picture/enclosure Terry is asking about is this one -
That is the tank that I kept this fellow in for the first 8 months or so. After that, he spent the summer outside, and got a new enclosure this fall. The enclosure pictured was only a 20 gallon, and he outgrew it. He currently resides in a 27 gallon long, which is 36" X 14" X 12".
As far as lighting, I don't really feel that it was all that bright, and I never had any issues with him wanting to hide or escape the light. It looks a lot brighter in the picture than I remember it being in real life. In the current enclosure (which I do not have a current picture of) there is one light only, and the rest of the lighting is actually ambient light that spills over from Dee, Dusty, and Devon's enclosure (my three baby Sullies from Tom.)
Fungus - I have never had a case of it. Whether it is my choice of substrate or some other factor, I am unsure. I will share that my babies all get cleaned in plain water and with a soft toothbrush at least once weekly. I do this for a couple of reasons. First off, they walk through their food. I scrub them to make sure there isn't anything stuck to them, potentially rotting, that could cause sores or even deformities.
The second reason is this -
I'll share that story in another thread![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I got this little fellow in September of 2010 from Terry Kilgore. He is unusual in that there is almost NO red on this Cherryhead. He has a little red nose, a couple of red scales on his head, two tiny red scales on the heel of both back feet, and a single red scale on each of his front legs. The scute centers that are usually bright yellow or orange on Cherryhead hatchlings are dark, almost solid black.
At a year and a half old, he is 4 12/16" long and weighs 326.4 grams. He started out VERY tiny, less than 2". You can see his newborn pictures in Terry's thread, here - http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Lil-RUNT-Cherryhead#axzz1jqOWqMJu
One of the questions both Terry and myself have been wondering about was if he was going to develop marbling. Just in the last week, I am finally seeing signs of it.
It is hard to pick out, but there is a TINY bit of white in two spots between the second and third vertabral scutes and the pleurals.
![DSCF7986.jpg](http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll63/kyryah/Redfoot%20Tortoises/DSCF7986.jpg)
![DSCF7987.jpg](http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll63/kyryah/Redfoot%20Tortoises/DSCF7987.jpg)
And a little on the plastron seams as well.
![DSCF7988.jpg](http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll63/kyryah/Redfoot%20Tortoises/DSCF7988.jpg)
Oh and.... He is still growing smooth
Redfoot NERD said:
* off topic * Kristina how do you keep plastron 'fungus' in check? Also ( even tho' there is ground cover ) that seems like a lot of light even for the "Brazilian" .carbonaria -- what size is that aquarium? Would you start a "BlackCherry" UPDATE [ w/pics ] thread please? * off topic *
The picture/enclosure Terry is asking about is this one -
![KristinasPictures4002.jpg](http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll63/kyryah/Redfoot%20Tortoises/KristinasPictures4002.jpg)
That is the tank that I kept this fellow in for the first 8 months or so. After that, he spent the summer outside, and got a new enclosure this fall. The enclosure pictured was only a 20 gallon, and he outgrew it. He currently resides in a 27 gallon long, which is 36" X 14" X 12".
As far as lighting, I don't really feel that it was all that bright, and I never had any issues with him wanting to hide or escape the light. It looks a lot brighter in the picture than I remember it being in real life. In the current enclosure (which I do not have a current picture of) there is one light only, and the rest of the lighting is actually ambient light that spills over from Dee, Dusty, and Devon's enclosure (my three baby Sullies from Tom.)
Fungus - I have never had a case of it. Whether it is my choice of substrate or some other factor, I am unsure. I will share that my babies all get cleaned in plain water and with a soft toothbrush at least once weekly. I do this for a couple of reasons. First off, they walk through their food. I scrub them to make sure there isn't anything stuck to them, potentially rotting, that could cause sores or even deformities.
The second reason is this -
![DSCF7981.jpg](http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll63/kyryah/Sulcata%20tortoises/DSCF7981.jpg)
I'll share that story in another thread