Hello!

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Hello! My name is Sam. I have a super cute red footed tortoise named Shelly, and I hope to adopt two more later this summer. I live in New England, so it gets pretty cold here also. I'm really happy to be here and I look forward to being part of the tortoise forum!

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome. Can you post pictures of Shelly? We love pictures

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Thanks! I have billions of Shelly pictures so I'll definitely post some!

 

[JoesMum]

Shelly is very cute but is showing signs of pyramidding which isn't good. What does her enclosure look like and what do you feed her?.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Oh no Shelly eats a variety of vegetables/ and leafy plants. Her enclosure is a 55 gallon glass aquarium with forest floor wood chip bedding. Also, she has proper heating and light arrangements.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

And by the way, soon she is getting a large outdoor enclosure, which I think will be much better for her. Is there any way to fix pyramiding?

 

[JoesMum]

Post some pictures of her enclosure so we can take a look and see if we can help sort things out

Also can you be more specific about what you feed?

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Thanks for helping So more specifically for her diet. Every other day I feed her some hosta plant leaves or something similar and veggies like cucumber, carrot, or bell pepper. These are usually the only thing she eats. And on occasion I give her some fruit like banana or strawberry.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Here are some enclosure pics.

 

[JoesMum]

I will start by saying that I am not a redfoot expert, I am asking the questions that those who know will need answered.

However, I am puzzled by feeding every other day? Why wouldn't you feed every day? I will also say that your tort needs many kore leafy greens in her diet. Torts, all species, are notoriously picky and will hold out for the things theynlike, but a hungry tort will eat. So you are going to have to tough this one out with her.
This is anexample of a diet sheet http://redfoottortoise.com/redfoot_tortoise_diet.htm

Also it looks like your tort is being kept too dry. Redfoot torts need quite high levels of humidity.

Hopefully someone like @tortadise, @ascott or @ZEROPILOT can appear soon

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

About the every other day thing, when I adopted her that's what I was told to do? Is that wrong The people who gave her to me were uneducated so I had to figure this out on my own. I have been trying to keep the humidity up but I have been struggling. I feel like I've tried everything. Do you have any tips for keeping up humidity? I'll also start feeding her more dark veggies.

 

[JoesMum]

Welcome to TFO. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who don't know how to care for torts, but you have found THE best place for accurate advice

We will get others to help you. You may have to start a thread in the Redfoot forum to attract attention. It is quite quiet on here just now

And yes your tort should be fed every day. They don't eat every other day in the wild!

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! Do you soak her?

About the every other day thing, when I adopted her that's what I was told to do? Is that wrong The people who gave her to me were uneducated so I had to figure this out on my own. I have been trying to keep the humidity up but I have been struggling. I feel like I've tried everything. Do you have any tips for keeping up humidity? I'll also start feeding her more dark veggies.

 

[Jacqui]

Looks like she will be enjoying the room in an outside enclosure. Any way you can enlarge her space in the meantime? Like using a child's wading pool? Then she would have more room, including room for a nice water dish to freely soak in, food dish that she would have room to walk around, ect..

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I feed my RF every day. some times more than once.
I have orchid bark covered in potting soil as a substrate and pour water into the corners. The bark picks up the moisture. I also covered most of the top. This is called a "closed chamber."
A closed chamber is the best, easiest way to keep a REDFOOT if not kept outdoors.
And yes. Sorry. Your little man needs about 4 feet square as a tiny minimum.
My four share a quarter acre yard.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

No I haven't soaked her. Would I soak her in the bathtub or in a separate container?

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

I will definetly be enlarging her space ASAP. Her outdoor enclosure will be 10x10 so she will love it. Also, I will start feeding her daily. I never thought of adding soil to the bark either, but I will definetly try it.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

Soon I will also be adopting two 2-3 inch rf tortoises. Do you have any advice for their care? Is it similar?

 

[Jacqui]

Do you happen to have safe weeds in your area? Safe meaning no chemicals on them on in their soil? Good stuff like dandelions, plantain, clovers, and such. Or leaves like from a mulberry tree or Althea/Rose of Sharon bush, hibiscus, daylily bloom, ect..,

No the pyramiding will not go away, but with time it will look like less.

 

[ShellyTheTortoise71]

I have a lot of weeds around my yard. We have never used pesticides or chemicals any where in our yard, considering we have other outdoor pets. I usually let her walk around for about 20 minutes each day, but when she lives outdoors, it will obviously be longer.