Cherry Head Tortoise Care

[Blayne]

Okay, so I'm getting a cherry head around July 7th and I've been doing the research and whatnot- however, there are still things unclear to me, mostly around the lighting department (as in do they need that UVB just as much as other torts everyday?) and daily diet (or weekly diet). The other thing that seems controversial is the protein part of it; I see places it says they need small amounts of meet weekly and other places doesn't even mention it or says basically no protein at all. Can I call upon the experts to help me out and shed some light on this?

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Are you getting a hatchling? Yearling? Adult?
The care varies a little with hatchlings and older tortoises but from what ive read from other members' threads that own redfoot tortoises. Protein once a week is just fine. You could try looking at the Tortoise Library for more info regarding redfoot tortoise care and diet, its recommended by many forum members here.
Also take a look at Species specific, then Redfoot tortoises .
There are many threads about them that you will find useful as well
Have you set up their enclosure yet?
Humidity is super important. If you post pictures we can help perfect your soon to be tortoises home.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Blayne

 

[Pearly]

Okay, so I'm getting a cherry head around July 7th and I've been doing the research and whatnot- however, there are still things unclear to me, mostly around the lighting department (as in do they need that UVB just as much as other torts everyday?) and daily diet (or weekly diet). The other thing that seems controversial is the protein part of it; I see places it says they need small amounts of meet weekly and other places doesn't even mention it or says basically no protein at all. Can I call upon the experts to help me out and shed some light on this?

Hi Blayne and welcome from Texas! I have a RF and Cherryhead yearlings that I've had for the past 12 months. All I know about keeping them I learned on this site and sites that TFO links. In short to answer your question, yes, your Cherryhead will need UVB light, unless you keep him outdoors where he can get natural sun rays. Secondly there's nothing controversial about protein in their diet. It's part of their diet in their natural habitat and they LOVE IT! My babies get it weekly on those "grandma, I don't feel like eating this" days, I sprinkle few freeze dried river shrimp (they are tiny bite size) over their food. It never fails, they always go for the shrimp and with it they take few bites of their good food, and probably think "it's not so bad" and start eating. There are several experienced RF keepers who have helped me along the way great deal. I'd recommend you check out couple of sites: Tortoise Library and Turtletary. They'll come on your google search and will have probably all info that you need to get started. Both of those sites are by our members, so you shouldn't have to deal with conflicting info. Again, welcome! Be sure to post pics of your tort and enclosure once you have it all going

 

[ZEROPILOT]

...When you go shopping for your UVB light...Do NOT buy the spiral/coiled compact florescent type.
Every pet shop sells them but they cause eye issues in tortoises.
You'll need UVB. Temps between 77 and 85 and humidity up over 75%.
I feed Mazuri 20%. Fruit 20%. Greens 50% and 10% protein. Give or take.

 

[Pearly]

...When you go shopping for your UVB light...Do NOT buy the spiral/coiled compact florescent type.
Every pet shop sells them but they cause eye issues in tortoises.
You'll need UVB. Temps between 77 and 85 and humidity up over 75%.
I feed Mazuri 20%. Fruit 20%. Greens 50% and 10% protein. Give or take.

Short and sweet and pretty much summarizes it. The only thing ZEROPILOT's torts are adults, if you get a baby tort, don't let the temp drop below 80F. Those babies do much better in warm/humid environment. I'd keep humidity at least 80%, and really, the more the better. Not WET substrate, just HUMID air. You'll find the ways of making this happen in those sotes O have suggested and also here in the Enclosures section. Much to learn! But lots of fun too

 

[Blayne]

Okay awesome! Thanks guys. I still have yet to get the lights and whatnot- and for the UVB, so I should get the hoods with the fluorescent tubes then?

And yeah, I'll post pics when I get it. The tort is only 2.5 months old at the moment

 

[Pearly]

Okay awesome! Thanks guys. I still have yet to get the lights and whatnot- and for the UVB, so I should get the hoods with the fluorescent tubes then?

And yeah, I'll post pics when I get it. The tort is only 2.5 months old at the moment

That's what I've been using, the hood from the reptile terrarium section that you put on top of the screen cover with flourescent UVB tube. I have a thread here with bunch of pictures of my enclosure if you want to see how I closed the top to keep things warm and humid in there. Just go to Search feature and type "Pearly's 40 gal tank with closed top" or something like that. It should pull it up.

 

[Torkoal#1]

Are you getting a hatchling? Yearling? Adult?
The care varies a little with hatchlings and older tortoises but from what ive read from other members' threads that own redfoot tortoises. Protein once a week is just fine. You could try looking at the Tortoise Library for more info regarding redfoot tortoise care and diet, its recommended by many forum members here.
Also take a look at Species specific, then Redfoot tortoises .
There are many threads about them that you will find useful as well
Have you set up their enclosure yet?
Humidity is super important. If you post pictures we can help perfect your soon to be tortoises home.

I just got a hatchling that's still got the skin on its belly from the egg, I've had him 3 days now, I was told no protein is needed untill they are one year old from a guy on Facebook. I have no clue. Please help

 

[MikeT307]

Offering protein in moderation is part of a redfoot’s natural diet. Insects, earth worms, slugs…etc would all be crawling around in a tropical environment where redfoots are found. The key to a happy and healthy redfoot is a varied diet. See ZeroPilot’s diet post above.

 

[Torkoal#1]

So I just got my first tortoise, I decided to go with the cherry head tortoise because out of all of the tortoise I looked at I liked them the most. The male hatchling I hope its male, arrived Tuesday March 8th 2022. He was 36g and after a week he was 40g. I feed him Romain lettuce and this dehydrated tortoise mix(I'll post pic). I've fed him 2 small cuts off a earth worms for animal protein so far. That was yesterday March 18th 2022. He had this skin on his belly and its gone now but it was there for the first week idk I didn't look everyday I left it alone and just looked yesterday and saw it was gone and all black. I know it's from the egg sack but I really want to know his age roughly. Tortoise town, the company I purchased threw online, said they don't have the hach Dates they only record the lay date, but when I asked for the lay date they said its about 3 1/2 months ago. Lol I was hoping for a actual date of when he was layed, and I'd make that his birthday sense there isn't a hach date(now I'm thinking a lay day and a hach day birthday is needed here lol...). So for care what I think I know so far is this, 6%uvb t5 needed to cover no less than 50% of enclosure, needs 85°f enclosure area 90-95°f basking area 85% humidity but hatchling can handle higher(I use a fog machine, but how thick a fog can a baby breath I have good ventilation and it doesn't stay thick too long), I kinda know what to feed him but the whole more fruit or more vegetables thing idk I figured the sugers need high heat to process hints the fact they only get them in summer in the wild. So idk. Thanks for reading all this of you made it through my typos please lend me some knowledge I named my cherry head Torkoal (sorry if it's original I've always sucked at naming but this time a quick what tortoise pokemon are there and boom I found a winner I'm in love with the name lol)