Lots of questions

[ehols]

Hi all,

We just got a yellow footed (named Papi) He os a muffin of a pet but I know very little about him. Other than the fact that I love him!!! He is lazy (not sure if he should be) Does not want to eat unless he is handfed (which will become a pain in the behind) and I am not sure about the proper temp. I am in Ct. where it is currently hot and humid. But how hot is too hot?

Sorry for all the questions and I fear this is only the begining...
erin

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Erin,
Welcome to the forum.
We're going to need to find out about your set-up, so we can help you out better.
What do you have for lights? What are your temperatures in the enclosure? What are you using for substrate? What are you feeding for a diet?

Danny

 

[ehols]

Thank you, thank you! Papi is in a 20 gallon tank with Cypress mulch. He has a UVB light, a day heat light and a night heat. During the day it gets as hot as 95 at night 80 ish. He likes fruit. Strawberries, bananas, peach. Kale isn't his favorite but he eats a little. Food can sit in his container all day and he won't touch it. I feed him by hand and he eats like he's going to the electric chair. So much so he bit my daughter. How much sleep does he need? He is a little guy so I don't know. Any help would be great!

Hi Erin,
Welcome to the forum.
We're going to need to find out about your set-up, so we can help you out better.
What do you have for lights? What are your temperatures in the enclosure? What are you using for substrate? What are you feeding for a diet?

Danny

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Erin,
His temperatures are a bit high and your giving to much light. Your temperatures should be 85 to 90F during the day and a drop to the low 70'sF is just fine. So no night time heat. To provide heat during the day you need a ceramic heat emitter (which looks like a ceramic screw in light bulb). It will provide heat but no light.
You really shouldn't have any lights on the enclosure, just ambient room light. You don't need UVB as he should be getting his D3 from his diet. He is a forest dwelling tortoises that wouldn't come across much in the way of bright light. That's why he's hiding all the time.
Fruit should be 30 to 40% of his diet, but you should stay away from bananas. Dark leafy greens should make up 40 to 50% of his diet. Kale isn't the best to feed on a regular basis, but Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelions, chicory, curly endive, escarole, romaine and spring mix, plus weeds from outside(after finding out if edible) as well as flowers (pansies, petunias, roses, hibiscus, rose of sharon to name a few). The other 20% should be animal protein (thats where the D3 will come from), earthworms, night crawlers, meal worms, waxworms, snails are all great forms of protein. Also you need a good calcium supplement with D3 that should be sprinkled on the food 2 to 3 times a week.
You also need to keep him very humid, a large water bowl will help, as well as misting the enclosure once a day.
You'll see a big change in him after you change a few things.

Danny

 

[ehols]

Thanks very much, Danny. I am sure I will have a ton more questions but you did give me a lot to think about.

Erin

Hi Erin,
His temperatures are a bit high and your giving to much light. Your temperatures should be 85 to 90F during the day and a drop to the low 70'sF is just fine. So no night time heat. To provide heat during the day you need a ceramic heat emitter (which looks like a ceramic screw in light bulb). It will provide heat but no light.
You really shouldn't have any lights on the enclosure, just ambient room light. You don't need UVB as he should be getting his D3 from his diet. He is a forest dwelling tortoises that wouldn't come across much in the way of bright light. That's why he's hiding all the time.
Fruit should be 30 to 40% of his diet, but you should stay away from bananas. Dark leafy greens should make up 40 to 50% of his diet. Kale isn't the best to feed on a regular basis, but Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelions, chicory, curly endive, escarole, romaine and spring mix, plus weeds from outside(after finding out if edible) as well as flowers (pansies, petunias, roses, hibiscus, rose of sharon to name a few). The other 20% should be animal protein (thats where the D3 will come from), earthworms, night crawlers, meal worms, waxworms, snails are all great forms of protein. Also you need a good calcium supplement with D3 that should be sprinkled on the food 2 to 3 times a week.
You also need to keep him very humid, a large water bowl will help, as well as misting the enclosure once a day.
You'll see a big change in him after you change a few things.

Danny

 

[Crazy1]

Please make sure that the weeds an flowers do not have pestisides or chemicals on them. This could make your tort ill.

 

[ehols]

Still not sure how much he should be eating. Now that I have a better idea of what he should be eating. Any suggestions?

Please make sure that the weeds an flowers do not have pestisides or chemicals on them. This could make your tort ill.

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi Erin,
It would help to know exactly how big he is. We would need his SCL (straight carapace[his top shell] length) and his weight.
You can also gauge it by how much he leaves and give him less the next feeding. If he eats it all than just a bit more the next feeding.
It also helps to have the food spaced around the enclosure so he has to forage for the food like he would do in the wild.

Danny

 

[Itort]

A link that may help is : www.redfoots.com or www.turtletary.com These are sites on redfoot tortoises, a closely related specie, that come from South American forests and have very similar requirements. The only real difference is that yellowfoots are less tolerate of a bright light enviornment. If you can post some pictures of the guy, it would be great. We don't see yellowfoots as often as we'd like.