4 month old baby red foot spends most of day in hide.

[Toby1313]

our 4 month of baby red foot seem to be growing and doing well. Maybe we are just paranoid, but spends most of his time like 20 hours a day plus in his hide. We have lights on 12 hours a day, in basking area is always around 95-100 degrees and in cooler area and hide around 75 - we have heard need light and that he does need light. HELP which is correct? He loves his bath. Also how much should he be eating at a time at this age? He eats a few leaves, or nibbles of fruit etc but does not eat a whole dish of food yet. Thank you. Looking for advice so we can make sure we are treating him correct Just worried he is not out exploring more etc. He does seems to be growing though.

 

[Robber]

They will hide a lot at that age, but what kind of lights do you have? Redfoots do not prefer bright open areas(especially babies). Although the consensus is that they do not require UVB lighting to the extent of other commonly kept species(mainly due to their natural diet including more animal matter), I choose to use low intensity UVB lighting as a safeguard(in case their dietary intake of D3 is insufficient), but with lots of shadows and not direct bright spots like you would have for a sulcata, leopard, etc. You can accomplish this using live or artificial plants, or something as simple as a cardboard cutout underneath your light(imagine a forest floor that has spots of sunlight amidst all of the shade created by trees).

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Redfoots don't need a basking area, 100 degrees is too hot. Try to keep the whole enclosure in the mid 80's.

 

[Toby1313]

our 4 month of baby red foot seem to be growing and doing well. Maybe we are just paranoid, but spends most of his time like 20 hours a day plus in his hide. We have lights on 12 hours a day, in basking area is always around 95-100 degrees and in cooler area and hide around 75 - we have heard need light and that he does need light. HELP which is correct? He loves his bath. Also how much should he be eating at a time at this age? He eats a few leaves, or nibbles of fruit etc but does not eat a whole dish of food yet. Thank you. Looking for advice so we can make sure we are treating him correct Just worried he is not out exploring more etc. He does seems to be growing though.

 

[Toby1313]

Thank you both, we will take all the advice we can get. We will raise the light away and cool it down on that side of enclosure.
What about eating habits?

 

[daniellenc]

Is you chamber enclosed?

 

[TammyJ]

Can we see some pictures? This will help the experts here to better advise you!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I agree with the above.
No bright lights and no areas over 85-86 degrees.
But with all of that corrected...It's still 100% normal for Redfoot babies to hide 80-90% of the time.

 

[Toby1313]

Is you chamber enclosed?

No, It is a terra Reptile Aquarium lie 36" by 18" and maybe 18" tall

 

[Toby1313]

I agree with the above.
No bright lights and no areas over 85-86 degrees.
But with all of that corrected...It's still 100% normal for Redfoot babies to hide 80-90% of the time.

Thankyou we will cut back on the heat and see how he does thank you so much

 

[Toby1313]

Can we see some pictures? This will help the experts here to better advise you!

We will post some to you in the next few days- thank you for the help