5 Month Old Yellow Foot Tortoise

Tiff

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Hello!

I adopted a about 5 month old yellow foot tortoise off of Criagslist, when i got him i notice his eyes were crusty like. Kind of like goop in the sides of the eyes. I did not realize he was a hatchling. The previous owner said that his shell just hardened. I have him set up in a plastic container with fur mulch, and Spanish moss (the long stringy kind), and potted plants. The habit to most but the humidity changes it can get lower than 40 and around 60%. In the mornings i will take him out and soak him. When i take him out his eyes are sealed shut. When i drip what over his head he then can open them. He does not walk around much. He eats every other day. I tried feeding him once everyday but he does not seem interested in the food. I feed him banana squished up, soak repti cal tortoise food which he only takes a couple tiny bits of, blueberries. The fruit i dust with calcium powder and vit. supplement. His carapce length is 2.3/4" .

Is this all normal for a hatchling?

Thank you in advance!
 

lisa127

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What is the enclosure like? Do you have a pic?
 

Yvonne G

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Yellowfoot tortoises require a pretty moist habitat. I would say yours might not be moist enough. And - VERY IMPORTANT - along with the moisture, the habitat MUST BE KEPT WARM! I wouldn't let it get below 80F degrees anyplace in the habitat. Several years ago I hatched out 3 YF babies. I didn't know they should be kept moist, and now, at about 5 years of age, they are stunted and bumpy.

Now that I know better, I loosely pack moist sphagnum moss in the hiding place for babies, and I have a seedling heat mat under the substrate under the hiding place.

Post a picture, like Lisa asked, and we'll go from there.
 

lisa127

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And a pic of the tort, too! I am partial to yellowfoots over redfoots, so I'd love to see a pic.
 

Tiff

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Enclosure 1:


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Enclosure 2:1391023553674.jpg


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Tiff

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Tiff

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lisa127 said:
What is the enclosure like? Do you have a pic?


Hey,

i posted some pics, but this is temporary type of enclosures i have for him. Would a 49" L x 22" wide a good sized enclosure? I would like to build this for him.
 
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lisa127

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Thanks for the pics. He is a cutie!

However, I can see what the problem is I think. For a tortoise with such high humidity needs, the enclosure is too open. There is no good way to hold in heat and humidity. Do a search for closed chambers and you will get some ideas. What I did for babies like that is used a 50 gallon Rubbermaid container and covered it with a clear plastic shower curtain from the dollar store to hold in the heat and humidity. But do a search and see the different ideas.
 

Tiff

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Yvonne G said:
Yellowfoot tortoises require a pretty moist habitat. I would say yours might not be moist enough. And - VERY IMPORTANT - along with the moisture, the habitat MUST BE KEPT WARM! I wouldn't let it get below 80F degrees anyplace in the habitat. Several years ago I hatched out 3 YF babies. I didn't know they should be kept moist, and now, at about 5 years of age, they are stunted and bumpy.

Now that I know better, I loosely pack moist sphagnum moss in the hiding place for babies, and I have a seedling heat mat under the substrate under the hiding place.

Post a picture, like Lisa asked, and we'll go from there.

Hey,

Thank you! great advice! I will make sure to keep it at 80f.

The Spanish moss dries out very quickly, i find myself misting it throught the day but that is not enough. Also i do soak both the moss and fur bark about 3 times a week. I keep a night heat lamp on (the red head bulb all day and night.


TortsNTurtles said:
Beautiful baby :)

Thank you! :D


lisa127 said:
Thanks for the pics. He is a cutie!

However, I can see what the problem is I think. For a tortoise with such high humidity needs, the enclosure is too open. There is no good way to hold in heat and humidity. Do a search for closed chambers and you will get some ideas. What I did for babies like that is used a 50 gallon Rubbermaid container and covered it with a clear plastic shower curtain from the dollar store to hold in the heat and humidity. But do a search and see the different ideas.

Thank you! Your so right.
 

lisa127

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I don't know if you saw my post above yours or if we were posting at the same time. But do a search for closed chambers as I posted above. The enclosure is pretty, just too open.
 

Tiff

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lisa127 said:
I don't know if you saw my post above yours or if we were posting at the same time. But do a search for closed chambers as I posted above. The enclosure is pretty, just too open.

Yes, i started looking into a closed enclosure for him. Will i have to house him in a closed chamber enclose for the rest of his life or is it just for when he is a baby?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Tiff:

I see a couple of problems. The first was already addressed - the habitat is too open and needs to be covered. The second is where is the hiding place? All babies want to feel safe and look for some sort of cave to hide in for safety.

With the bark in such a big size, you'll need to pour a lot of water over it to get it wet. Just spritzing it with water won't work.

See if you can find another plastic tub exactly the same as the one you have, then cut out opposing ends and set them up together to make one long habitat. But remember when you water the habitat that you now have an open seam and the water will leak out.
 

mikeh

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Great looking yellow foot.

More moisture please.
Keep misting:)
Until you get your humidity up to at least 80-85% or even higher along with warm temps, mist the shell slightly numerous time a day.

See how the edges of the scutes are swelling upward. That indicates very high fluctuations in moisture levels in the shells keratine.

At night when a asleep I would cover the tortoise with some damp moss so the red heat bulb is not drying out his shell.
 

lisa127

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mikeh said:
Great looking yellow foot.

More moisture please.
Keep misting:)
Until you get your humidity up to at least 80-85% or even higher along with warm temps, mist the shell slightly numerous time a day.

See how the edges of the scutes are swelling upward. That indicates very high fluctuations in moisture levels in the shells keratine.

At night when a asleep I would cover the tortoise with some damp moss so the red heat bulb is not drying out his shell.


I raised a gulf coast box turtle who had a shell like that. Funny thing is, my other two boxies shells did not do that.
 

Tiff

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mikeh said:
Great looking yellow foot.

More moisture please.
Keep misting:)
Until you get your humidity up to at least 80-85% or even higher along with warm temps, mist the shell slightly numerous time a day.

See how the edges of the scutes are swelling upward. That indicates very high fluctuations in moisture levels in the shells keratine.

At night when a asleep I would cover the tortoise with some damp moss so the red heat bulb is not drying out his shell.

Thank you! Great advice. i just sprayed him...he burrowed himself somewhat in the bark and moss, but his shell was exposed so i covered it with moss and sprayed. i sprayed him before putting the moss over him. I will changed his setup tomorrow that will allow the humidity to be more steady.
 
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