Cherry head hatchlings.

[Raggedyman85]

So sometime later this year I'm going to branch out into getting some cherry heads. I've read and read and read about this species and the 2 thing's that I'm finding have the most differing opinions are UVB and animal protein. Even on the threads on here there seems to be different opinions on lighting.
Do they have to have a basking end or is a constant ambient temp & humidity throughout the enclosure ok?
Which UVB is best a rainforest 5.0 or the higher 10.0?
Is animal protein necessary and if so how often and how much?
This is for hatchling/juvenile cherry heads.
Thank you in advance guys I'm finding resources on the cherries and red foots hard to come by. [emoji3]

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Ok so honestly your going to find a lot of conflicting info everywhere you look lol. My best advice would be to avoid the FB groups and stick to the tortoise forum. Many keepers have success doing things differently. That being said I'll just tell you what works for me. For my hatchling I don't provide a basking area. I keep the whole enclosure at 86f and 85-95% humidity. Yes animal protein is necessary for Redfoots. I feed protein about once a week. You can use Earthworms, chicken, scrambled or hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, or some people even use cat food. I'll let somebody else chime in on UVB because I don't use it. What I can tell you is if you can get your Redfoot outside in the sun, even just a few hours a month, you don't need a UVB light. This has worked for me and my torts growth is smooth.

 

[Raggedyman85]

Ok so honestly your going to find a lot of conflicting info everywhere you look lol. My best advice would be to avoid the FB groups and stick to the tortoise forum. Many keepers have success doing things differently. That being said I'll just tell you what works for me. For my hatchling I don't provide a basking area. I keep the whole enclosure at 86f and 85-95% humidity. Yes animal protein is necessary for Redfoots. I feed protein about once a week. You can use Earthworms, chicken, scrambled or hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, or some people even use cat food. I'll let somebody else chime in on UVB because I don't use it. What I can tell you is if you can get your Redfoot outside in the sun, even just a few hours a month, you don't need a UVB light. This has worked for me and my torts growth is smooth.

Thanks for your reply. I'm in the UK and In summer, the average temperature ranges from 9–18 degrees Celsius (48–64 degrees Fahrenheit). On occasion, it can reach around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in a heatwave.
In winter the average is between 2 and 7 degrees Celsius (36–45 degrees Fahrenheit), but temperatures often drop to just below 0 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit).
So I'd be worried about putting them outside until they're adults and only on the hottest days I feel it would be quite a shock to their system even for short periods of time. I have a large enclosure for them that's closed with adjustable ventilation so it can more of a closed chamber for when they are young. It's been set up to maintain an ambient temperature as you describe but there is room for a hot spot to be added if needed. I love this species and have decided to wait a bit longer to get a Sulcata until the outdoor enclosure is completely ready for it. So focusing on the red foots for now.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Inside I use a 5.0 florescent tube.
I find that with the 10.0, my tortoises hid all day long.

 

[Raggedyman85]

Inside I use a 5.0 florescent tube.
I find that with the 10.0, my tortoises hid all day long.

That's what I was thinking. I thought 10.0 would be to strong as they don't need light at that intensity.