Baby Red Footed Torts

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linaizzie

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Hello,
I am a new member and a first time red footed tortoise owner (having previously owned a russian tort). Last week we welcomed two baby red foots and have some questions about logistics. I did weeks of research before we got them, but things that seem easy on paper don't always work the way you want them to. Here's the current set up for the 14 week old babies:
- currently they are in an 15 gallon aquarium (we had it in storage) while we build their more permanent enclosure. The plan is to have it 46 inches long, by 18 wide and 12 tall, made of wood and plexi glass. There will be a hide at one end with a hinged top (so we can get them out if need be) with moss. The other side will be the basking temp with water dish for soaking. The area with the heat lamp will be a screen. We plan to plant the terrarium with some live tort safe plants. Substrate - combo of repti bark (fir bark for humidity), some spanghum moss, and coconut fiber.
- UVB is provided with an 18 inch florescent tube at one end of the tank.
- heat: ceramic 150w in cage dome. However, I am not sure if they are warm enough, even in the small tank and worry that when we make the big enclosure they'll be even colder. Currently, in the hide (where they spend 95% of the time right now) the temp reads 78 and humidity 82. The temp in the basking are is 88 or 89 and the humidity between 40-50 depending on if it's been misted recently or not.
- Others: I have a cuttlebone in there for calcium (though they haven't chewed it yet), feed spring mix with a veg (try different ones: squash, carrot, mushroom) and once a week a fruit (strawberry, blueberry, mango), with a bit of the store food soaked in water and sprinkled on top since that came from the breeder we got them from so I didn't want to completely change diet right away; they have a dish and soak in it when placed by it.

Behavior: they sleep most of the day and hide. When we first got them last week they explored their set up, but since have been elusive. I know they're babies and need rest and I'm sure they're stressed from the move, so I'm leaving them alone except for feeding and soak. But, is this normal? They don't come out at all on their own.

One is very active when I wake him up for food and will munch (though neither eat a lot and skipped food altogether yesterday - kept walking back to hide every time I placed them by it). The other one is more sluggish and for the first two days didn't even open his eyes. I read that he might be dehydrated and once I physically placed him in water (instead of letting him go on his own) he opened them and drank for a while. So I hope he gets better.

Any advice would be appreciated, even suggestions of food variety. I'm familiar with a lot of animal behavior, but never had these torts and it worries me when I can't read signs.

I live in New Jersey, by the way and hope to take them outside in the summers for a bit when they're older.

Thank you,
Lina

I've added a picture from their first day. Their names are (Anomander) Rake (the more yellow one on floor) and (Silchas) Ruin (the more orange one in hand) from a favorite book series of mine and husband's.
 

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pfara

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Hi and a definite welcome to the forum! Congrats on the new additions; they're super cute. The behavior you've described (hiding out most of the day) sounds pretty normal for their age. When they get bigger and get used to their surroundings, they'll start strutting their stuff more. If it seems the other one stays sluggish, attempt to up the overall temps by a few degrees (like an ambient temp of 83-85). Heat plays a pretty important role in digestion and activity levels so maybe making things warmer might help the other one out. What's your humidity at? (Oops, I reread your post.. try and get the whole enclosure 70% or higher). And as for food, tons of variety helps cover all the nutritional bases. If you have pesticide-free areas, add stuff like dandelion, plantain, chickweed, clover, etc. though weeds are starting to disappear now that the season's changing. Homegrown stuff will always be better than groceries. However, if groceries are a must, some of the better stuff to get is: collards, endive, escarole, arugula.. well those are off the top of my head. Try opuntia cactus and Mazuri, too. Hope this gets you off to a good start and keep asking questions. This place can be an amazing resource to ensuring a happy and healthy tortoise family :D

Oh and don't worry about them not eating the cuttlebone. Mine started gnawing on it at around 4 months. One does it more regularly than the others. Yours might take to it or not, but keep it in there anyway.
 

Madkins007

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It sounds like they are too cool. There are challenges with small and large tanks, and in a small tank (15g is pretty tiny) it is hard to get the temps right and keep them controlled- it is really easy to get too hot or cold, too damp/airless or too dry.

I would recommend using a large plastic tub instead of the tank- the larger space allows lots of flexibility. I also really like using a heating element on a thermostatic controller- this lets you set a temp you like and leave it.

Future planning is important- they grow faster than you think! A guideline for inside tanks is 8 shell lengths by 4, so a 46" tank would work for about a 5" tort and they will hit 12" at adulthood. (12" high also really cramps you for airspace, heating, lighting, plants, etc. 18" would be more comfortable.

You can try the Library in my signature below- it has a lot of articles and links that may help.
 

linaizzie

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Sep 14, 2013
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Thanks for the help!

I might get an heating pad for under the hide area to help with the temp there (since I can't get another lamp in there). Thoughts?

The torts will hopefully have their new enclosure by the end of the weekend (and we plan on building another one when they get bigger). I was reading that it will take them years to get to the full 12 inch size, but I'm sure the babies will be a couple inches by the end of the year.

I am planning on buying some sort of fogger machine to keep the humidity up in the rest of the tank, since it would take a lot of hand misting to do so. Right now, they mostly spend their time in the humid hide, but they will eventually wander out, so I want to prepare. I'm hoping once the new terrarium is made the plants and such will help with the humidity as well, and possibly a water feature we are planning on putting in there.
 
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