My redfoot family

[jackmeggers]

Beautiful! I'm getting ready to redo my guys enclosures next week

 

[kathyth]

You have done a fantastic job with your Redfoots and the enclosure. Thanks for listing your plants!
Keep updating us!!

 

[pfara]

Beautiful! I'm getting ready to redo my guys enclosures next week

Hey Meggin! I haven't been around on the forum for the past few months. How've things been? Looking forward to seeing your enclosure

 

[pfara]

You have done a fantastic job with your Redfoots and the enclosure. Thanks for listing your plants!
Keep updating us!!

Thanks kathyth! I'll keep the posts coming whenever I can. You can definitely expect a weight/length update when they hit 18 months (~September). And if they keep growing the way they are, a gender update might be in the works, too

 

[jackmeggers]

Thanks, yea things have been crazy and I've slacked in my posts. I have to post some pics. My Greek (Archimedes) has grown and my Redfoot (Itzl) has the sweetest disposition, unless you have mushrooms, then she'll take your finger off ;-) I'll post again soon, promise :-D

 

[mike taylor]

Nice I love me some red foots .

 

[pfara]

Nice I love me some red foots .

Me too! Good to hear from ya, Mike.

 

[mike taylor]

Yeah I've been working on my house .

 

[pfara]

I've always been curious about the whole "butt wagging" thing that torts do. I've read lots of reasons why they would but I'm guessing no one will know the truth unless someone finds a way to communicate with a tortoise. Anyway, 3 out of 4 of my reds do the tort dance, but sometimes Punch really gets into it with gusto and it's a pretty frequent thing. Every once in a while I'll hear this "whooosh whooosh whooosh" sound and I'm always worried that I'll find a plant pushed over.

Here's a vid of Punch vs. a fern. It's not as "violent" as some, but it still conveys:

 

[Lady Thompson]

Beautiful torts and LOVE the enclosure! You have inspired me to add some more plants to my torts house. Thank

 

[allegraf]

Great job! Those are some happy torts! I can't say enough about Vicky Hale- very very nice lady with exceptional torts!

 

[naturalman91]

beautiful reds! how big is that enclosure tho it looks massive

 

[pfara]

Thanks for the great comments, everyone. It definitely means a lot. Natural, the enclosure is 6'x9' and honestly, it's not big enough. When they all hit their full potential, I'll start feeling terrible come cold season. But for now, they seem pretty happy with the enclosure open all the way.

And Allegra, you're so right. Vicki Hale really is a great person. She recommended me to this site and has always been there whenever I need anything.

 

[Avery Kays]

OMG. They are the most adorable thing every. I do have one question though. Is it hard taking care of the babies or is it the same as taking care of any other grown turtle?

 

[pfara]

OMG. They are the most adorable thing every. I do have one question though. Is it hard taking care of the babies or is it the same as taking care of any other grown turtle?

Taking care of baby tortoises is just like taking care of baby humans; they're pretty resilient, but you kinda have to worry a little more, ya know? The tentative first months are very vital to how they continue developing. So, in other words, you gotta be pretty on top of things like temps, humidity, food, uvb and lighting, etc. during the first 6 months to a year. It's very stressful, for sure. However, after that time, it's pretty fricken easy mode. By then, you'd have all the requirements down, you'd have a schedule already set, and your torts will be a lot hardier. At this point, I'm having fun just watching them be torts and I don't do much except for washing their water dishes and sometimes their food slabs. The plants are another story.. that just becomes part of my daily schedule and is second nature now. If you ever need advice, I'm here and so are the many great people on this forum who are way more experienced than I am.

 

[Avery Kays]

Thanks so much. I don't plan on getting baby turtles anytime sone but I'm very interested in them. Btw your pics are so cute.

 

[pfara]

And here are more pictures on how they're adjusting (Because I know this forum loves pictures!):

Loki and Sunny found the new basking spot:


If you look closer, Loki is starting to marble. So, I'm going to guess that either his father has some Brazilian in him or he just wants to marble. Sunset is also starting to marble, as well.


Punch hiding at the base of some tradescantia:


Punch taking advantage of rough terrain:



The torts calling dibs on hiding spots:

 

[Avery Kays]

They are so adorable. I love their names too. Where there any reasons you shoe these names?

 

[pfara]

They are so adorable. I love their names too. Where there any reasons you shoe these names?

I already had the name Loki in mind just because. I named Sunset because of her colors (orange head, red legs). My husband named Punch. And Jingle was named by my youngest.

 

[Avery Kays]

They are sooooooo cute. My guys name is Cantaloupe.