Hello from the frozen Midwest!

[Archelon]

Hello everyone!

I'm a long time exotic pet enthusiast, wth plenty of experience keeping other reptiles, although I've been relegated to dogs for quite some time. I haven't had a tortoise in many years, my last being a box turtle many years ago.

Now I'm a father with young kids who have been begging for a turtle since they caught a painted turtle hatchling while fishing last summer. We jumped back in after I did extensive research- we are taking delivery of one yellow and one red footed tortoise hatchling tomorrow for my 8 year old daughter and 10 year old son to keep, care for and raise with my help.

We ordered from "The Turtle Source" in Ft Myers, FL and are hoping we made the right choice.

No pics as yet but I will rectify that soon. I've been moderating 23 subforums on a very busy hobby forum for several years and have a paid Photobucket account so I'm familiar with forum life. I just read the moderator Yvonne's notes on photo uploading- direct hosting on the site will be a major plus as I'm used to having to use a third party hosting service.

We have a decent starter enclosure on the way from the DrsFoster&Smith site to get our hatchlings started and I will be looking for help with choosing and sourcing other equipment like UV lighting, heater, substrate, diet, supplements, etc. I will jump in tomorrow or over the weekend and start a thread in the red foot forum introducing myself and post questions. I look forward to sharing our experience and learning from the good folks here with much more knowledge and experience than I.

Here's the starter habitat we chose. Hope the new additions will thrive in it.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...mpid=07csegb&gclid=CNy4nI75h8oCFVglgQods7kPnA

Please, feel free to share any advice and opinions!

Regards-

Archelon

 

[leigti]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It's pretty frozen up here in Washington too. I don't have your type of tortoises but I think they do require a good deal of humidity. As hatchlings you might consider the big plastic Christmas tree boxes that are around this time of year.
Or check out the enclosures section for some ideas.
I had that type of enclosure at first, but I had to make so many modifications just to even get it to barely right. Large Rubbermaid bins, stock tanks and very large aquariums can also work well for hatchlings. And much of the stuff you need can be found at hardware stores or feed stores versus pet stores.
I have ordered equipment online from LLL reptile, Carolina pet supply, tortoise supply.com, and of course Amazon.
It's great that your kids are getting into different types of animals. I loved all kinds of animals as a kid and I still do. I had the turtle we found on the side of the road, it is scapes and ran away which was probably a very good thing for the turtle. And I had a pet snake for three hours till my mom came home from work and said oh no way.
There are great people here with great information. And we love love love pictures.

 

[hingeback]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome from warm and steamy south Florida.

 

[Archelon]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It's pretty frozen up here in Washington too. I don't have your type of tortoises but I think they do require a good deal of humidity. As hatchlings you might consider the big plastic Christmas tree boxes that are around this time of year.
Or check out the enclosures section for some ideas.
I had that type of enclosure at first, but I had to make so many modifications just to even get it to barely right. Large Rubbermaid bins, stock tanks and very large aquariums can also work well for hatchlings. And much of the stuff you need can be found at hardware stores or feed stores versus pet stores.
I have ordered equipment online from LLL reptile, Carolina pet supply, tortoise supply.com, and of course Amazon.
It's great that your kids are getting into different types of animals. I loved all kinds of animals as a kid and I still do. I had the turtle we found on the side of the road, it is scapes and ran away which was probably a very good thing for the turtle. And I had a pet snake for three hours till my mom came home from work and said oh no way.
There are great people here with great information. And we love love love pictures.

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice! I actually have a bunch of those big Rubbermaid tubs, so that one is a no brainer. We eventually plan on building a nice large climate controlled display enclosure for inside, and a protected habitat outside to allow them to bask in natural sunlight and get some ground time outdoors in warmer weather. Thanks for the source suggestions, I just started a tort section in my favs list.

Funny about your road turtle and snake. I brought home painted turtles and garter snakes all the time. The snakes always had to go right away (Mom), but I did keep a painted turtle in a kiddie pool in the back yard for one summer. Being a hibernating species, I released it in the fall to let it do its thing.
As a single adult, I got to indulge my snake fancy with a really nice red tail boa for almost 10 years when I met my wife. When she moved in, the snake was soon adopted by a friend.

I will be posting a thread with many questions in the red foot forum later, I hope you and others stop by with some advice. It's funny what questions come up...

Yeah, but what KIND of light/bulb/cypress mulch, lol!

Thanks again!!!

Archelon

 

[Archelon]

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks!

 

[Archelon]

Welcome from warm and steamy south Florida.

Thank you! There seem to be many tort lovers down your way, I guess the climate makes that natural.

My hatchlings are coming from "The Turtle Source" in Ft Myers. Not sure how far south you are, but if you have any info to share about that outfit- good or bad, I'd appreciate it.

Regards to all and thanks for the welcome-

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I've only heard good things about them.
But I have no first hand experience with them.
Ft. Meyers is a couple hundred miles away.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Here's a good one for you to read prior to buying any more equipment:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

And to get some ideas on how to make a beautiful display habitat, look for Terryo's habitat pictures. I'll give you a head start. (It's hard to tell, but this is an aquarium):
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/some-pics-of-pio.9999/


This is one of her outdoor RF habitats:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beautiful-day-today-with-pio.14748/

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome !

 

[TerrapinStation]

Hello and welcome from another Michigan Redfoot keeper.

Follow the links posted above and ask as many questions as you can!!!

Were you planning on housing them together or separate?

Best of luck!

 

[Archelon]

I've only heard good things about them.
But I have no first hand experience with them.
Ft. Meyers is a couple hundred miles away.

Thanks- the torts arrived safely and are ADORABLE:

 

[Archelon]

Hello
View attachment 161499

Thanks- I think I'm gonna like it here

 

[Archelon]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Here's a good one for you to read prior to buying any more equipment:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

And to get some ideas on how to make a beautiful display habitat, look for Terryo's habitat pictures. I'll give you a head start. (It's hard to tell, but this is an aquarium):
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/some-pics-of-pio.9999/


This is one of her outdoor RF habitats:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beautiful-day-today-with-pio.14748/

I VERY MUCH appreciate the 411. I plan on posting an intro thread with more pics in the red foot forum later. I will get into detail with any questions after doing the suggested reading. I hope you stop by!

 

[Archelon]

Hi and welcome !

Hello! Thanks- I've been on many forums for many years, doing moderation duties. I've gotta say, y'all are some of the nicest folks- I FEEL welcome

 

[Archelon]

Hello and welcome from another Michigan Redfoot keeper.

Follow the links posted above and ask as many questions as you can!!!

Were you planning on housing them together or separate?

Best of luck!

Hey Neighbor- North central Illinois here.

I plan to ask many questions after reading the material that folks graciously linked above.

I plan to keep them together as the outfit they came from said that these two clutches had been kept together since hatching. (is that proper tort speak for a "litter" of eggs- a clutch?)

I have read this can cause problems. We will watch close and decide definitively when they are old enough to accurately determine sex and after we've had more time to observe their interaction.

Archelon

 

[Yvonne G]

Hello! Thanks- I've been on many forums for many years, doing moderation duties. I've gotta say, y'all are some of the nicest folks- I FEEL welcome

We try to keep our Forum friendly and kid oriented. And those of us who send you welcomes, truly DO want to know about you and your tortoises.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome they are beautiful little torts and this is a great place for up to date information and can save you lots of money on equipment and vets bills.
I don't know what the RF/YF temperaments are like but you will probably need to watch them closely and be ready to separate them as soon as any signs of bullying starts. Lots of people think they snuggle and follow to be friendly but they are solitary creatures and don't like competition for space or food etc so the dominant one can bully and stress out the other, its not always out right aggression.
These will give you ideas of what to look out for
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/cuts-on-back-of-legs.133977/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/

Other good tips are do not use coiled or long thin loop type cfl bulbs - they can damage tort eyes
and red heat bulbs can confuse them as they see colour.
Good luck and there is always someone around to help

 

[Archelon]

We try to keep our Forum friendly and kid oriented. And those of us who send you welcomes, truly DO want to know about you and your tortoises.

Yvonne- that's awesome. The forum I mod is a "family friendly" site where there is no profanity, no discussion of religion or politics- avoiding those hot button topics helps keep the peace, so I'm pre programmed

Question: is there a way I can lose the pop up ad content? A paid membership to help support the site would be fine with me... I post with a phone and tablet do adverts are like poo on my windshield