- Joined
- May 1, 2011
- Messages
- 22
I grew up with two large Greeks females, which were fed every day, especially dandelions which they loved, but my last real contact with them was almost 40 years ago, when I moved away from home in England & later to the USA. Now we know more about tortoises - so, how often should I feed a 6" supposedly 4 year old Redfoot?
Question - how often do I feed my Redfoot - every day or every other day & how often fruit, every 3 days sparingly or what? Really hoping for lots of responses.
The person who owned him before me fed him only lettuce & too much fruit, the former in large quantities every day, with no added Calcium. They also used too low a wattage lheat bulb (it was only 75F in his habitat, so I've rectified that).
So I'm rectifying the calcium situation by grinding up a cuttlefish my wife has for her birds, while I wait for Calcium supplement via online purchase.
I'm also starting to feed him more variety, starting with Collard greens, which I'll pick up today & dandelions, which he ate, but unlike the family Greeks, not the flowers with the same voracity as the leaves. I also tried grapes sparingly & he loved them.
After researching & comparing pictures, I discovered he has a mild case of pyramiding (I know its mild as I've seen photos of stage 1 & stage 2, the latter really scary). I'm taking the necessary steps to rectify (ensure calcium, more humidity & less food, but I don't know frequency of the latter).
I understand it is not reversable, but anything else I can do to ensure his pyramiding does not get worse? Responses please.
All for now, can't wait for hotter weather so he can roam around in his large outdoor habitat.
Thanks for responses in anticipation, George
Question - how often do I feed my Redfoot - every day or every other day & how often fruit, every 3 days sparingly or what? Really hoping for lots of responses.
The person who owned him before me fed him only lettuce & too much fruit, the former in large quantities every day, with no added Calcium. They also used too low a wattage lheat bulb (it was only 75F in his habitat, so I've rectified that).
So I'm rectifying the calcium situation by grinding up a cuttlefish my wife has for her birds, while I wait for Calcium supplement via online purchase.
I'm also starting to feed him more variety, starting with Collard greens, which I'll pick up today & dandelions, which he ate, but unlike the family Greeks, not the flowers with the same voracity as the leaves. I also tried grapes sparingly & he loved them.
After researching & comparing pictures, I discovered he has a mild case of pyramiding (I know its mild as I've seen photos of stage 1 & stage 2, the latter really scary). I'm taking the necessary steps to rectify (ensure calcium, more humidity & less food, but I don't know frequency of the latter).
I understand it is not reversable, but anything else I can do to ensure his pyramiding does not get worse? Responses please.
All for now, can't wait for hotter weather so he can roam around in his large outdoor habitat.
Thanks for responses in anticipation, George