Barbados turtles

[Redfootdave]

Hi All



I have recently bought a house in Barbados and inherited 10 red foot "land turtles" as they are called in Barbados. The oldest male is 9kg and 48 years old. They live outdoors in a pen but we often lift them out to eat on the grass. The largest female has just dug out a nest and presumably laid eggs about 10 days ago. I have a small book on their care but am interested to learn more. I believe it may take 150 days to hatch? I am inclined to leave them in the ground and let nature take its course ad the climate here is probably similar to their natural temperatures / humidity but any advice is welcome. We call this female " Gorgeous as she has very bright markings, she is very tame and comes to us (especially my wife) at feeding times. We have a plentiful supply of hibiscus which is their favourite food.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome!
I live in Florida and also leave my eggs in the ground.
In the tropics this will work.
But if you see a nest. You might want to block off that area so that another female doesn't try to dig in that same spot.
They take up to 5 months to hatch.

 

[Yvonne G]

So are you in England or Barbados?

Lovely tortoise. If that's native territory for redfooted tortoises it's probably ok to leave the eggs in the ground.

 

[jsheffield]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing... I'd love to see more pics of the torts and where/how they live. I love the thought of letting my torts (or some of them anyway) live outside year around someday in the future, when I move to a place without so much winter.

Jamie

 

[Relic]

A house with a bonus of 10 big redfoots! I gotta change my search parameters on Zillow......

 

[Redfootdave]

We alternate between England and Barbados. When we are in England a lady looks after the turtles for us. They eat anything and everything. I have started a veg patch and would welcome ideas on things to grow. Currently I grow cabbage, lettuce and carrots but also have Papaya, mangos and bananas, if the monkeys don't get them first. In the evenings we carry them to a grassy area in front of the house and they love to eat the broad leaved grass. When our largest male is full he walks back to his pen (about 25 metres) on his own and gets ready for bed. We shower them on the grass.
They eat lots of fruit and greens but any vegetation cut from the garden will be eaten also. They like slugs and snails. The snails are Giant African Snails which are enormous and have really thick shells but they devour them, shell and all. We also give them our leftovers including egg shells which they like. Although they like to roam in the garden they immediately go to their "house" to bed when we put them back. They are active early morning and evening when it is cooler but will always be out when it rains. We have a small separate enclosure which is empty now but is intended for any hatchlings.
Many thanks for your interest.

 

[Redfootdave]

I forgot to mention, our neighbour also has a redfoot which she calls "Skippy"!! The Bajans are very fond of turtles and the local geengrocers will always fill a bag of damaged fruit and veg when asked.