Critique my cage!

[Yvonne G]

In the one picture where you labeled it "here is the sphagnum moss under the hide" that doesn't look like sphagnum moss. Here's what it looks like:

Its a long-stemmed, fuzzy sort of stuff that the tortoise can burrow into.

Yvonne

 

[Candy]

I'm just wondering after reading his post whether the sand mixed in is a good idea? I have always read where sand can impact them. Can someone tell me if this is O.K. for a Redfoots enclosure? Maybe because it's mixed in it's alright or not? I myself use a heat emitter for Dale, but they can be pretty pricey. At night I use the red light just because I had already bought it before the heat emitter.

Hey Candy...You really only have to worry about sand impaction when you feed directly on straight sand, and your tortoise is not well hydrated... if it's mixed with a soil then it just makes a good substrate.

Thanks Maggie that makes sense.

 

[JohnMcD]

Okay.. so, I canceled my order for the Sunglow bulb, and will order a che later. As for the moss, I did mention that It didnt seem like the right stuff, as it is clearly ground up instead of pulled apart like the stuff sold in the pet store, but I think it will do just fine (it IS sphagnom moss). About the clover.. I'm not sure what it is, my mom has been growing it for years in the house, I thought it was just regular clover.. I'll get rid of it if thats what you guys think I should do.

So here are my remaining/unanswered questions:
Should I remove the 'clover' that is in the bin?
What greens/fruits do you feed your RFTs?
What other than greens/fruits do you feed your RTFs?

I think thats all.. most likely not though I'll add more later if I think of anything

Thanks for all of your input!

 

[Seiryu]

I think I have the same clover as you in my yard. It has the heart shaped leaves. Mine have flowers on them (4-5 bigger yellow pedals). Those are the bad ones. I'd take it out to be safe.

 

[Candy]

Okay.. so, I canceled my order for the Sunglow bulb, and will order a che later. As for the moss, I did mention that It didnt seem like the right stuff, as it is clearly ground up instead of pulled apart like the stuff sold in the pet store, but I think it will do just fine (it IS sphagnom moss). About the clover.. I'm not sure what it is, my mom has been growing it for years in the house, I thought it was just regular clover.. I'll get rid of it if thats what you guys think I should do.

So here are my remaining/unanswered questions:
Should I remove the 'clover' that is in the bin?
What greens/fruits do you feed your RFTs?
What other than greens/fruits do you feed your RTFs?

I think thats all.. most likely not though I'll add more later if I think of anything

Thanks for all of your input!

Redfoot tortoises are omnivorous. They consume both animal and plant material in the wild.

GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that redfoot tortoises readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food. So, I have this section as a starting point for a varied diet. The following greens are easily found in my local stores:
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Chicory
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (on occasion)

VEGETABLES
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Winter squash
Pumpkin
Carrots (on occasion)
Green Beans (on occasion)

FRUIT
Papaya
Mangos
Apples (be sure there are no seeds)
Strawberries
Blackberries
Cactus fruit
Tomatoes

OTHER GOOD CHOICES
Some other favorites of my tortoises that are available:
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Opuntia cactus pads
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia

Make sure all are pesticide and herbicide free.

MEAT etc.
In the wild redfoot tortoises eat a variety of animal matter including carrion. Redfoot tortoises fed exclusively a plant based diet frequently develop hind leg paralysis. They also have low fertility and hatchlings often fail to thrive. It is often recommended to feed them low fat cat food as often as every other feeding. I have found this to be unnecessary and a contributing factor in pyramiding.

One more thing I feed Dale Elk meat for his protein he loves it. He wouldn't eat the cat food for me and the elk meat is easier for me to get. Once he gets outside he can it the worms or whatever he finds himself.

 

[spring pace]

You didn't say it was a hatchling, you just said future tort. I'd still put a big pile of moss over half your bin. Get the temp up to 90-95 area. I see it's made it to 90 now. I use a CHE over my T.Hermanni...but all my other tortoises just have a black light bulb. I don't see what makes the CHE any better...I personally think the black bulb keeps everything warmer.

Ooops, my bad!

90-95 in the whole bin, or do you just mean the basking spot?
Could you post a link to the black bulb that you use?

Edit: Just finished putting moss under the covered portion of the bin. Measuring humidity/temps now.

hmmm... dont know that much about redfoots, but what ive read so far from the other post as to the temps they need, seems to me that it should be 90-95 under the basking/heat lamp, but should be about 20 degrees cooler on the other end. i didnt see a water dish, that helps w/ humidity. i used the same type of tort box you are using, it has a flip lid, but i didnt use it because i couldnt get a temp difference from one end to the other. i have a sulcata and as he grew i raised the sides because he wanted outside whenever he was inside and i found him flipped over more than a few times. i even stopped using rounded hides, he kept want to climb on top, so i used cardboard instead because he kept insisting on climbing and the cardboard would just collapse, then he would find a space under it and be happy as can be ;o)

 

[Crazy1]

So here are my remaining/unanswered questions:
Should I remove the 'clover' that is in the bin?
What greens/fruits do you feed your RFTs?
What other than greens/fruits do you feed your RTFs?

I think thats all.. most likely not though I'll add more later if I think of anything

Thanks for all of your input!

Hi JohnMcD. Yes remove the 'clover' you don't want your hatchling eating oxalis.
I used the diet and food schedule Terry from www.redfoots.com suggests, it even gives you pics of how much to feed so you won't over feed your hatchling.

Greens: Grape Leaves, Mulberry leaves, Hibiscus (blooms & leaves), Dandelion Greens and flowers, Curly Endive (not Belgian), Chicory, Escarole Collard Greens. No Kale or spinach too high in Goiter causing stuff.
Fruits: Strawberry, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, plum, peach, pineapple, prickly pear cactus (pads and fruit). Avoid citrus fruits no orange, grapefruit, lemons and no tomatoes too high acid. "Seldom" Bananas!!! If ever

I would highly recommend using Terry’s diet and schedule. He has wonderful RF and has been breeding them for some time and they are smooth and look healthy and happy. Of course there are many ways of raising torts and many ways of raising RF. I have just found that Terry’ s www.Redfoot.com has worked for my little foster RF. So why reinvent the wheel.

Also you can get spharnum moss at Home Depot or Lowes it is cheaper there than in the petstores.

 

[Chewbecca]

It should be 85 degrees to low 90's by its hide, and an enclosure ambient temp of at least the low 80's.


If you go to Lowe's for Sphagnum moss, just be careful not to buy the stuff with Miracle Grow in it.
That's all my Lowe's and Menard's had in stock.
But I have a speciality floral/gardening store locally that sells the plain sphagnum moss.

 

[daytripper]

Home depot AND lowes have the mosser lee spag moss...best stuff to use. look at terry's set up and go with it.

simple is better. ill take a snap of my setup. just got my hatchling last week n he loves it.

 

[Chewbecca]

Home depot AND lowes have the mosser lee spag moss...best stuff to use. look at terry's set up and go with it.

simple is better. ill take a snap of my setup. just got my hatchling last week n he loves it.

Please do take a snap of your set up.
Right now, my hatchling is in a plastic tub type enclosure on my dresser.
I have to clamp the heat emitter to the side of the tub, over the hide.
Terry strongly suggests that I use half the lid over the warm hide, but then I won't be able to clamp the lamp over the warm hide to keep the heat and humidity in.
If I angle the lamp, it doesn't get the warm area up high enough in temps.

I'm baffled on how I'm going to do this and make it work.
As it stands now, I have to use heat tape under the enclosure (not IN the enclosure) to keep temps higher. And this is WITH a 100 watt heat emitter!
AND the tub is NOT that big.
I wish I could have a designated tort room.

 

[Crazy1]

In order to set your CHE in the top of the lid you would have to have a deeper container. Then you cut a whole in the lid set in a wood square and attach the CHE to the wood. Or just attach the CHE to a piece of wood and use it as half a top. Check the depth of this tub on Terrys site. http://www.redfoots.com/henclose.htm

 

[Chewbecca]

In order to set your CHE in the top of the lid you would have to have a deeper container. Then you cut a whole in the lid set in a wood square and attach the CHE to the wood. Or just attach the CHE to a piece of wood and use it as half a top. Check the depth of this tub on Terrys site. http://www.redfoots.com/henclose.htm

Thanks! I saw that, but wasn't quite sure if that was a specialty made wood piece for the heat emitter, OR if it was a separate shelf.

 

[Millerlite]

did you ever upgrade the watt on your heat emitter? I would go 100 and maybe get a dimmer so you can turn it up or down as nessasary. I have a 100watt on my mt. tortoises which i'm housing almost just like redfooted tortoises. I have the UVB light on one end and the heat emitter on the other, the temps are around 75-85 depending where you are in the enclosure. Take some pictures, i'm sure you will do fine they are great creatures, and like they said before there is not just one way in caring for a tortoise.