Kallie
New Member
Hello, everyone! I'm from Southwest Missouri. I am a nontraditional college student. I have a redfoot tortoise named Bogota. She was hatched roughly August 2013. She's still a little girl but she's at least doubled her size since I got her. My profile photo was taken today and I also have a video of her eating in my album that is open to members. The video was about 2 months after I got her. I think torts eating is probably the cutest thing ever. Oh and torts yawning. SO CUTE.
Personality
Before I took the photo this morning she was napping so she wasn't too thrilled with me. Usually though, she's super friendly and loves people. When I get close to her vivarium she comes to the front of the glass and will sometimes hold a foot up in the air. When she does that I pick her up and she seems pretty happy about it. She's a bit sassy.. how I know this, I'm not sure, but she is.
Diet
She's a happy little piggy that LOVES deep green romaine leaves and mangoes. She also likes carrots, dandelion greens, nasturtiums, mild tomatoes (on occasion), and guava. She's picky about eating any protein besides hydrated low-fat cat food >.< it's not ideal I know. I have to roll worms around in mango or tomato juice to get her eat them. Even then, when they wriggle it freaks her out ( Advice welcomed here!). She does LOVE slugs, though. I can only find them during spring/fall. She also gets small chunks of calcium cuttle bones that she can munch on at her leisure.
The Vivarium
She is currently kept in a 40 gal glass walled tank. She has a live philodendron, fake plants, a rock shelf, and four pet hermit crabs. (More about these guys later, I know you're curious!) She has a three bulb hood lamp with two switches. One is uvb/a, one is heat, and one is night heat. The vivarium also has a Reptifogger for humidity. I have a heating pad on the opposite end from her water dish. I was having problems keeping the proper temperature with just bulbs. The substrate is Coconut fiber. I find this to be the best stuff that keeps humidity levels correct and the crabs happy at the same time.
Crabs?!
Ok, so the crabs! I know there is a lot of discussion on the safety of the crabs in this setup but they've been pretty resilient thus far. They have been with her since I got her. They are purple pincher crabs. They do have several plants and a rock ledge they can climb to get out of her reach. However, there is one crab in particular that hangs out with her all the time. They're bffs. The others mostly hang out in the plants that hang along the back of the vivarium. The reason I keep hermit crabs with Bogota: Hermit crabs are nasty little critters that will eat anything. Including tortoise poo. They also eat any little organisms that might find it's way into the vivarium. I do still feed them the little hermit crab chow flakes, though,
If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask =D
It's great to be here and I look forward to some good conversations and advice!
Personality
Before I took the photo this morning she was napping so she wasn't too thrilled with me. Usually though, she's super friendly and loves people. When I get close to her vivarium she comes to the front of the glass and will sometimes hold a foot up in the air. When she does that I pick her up and she seems pretty happy about it. She's a bit sassy.. how I know this, I'm not sure, but she is.
Diet
She's a happy little piggy that LOVES deep green romaine leaves and mangoes. She also likes carrots, dandelion greens, nasturtiums, mild tomatoes (on occasion), and guava. She's picky about eating any protein besides hydrated low-fat cat food >.< it's not ideal I know. I have to roll worms around in mango or tomato juice to get her eat them. Even then, when they wriggle it freaks her out ( Advice welcomed here!). She does LOVE slugs, though. I can only find them during spring/fall. She also gets small chunks of calcium cuttle bones that she can munch on at her leisure.
The Vivarium
She is currently kept in a 40 gal glass walled tank. She has a live philodendron, fake plants, a rock shelf, and four pet hermit crabs. (More about these guys later, I know you're curious!) She has a three bulb hood lamp with two switches. One is uvb/a, one is heat, and one is night heat. The vivarium also has a Reptifogger for humidity. I have a heating pad on the opposite end from her water dish. I was having problems keeping the proper temperature with just bulbs. The substrate is Coconut fiber. I find this to be the best stuff that keeps humidity levels correct and the crabs happy at the same time.
Crabs?!
Ok, so the crabs! I know there is a lot of discussion on the safety of the crabs in this setup but they've been pretty resilient thus far. They have been with her since I got her. They are purple pincher crabs. They do have several plants and a rock ledge they can climb to get out of her reach. However, there is one crab in particular that hangs out with her all the time. They're bffs. The others mostly hang out in the plants that hang along the back of the vivarium. The reason I keep hermit crabs with Bogota: Hermit crabs are nasty little critters that will eat anything. Including tortoise poo. They also eat any little organisms that might find it's way into the vivarium. I do still feed them the little hermit crab chow flakes, though,
If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask =D
It's great to be here and I look forward to some good conversations and advice!
