Red foot keepers in Minnesota

[J H]

Im curious how many / if any members on here keep red foots in MN.

 

[J H]

Really? I'm the only one from MN with a redfoot? This is Bob. Just curious if anyone else has some. How old / size ect.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome from Redfoot central (South Florida)
I'm sure there are others in your area.
None come to mind, though.

 

[J H]

Yea not the best climate for them / torts in general.

 

[Leonardo13]

I'm also from minnesota. Currently looking for cherry heads but the only thing holding me back from buying is maintaining the humidity. How do you have your red foot setuo?

 

[J H]

I built a big closed chamber tank. Holds humidity at about 85% no problem. And temp is on a thermostat so it's always steady

 

[Leonardo13]

Do you put him outside at all during the summer?

 

[J H]

Yep only during the day when warm enough.

 

[Leonardo13]

How do you keep the humidity outdoors?

 

[J H]

Our humidity is pretty high a lot of the time but I do usually hose the enclosure down in the morning and some times in the afternoon

 

[Anyfoot]

I built a big closed chamber tank. Holds humidity at about 85% no problem. And temp is on a thermostat so it's always steadyView attachment 211007

This enclosure looks good. Are you using a CHE and UVB striplight?

 

[J H]

Yep a Che and uvb fluorescent tube light

 

[J H]

Once you get it dialed in it runs its self. Set timers and thermostat check it often for humidity and temp to start with but once you get it right that's it. The water bowl actually makes the humidity perfect (he walks through and some spills out) with out having to dump extra water in substrate.

 

[Anyfoot]

Once you get it dialed in it runs its self. Set timers and thermostat check it often for humidity and temp to start with but once you get it right that's it. The water bowl actually makes the humidity perfect (he walks through and some spills out) with out having to dump extra water in substrate.

I set them up the same way. To get the humidity balanced you just need to have the correct water surface area amount for the enclosure size.
Just a suggestion, if you sit something none flammable in that cage under the CHE it eliminate any chance of your tort drying out under the heat source. You could put some tinfoil in there for example. Have you ever checked the heat at tort level under the CHE when it's on full to see how hot it gets?

 

[Leonardo13]

What thermostat do you have?

 

[J H]

I believe it's a Zilla thermostat. Yes I check it with an infrared temp gun. Under Che at tort hight is about 90. Every where else is 83-85 degrees. Cools slightly away from Che at night when uv bulbs turn off but only to about 81-83 deg. That's Bob above. I got him as an adult on Craigslist. He lived with a similar sized yellow foot in a tiny habitat maybe 3'x 2'.

 

[vmenagerie]

Not in Minnesota, but I'm in Iowa. I just got my first tortoises, and I have mine currently set up in the (finished) garage, where humidity and temps stay perfect with this hot weather we're having now. I love seeing other folks' setups from similar climates!