hi! New red foot tortoise owner

[kerrynn]

Hi I'm a newbie from east TN. I have read tons of info on red foot tortoise but still have questions. How do I get the humidity higher in my habitat? My tortoise is around 2 months old so very young. I will include a picture if I can

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Most of use use a 2 layer substrate that is Orchid bark with another layer of garden soil on top.
Pour water into the corners and the bark absorbs the moisture and gives off humidity but leaves the top layer dry.
Also, placing a lid on top can trap humidity and warmth. Making it super easy to regulate both.

 

[Pearly]

Hello, my fellow RF Keeper, and warm welcome from Texas! Please post few pics of your current enclosure and we'll help you tweak things. Also, you probably know that but RFs are omnivores and need a very diverse diet to grow healthy, here is my old feeding thread, one of my babies was nit eating at the beginning and I made this thread to help the new keepers who face similar issues. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Pearly's-tips-to-feed-picky-eater.139381/ Your little RF baby is adorable!!! What's her name? Tell us more about her!

 

[kerrynn]

Right now I need lots of things for my enclosure. I need lots of plants which I am planning on getting. I have a 50w light and a uvb light. I'm still learning. Rufus is his or her name. I also am going to start an outside enclosure for the summer but that will be next year. I am giving mostly leafy greens (no spinach) vegetables and fruits and an occasional mealworm. With calcium dust ever little bit

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Kerrynn

 

[Pearly]

Right now I need lots of things for my enclosure. I need lots of plants which I am planning on getting. I have a 50w light and a uvb light. I'm still learning. Rufus is his or her name. I also am going to start an outside enclosure for the summer but that will be next year. I am giving mostly leafy greens (no spinach) vegetables and fruits and an occasional mealworm. With calcium dust ever little bit

"Mostly leafy greens with sprinkled calcium and occasional mealworm" may not be enough to meet the growing baby tort nutritional and energy needs. There are great sites I was using at the beginning "TOROISE LIBRARY" and "TURTLETARY". You can google them, both are by our forum members and between those and this forum I was getting all of my newb-keeper questions answered. They have great up to date info on RF diet and lighting among other things. In the link to my feeding thread that I posted for you above you'll probably find pretty good feeding/RF diet info. I may just add that I haven't even been supplementing calcium in my RFs food, bcs I'm fully confident that they get plenty of it in their very diverse diet which being all finely chopped and mixed- they eat it all up always leaving some part of their portions which tells me they are getting plenty (enough) food. Mine are growing beautifully and are very healthy and active. Shellie is 8" weighing over 3lbs and Tucker (being the Brazilian he's smaller) measures 7" and weighing in over 2 lbs. Both have shells that are hard as rocks, very heavy rocks

 

[daniellenc]

Sphagnum moss also hold humidity really well. Just soak it in water, wring it out and pop it in his hides. It also lasts a good long time and can be bought fairly cheap in bulk.

 

[kerrynn]

"Mostly leafy greens with sprinkled calcium and occasional mealworm" may not be enough to meet the growing baby tort nutritional and energy needs. There are great sites I was using at the beginning "TOROISE LIBRARY" and "TURTLETARY". You can google them, both are by our forum members and between those and this forum I was getting all of my newb-keeper questions answered. They have great up to date info on RF diet and lighting among other things. In the link to my feeding thread that I posted for you above you'll probably find pretty good feeding/RF diet info. I may just add that I haven't even been supplementing calcium in my RFs food, bcs I'm fully confident that they get plenty of it in their very diverse diet which being all finely chopped and mixed- they eat it all up always leaving some part of their portions which tells me they are getting plenty (enough) food. Mine are growing beautifully and are very healthy and active. Shellie is 8" weighing over 3lbs and Tucker (being the Brazilian he's smaller) measures 7" and weighing in over 2 lbs. Both have shells that are hard as rocks, very heavy rocks

OK so I need some dry tortoise food too. Just soak in water. I'll get a few different ones to rotate with all the different greens vegetables, and fruits

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[William Lee Kohler]

Very pretty baby. Better color than either of my so called cherry heads. Care for him/her well and grow a beautiful adult. Time to prevent pyramiding is now before it starts. Consult @Anyfoot for expert info on this subject. Where did baby come from?

 

[Pearly]

OK so I need some dry tortoise food too. Just soak in water. I'll get a few different ones to rotate with all the different greens vegetables, and fruits

No, you don't "have to", this is just what some of us like to do to assure good spectrum nutritional coverage. I know my tort diet is crazy diverse with fresh greens, mushrooms, fruits, veggies, protein... and cuttlebone is always there for them, still I tend to somewhat trust the pet industry nutritionists who know about different vitamins, aminoacids, trace element requirements for raising healthy torts so I just choose to take advantage of their knowledge and all research they put into that multimillion dollar industry. In my case, tortoise chow makes up for about 20% of their daily breakfast (biggest meal). The supper after bath is usually just fresh stuff.

 

[Pearly]

OK so I need some dry tortoise food too. Just soak in water. I'll get a few different ones to rotate with all the different greens vegetables, and fruits

And yes, I soak mine in warm water, sometimes will make it wetter, mash it up and toss with the chopped greens to coat them like salad dressing. I do not discard the pellet soak water, it's likely to contain some "good stuff", whatever there, I just pour into the salad. Again, remember, dehydration is one of the most common problems with pet torts. That's why we soak, provide fresh water source and try to sneak in water in their food when we can. That's why we love the cactus so much , well, for water content and the fact that it's packed with calcium and excellent nutrition source for torts... and people, though i haven't tried eating it yet but i will

 

[Pearly]

OK so I need some dry tortoise food too. Just soak in water. I'll get a few different ones to rotate with all the different greens vegetables, and fruits

Check out the websites (toroise library and turtletary) that I had mentioned earlier, also look into our diet/feeding section under your species. You'll find more info and specifics like list on plant names and recommended proportions for your daily tort meals. I generally just eyeball it now: about 60-70% of greens with cactus, the remaining portion consists of some veg or fruit, with soaked pellets, protein typically once a week, but mine catch snails daily in during a day in their garden

 

[kerrynn]

Very pretty baby. Better color than either of my so called cherry heads. Care for him/her well and grow a beautiful adult. Time to prevent pyramiding is now before it starts. Consult @Anyfoot for expert info on this subject. Where did baby come from?

Reptile store in FL. They buy from a breeder.

 

[kerrynn]

Check out the websites (toroise library and turtletary) that I had mentioned earlier, also look into our diet/feeding section under your species. You'll find more info and specifics like list on plant names and recommended proportions for your daily tort meals. I generally just eyeball it now: about 60-70% of greens with cactus, the remaining portion consists of some veg or fruit, with soaked pellets, protein typically once a week, but mine catch snails daily in during a day in their garden

Thank you!! I'm so happy to have ran across this forum! My baby will grow up big and strong with all this great info!!

 

[Barbecue]

Hi I'm a newbie from east TN. I have read tons of info on red foot tortoise but still have questions. How do I get the humidity higher in my habitat? My tortoise is around 2 months old so very young. I will include a picture if I can

O, she/he is beautiful!

 

[Barbecue]

Hi I'm a newbie from east TN. I have read tons of info on red foot tortoise but still have questions. How do I get the humidity higher in my habitat? My tortoise is around 2 months old so very young. I will include a picture if I can

I wish I could give u advice but I'm a newbie to. Lots of different info out there for sure

 

[Barbecue]

Hi I'm a newbie from east TN. I have read tons of info on red foot tortoise but still have questions. How do I get the humidity higher in my habitat? My tortoise is around 2 months old so very young. I will include a picture if I can

Bahahaha! This is a very old post isn't it. I'll catch onto this site sooner or later
Sorry