Year old red foot tortoise shell is soft, and is being lethargic.

[Tyler.nofziger]

I’ve had my red foot for about a month now. I have been working with reptiles my entire life, but never with a tortoise. I bought this one from a reputable reptile store, but didn’t notice how soft the underside of her shell was. I’ve been feeding lots of calcium to see if maybe she was deficient, and she has a brand new uvb light on her tank. Temps are perfect, and she was eating fine until recently when she started slowing down. Her shell has also been getting softer on the bottom despite all efforts. I was wondering if anyone could give tips. Thanks!

 

[wellington]

First too much calcium is as bad as too little. Small pinch 3 times a week should be enough. Unfortunately there are no reputable pet stores selling tortoises unless they are hatching them, themselves and starting them correctly.
What type of lighting?
What type of heating? And what are all the temps? Day, night.
Humidity %
Diet?
Substrate?
Size enclosure?
@ZEROPILOT might be able to help if you answer my questions

 

[Tyler.nofziger]

First too much calcium is as bad as too little. Small pinch 3 times a week should be enough. Unfortunately there are no reputable pet stores selling tortoises unless they are hatching them, themselves and starting them correctly.
What type of lighting?
What type of heating? And what are all the temps? Day, night.
Humidity %
Diet?
Substrate?
Size enclosure?
@ZEROPILOT might be able to help if you answer my questions

Yeah I’m not feeding it everyday. I mix in a d3 multivitamin as well, but you’re right about that. I have a reptisun terrarium hood with a 5.0 uvb bulb in it. For heat I have a 100 watt bulb in and at night I run a ceramic heat bulb because I live in a colder climate. During the day the hot spot is about 90 and the colder side is around 75. At night I keep it around 65 on cold spot and 75 at hot. I have humidity at around 70-80 percent at all times. With an auto mister hooked up for when I’m at work. I feed a mixture of a bunch of leafy greens including collards mustards, and a bunch of others that are safe to eat. I feed fruits as well, but only about 20 percent of diet if that. I also occasionally feed berries, and squash. Substrate I have a mixture of repti dirt, cocoa fiber, and a little play sand

 

[Tyler.nofziger]

Yeah I’m not feeding it everyday. I mix in a d3 multivitamin as well, but you’re right about that. I have a reptisun terrarium hood with a 5.0 uvb bulb in it. For heat I have a 100 watt bulb in and at night I run a ceramic heat bulb because I live in a colder climate. During the day the hot spot is about 90 and the colder side is around 75. At night I keep it around 65 on cold spot and 75 at hot. I have humidity at around 70-80 percent at all times. With an auto mister hooked up for when I’m at work. I feed a mixture of a bunch of leafy greens including collards mustards, and a bunch of others that are safe to eat. I feed fruits as well, but only about 20 percent of diet if that. I also occasionally feed berries, and squash. Substrate I have a mixture of repti dirt, cocoa fiber, and a little play sand

Oh and size is a 40 gallon breeder for now.

 

[wellington]

Get temps up, you have them too cold. Should be 80 not lower. As an adult they can withstand colder but not as a baby, specially with high humidity needed.
Also what protein are you feeding if any? They need protein. I have seen some feed cat food, worms, boiled eggs.
Also read this.
Thread 'Redfoot Tortoise Care Sheet' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/redfoot-tortoise-care-sheet.175319/

 

[Tyler.nofziger]

Oh sorry I feed mealworms and egg mostly for protein. And really you think that too cold? It’s a pretty big temperature fall off from one side to the other, but she can move around freely to where she wants. She rarely goes into that side of the tank anyway since it’s blocked off by hides.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

With Redfoot you're looking for an ambient temperature. (all over) Not temperature zones. Your ambient temperature should be from 80 to 86. With the target being 82 to 84.
You humidity needs to be over 70% day and night.
Your substrate must not contain sand. Use pure Orchid bark. Or a similar product. Sand has many serious risks and it's terrible at holding in moisture.
Heat and humidity can be kept steady in a closed chamber enclosure. You simply add some water to the corners of the enclosure directly into the bark. The bark absorbs it and gives off humidity as it evaporates.
Is your UVB a T5 or a T8 5.0?
How far away from the tortoise is it?
Your 100 watt bulb is probably too bright and too desicating. Redfoot dislike bright lights. So if your uvb and che are doing a good job of heating, I'd back off on the wattage.
With a correct UVB source and a correct varied fresh diet, this species isn't super uvb needy. And lot of supplements aren't necessary.
At this point I would seek out a quality vet that knows tortoises and have them do an x ray and a calcium screening to rule out MDB and then go from there. I can't tell or guess what true condition your RF is in. I don't know if he was started incorrectly or if something that you're doing has caused the decline. It would be unfair to even guess. To me, I see nothing alarming in what you're doing. Just a few things that concern me.
Most pet shops (and I'd love to say all of them) don't know SQUAT about the animals that they sell or their care.
Tortoises have many inique requirements and Redfoot tortoises are specialty species that can be challenging. But I can assure you that once you get the feel for it, it gets pretty simple.

 

[Tyler.nofziger]

Yeah I called the shop, and they said I should feed pellets since my diet isn’t right lol. I just laughed, hung up, and went straight here. I am going to switch to that when they are older, but it is very very little sand in the mix, and it is just in there to make it easier for digging. It holds humidity very good. I am going to have to take her to a vet. I feel like it probably is MBD since it was something that had happened while in their care. I’ve dealt with it before in rescues of beardies, and I’ve gotten pretty good at making it a livable condition for them most of the time. Thank you for all the help!

 

[Tom]

Yeah I called the shop, and they said I should feed pellets since my diet isn’t right lol. I just laughed, hung up, and went straight here. I am going to switch to that when they are older, but it is very very little sand in the mix, and it is just in there to make it easier for digging. It holds humidity very good. I am going to have to take her to a vet. I feel like it probably is MBD since it was something that had happened while in their care. I’ve dealt with it before in rescues of beardies, and I’ve gotten pretty good at making it a livable condition for them most of the time. Thank you for all the help!

What size is the baby? In grams?

 

[Maggie3fan]

Yeah I called the shop, and they said I should feed pellets since my diet isn’t right lol. I just laughed, hung up, and went straight here. I am going to switch to that when they are older, but it is very very little sand in the mix, and it is just in there to make it easier for digging. It holds humidity very good. I am going to have to take her to a vet. I feel like it probably is MBD since it was something that had happened while in their care. I’ve dealt with it before in rescues of beardies, and I’ve gotten pretty good at making it a livable condition for them most of the time. Thank you for all the help!

The sand always falls to the bottom...so the little bit of sand you say it is, will build up over time and cause a blockage, and death..and in any amount is bad.