Frankie’s Outdoor Garden

[EddieMaher]

I’ve officially moved my RF to the back yard. I waited a few weeks for our temps to come up and test out his house.

He sleeps in this heated house each night. Temps at 80, humidity at 80-85. I’ve tried replicating his sleeping conditions to his indoor enclosures.



He has 3 caves, multiple plants, and various shaded areas


He loves being outside and utilizes the entire space during the day. I’ve been very surprised on how active he is walking and inspecting everything.

One cave gets blasted by sun , one partial sun, and one is completely shaded.

Issues I’m having:

Eats very little greens I offer, assuming that’s because he’s eating in the yard as he’ll eat mushrooms out there.

Occasionally watery eyes in the morning. I’m assuming it’s because he just not 100% used to the environment and the difference from his home to outside.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’ve officially moved my RF to the back yard. I waited a few weeks for our temps to come up and test out his house.

He sleeps in this heated house each night. Temps at 80, humidity at 80-85. I’ve tried replicating his sleeping conditions to his indoor enclosures.

View attachment 369847

He has 3 caves, multiple plants, and various shaded areas
View attachment 369848View attachment 369849View attachment 369851View attachment 369850

He loves being outside and utilizes the entire space during the day. I’ve been very surprised on how active he is walking and inspecting everything.

One cave gets blasted by sun , one partial sun, and one is completely shaded.

Issues I’m having:

Eats very little greens I offer, assuming that’s because he’s eating in the yard as he’ll eat mushrooms out there.

Occasionally watery eyes in the morning. I’m assuming it’s because he just not 100% used to the environment and the difference from his home to outside.

Aw this looks beautiful! Great job! I think red foots can have slightly wet eyes sometimes, ours does at times and it’s never been a concern. As long as they aren’t streaming obviously lol.
As for the greens, it could be they’re grazing on the greens within your enclosure more now, but definitely keep offering them, might just be cause it’s all new to them so he’s changed his eating habits a bit, think some people squeeze some of the juice from whatever fruits you’re offering on the day, to make the greens a bit more enticing😊

 

[Ink]

Nice work! Be careful of mushrooms popping up. They can be poisonous.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I’ve officially moved my RF to the back yard. I waited a few weeks for our temps to come up and test out his house.

He sleeps in this heated house each night. Temps at 80, humidity at 80-85. I’ve tried replicating his sleeping conditions to his indoor enclosures.

View attachment 369847

He has 3 caves, multiple plants, and various shaded areas
View attachment 369848View attachment 369849View attachment 369851View attachment 369850

He loves being outside and utilizes the entire space during the day. I’ve been very surprised on how active he is walking and inspecting everything.

One cave gets blasted by sun , one partial sun, and one is completely shaded.

Issues I’m having:

Eats very little greens I offer, assuming that’s because he’s eating in the yard as he’ll eat mushrooms out there.

Occasionally watery eyes in the morning. I’m assuming it’s because he just not 100% used to the environment and the difference from his home to outside.

The space looks great! No doubt he enjoys it!

Watery eyes in the morning (I assume after sleep in the heated house), be a sign that temperatures are bit too high (if you use a ceramic heater he sleeps under it). If you have a temperature gun - you may check his shell temperature.

And, yes, I second the comment about mushrooms. RFs love them, but many "wild" mushrooms can be poisonous.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

The space looks great! No doubt he enjoys it!

Watery eyes in the morning (I assume after sleep in the heated house), be a sign that temperatures are bit too high (if you use a ceramic heater he sleeps under it). If you have a temperature gun - you may check his shell temperature.

And, yes, I second the comment about mushrooms. RFs love them, but many "wild" mushrooms can be poisonous.

It’s interesting you say that about the temps! I’m wondering if squirt is feeling too warm at night😕it reads about 80-82 in the cave she sleeps in though, but her shell does read 87 on the temp gun of a morning, could she be a tad too warm? Thing is when I was testing all the heat and everything, turning the bulbs down causes a struggle to keep the entire viv a nice temperature then, it’s tricky😣

 

[EddieMaher]

Nice work! Be careful of mushrooms popping up. They can be poisonous.

Thank you. No, not wild mushrooms. I put white mushrooms out there for him.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thank you. No, not wild mushrooms. I put white mushrooms out there for him.

Oh, great! He is so lucky guy!

 

[EddieMaher]

The space looks great! No doubt he enjoys it!

Watery eyes in the morning (I assume after sleep in the heated house), be a sign that temperatures are bit too high (if you use a ceramic heater he sleeps under it). If you have a temperature gun - you may check his shell temperature.

And, yes, I second the comment about mushrooms. RFs love them, but many "wild" mushrooms can be poisonous.

No wild mushrooms. I put white mushrooms out there for him.

Yes, I see it mainly in the morning. The temp were he sleeps is set at 79. Do you think I should bring it down a degree or two?

 

[EddieMaher]

It’s interesting you say that about the temps! I’m wondering if squirt is feeling too warm at night😕it reads about 80-82 in the cave she sleeps in though, but her shell does read 87 on the temp gun of a morning, could she be a tad too warm? Thing is when I was testing all the heat and everything, turning the bulbs down causes a struggle to keep the entire viv a nice temperature then, it’s tricky😣

Yes, getting temps right is very tricky. I’ve played with the house for 2 years weeks before putting him in there. The temp reads around 78 where he sleeps in the indoor enclosure.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yes, getting temps right is very tricky. I’ve played with the house for 2 years weeks before putting him in there. The temp reads around 78 where he sleeps in the indoor enclosure.

It’s definitely the harder part when doing a new set up, maybe I need to play around ours a little more

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

No wild mushrooms. I put white mushrooms out there for him.

Yes, I see it mainly in the morning. The temp were he sleeps is set at 79. Do you think I should bring it down a degree or two?

79 is fine, definitely not too hot and 82F would be probably even better.
I see watery eyes with my redfoot in two cases - she is in the warm part of the enclosure (86-88F) or she is outside and humidity is too low (40-50%). And neither fits what you observe. Yet, I don't think it's something concerning.

Would be great if @ZEROPILOT can share his experience.

 

[EddieMaher]

79 is fine, definitely not too hot and 82F would be probably even better.
I see watery eyes with my redfoot in two cases - she is in the warm part of the enclosure (86-88F) or she is outside and humidity is too low (40-50%). And neither fits what you observe. Yet, I don't think it's something concerning.

Would be great if @ZEROPILOT can share his experience.

I think it’s the humidity outside. What I think is happening is at 7am I unlock the door for him to come out, the air outside is cooler and less humid coming into the house. I’ll watch it over the next week and see if he’s just acclimating

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

79 is fine, definitely not too hot and 82F would be probably even better.
I see watery eyes with my redfoot in two cases - she is in the warm part of the enclosure (86-88F) or she is outside and humidity is too low (40-50%). And neither fits what you observe. Yet, I don't think it's something concerning.

Would be great if @ZEROPILOT can share his experience.

That makes me a little less concerned playing about with our temps, but I’ll keep an eye on her eyes, she’s always had them looking a little wet but hasn’t been poorly so I’m hoping it’s nothing too concerning, I’ve read a lot of folks red foot’s get wet eyes sometimes hence my earlier comment🙂
She’s never sleeping directly under her bulbs where the temps fluctuates between 88-90, that’s only directly under one of the bulbs though, the rest is 80-86, with a small section by the glass reading 75-77, so she does have that cooler spot should she ever be feeling too warm, but she never uses it so I can only presume she’s happy? If I noticed her sleeping in that spot I’d definitely turn the temps down.
This ops temps&humidity sound pretty spot on, And I love the enclosure!🥰

I’d definitely love to hear @ZEROPILOT s thoughts😊

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I see my Redfoot expertly picking just the right weeds out of the yard. So, they "kind of" graze. But aren't the type of greenery eaters that most other species are. Just mix it up in the food department.
Wattery eyes can be from lack of humidity or overheating. But some of that it is also normal. So if your other parameters check out, just keep an eye on his/her general activity level and eating patterns. If they seem normal, I wouldn't be at all concerned.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I see my Redfoot expertly picking just the right weeds out of the yard. So, they "kind of" graze. But aren't the type of greenery eaters that most other species are. Just mix it up in the food department.
Wattery eyes can be from lack of humidity or overheating. But some of that it is also normal. So if your other parameters check out, just keep an eye on his/her general activity level and eating patterns. If they seem normal, I wouldn't be at all concerned.

Yeah her behaviour, eating habits and ability to clear out lol, has always remained normal, so we figured it’s not too much of a concern, will make sure it doesn’t worsen though🙂

 

[ZEROPILOT]

You can use a garden sprinkler attached to a hose to make it rain. If it's particularly dry.
A good 15 minute soaking will crank up the humidity for a few days.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

You can use a garden sprinkler attached to a hose to make it rain. If it's particularly dry.
A good 15 minute soaking will crank up the humidity for a few days.

Not sure if that’s was for op, luckily in our case humidity is no issue in her new set up, it holds really well, I’m debating whether to try turning one of the bulbs down again and monitoring the temps, I’m curious if I’ve maybe got it slightly too warm the one end, I’ve tried to create as even an ambient temperature as possible, but one end does still read slightly warmer at night so maybe I’ll try some tweaks these next few days🙂

 

[TammyJ]

I think the tortoise could do with a bigger water pool. But it's a lovely enclosure!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Not sure if that’s was for op, luckily in our case humidity is no issue in her new set up, it holds really well, I’m debating whether to try turning one of the bulbs down again and monitoring the temps, I’m curious if I’ve maybe got it slightly too warm the one end, I’ve tried to create as even an ambient temperature as possible, but one end does still read slightly warmer at night so maybe I’ll try some tweaks these next few days🙂

It's probably not dangerously hot in any area.
Do what you can. And keep it cooler than 90 in any spot.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

It's probably not dangerously hot in any area.
Do what you can. And keep it cooler than 90 in any spot.

Fair enough, it fluctuates between 88-90 under one of the bulbs, but when I’ve tried turning that one down, the viv one end drops a bit lower than I’d like, I’ll play around with it tomorrow and see what I can do🙂