I've sealed the deal!

[Rutibegga]

Well, that escalated quickly! After months of very restrained research and reading, in the span of four days I began building a tortoise table, secured part of my veggie garden for tortoise visits (under supervision since its in my front yard and I live in a city), and reserved a redfoot hatchling from a well-regarded breeder on this forum.

I'm beyond excited! ive wanted a tortoise since I was a kid, so this is me livin' the dream! Enclosure should be built and sealed in the next few days, and we have plans to pick up substrate this weekend. We already have organic sedum and aloe that we can plant around the enclosure, as well as a grow setup for leafy greens etc... So the kiddo can have a replenishing supply in his/her home.

Question, for fun/educational purposes: what might I want to know that isn't common (Internet forum/fact sheet) knowledge? What did you wish you knew before adopting a tortoise?

 

[Careym13]

Congratulations!!!! I wish I had done more research in general before getting my tortoises. I went with the recommendation of a friend who had tortoises in the past, but should have taken the time and had the restraint/patience to learn more than I did prior to the arrival of the babies. In any event, it sounds like you are very well prepared...congrats again!

 

[pfara]

What you might want to know (or not know):

A 4'x8' enclosure for one redfoot might seem excessive for some. But if you factor in all the plants, furniture and poop, you'll have no room for a full grown tortoise. I've been told that piles can be as large as hatchlings and I believe it! One of mine is an artist; I mistook a pile for a frog. Yes, she's that good.

A preemptive welcome to the redfoot family. We demand pictures!

 

[tortdad]

I wish I would have built a closed chamber from the start and I wish i would have posted links to the lights and gauges I was planing on buying them before I got them and it was late to return them. I had to nasally start over, twice.

 

[Rutibegga]

What you might want to know (or not know):

A 4'x8' enclosure for one redfoot might seem excessive for some. But if you factor in all the plants, furniture and poop, you'll have no room for a full grown tortoise. I've been told that piles can be as large as hatchlings and I believe it! One of mine is an artist; I mistook a pile for a frog. Yes, she's that good.

A preemptive welcome to the redfoot family. We demand pictures!

Ha! Sounds like you've got a creative pooper on your hands!

We're building the table now and trying to hit a balance of looking nice (my partner loves planted tanks and gardening, and wants to try to make it an attractive jungle scape despite my constant reminders that we are going to be unleashing a lawnmower into it soon) and being functional. I'll post photos when it's done!

We have plans for an outdoor enclosure for summer months, but we won't be doing the yard renovations until spring. Supervised visits to our front garden are on the table until then.

 

[johnandjade]

hello and welcome! sounds like your gonna have one happy tort!

we wish we knew the electric bill was going to double lol. not that it would have stopped us right enough. look forward to seeing some pics

 

[Anyfoot]

The one thing I underestimated was the size of a fully grown northern red foot. These are classed as a medium size tort. Huh. My adults are in my opinion just sub adults. 1 is about 11.5" SLC . however my friend has some at about 14" SLC. The difference is unreal. The overall size of them. Heads,limbs carapace width,height and weight is ridiculous for an extra 2.5" on the length. This is when I realised I had to get real and make a good enclosure for the uk climate. Forget having them in the house. Be like have a herd of Buffalo's in your house. Lol.

 

[Rutibegga]

hello and welcome! sounds like your gonna have one happy tort!

we wish we knew the electric bill was going to double lol. not that it would have stopped us right enough. look forward to seeing some pics

Ah, my partner keeps tropical aquariums AND we do plant starts in the house, so I don't know if it'll double, but we do expect the bills to go up. Unlike our other pets, we won't be spending much extra on food since we grow plenty of greens and vegetables already!

 

[Rutibegga]

The one thing I underestimated was the size of a fully grown northern red foot. These are classed as a medium size tort. Huh. My adults are in my opinion just sub adults. 1 is about 11.5" SLC . however my friend has some at about 14" SLC. The difference is unreal. The overall size of them. Heads,limbs carapace width,height and weight is ridiculous for an extra 2.5" on the length. This is when I realised I had to get real and make a good enclosure for the uk climate. Forget having them in the house. Be like have a herd of Buffalo's in your house. Lol.

We only plan to have the one (at least, that's what we've been telling ourselves) and researched pretty heavily before making the decision, but I admit that fully-grown males look bigger than 14" sounds! Fortunately, we have space and we're the kind of (crazy) people who go over the top for their pets. (As I'm writing this, I'm getting texts about the layout of the table, which now includes a ramp to a 2nd level basking area. Seriously. CRAZY. PET. PEOPLE.)

 

[Anyfoot]

We only plan to have the one (at least, that's what we've been telling ourselves) and researched pretty heavily before making the decision, but I admit that fully-grown males look bigger than 14" sounds! Fortunately, we have space and we're the kind of (crazy) people who go over the top for their pets. (As I'm writing this, I'm getting texts about the layout of the table, which now includes a ramp to a 2nd level basking area. Seriously. CRAZY. PET. PEOPLE.)

We will get on well then. Lol. Only 1 tort. Huh. Amateurs lol. That's how we started. Rescued 1. Then another. Then 1 more. You get the picture.

 

[Rutibegga]

Well, to be fair, that's how it is with cats in our home. We even founded a rescue together due to our inability to walk down the street without being followed by strays. But cats are easy to house--their requirements aren't nearly as specific.

 

[Rutibegga]

What you might want to know (or not know):

A 4'x8' enclosure for one redfoot might seem excessive for some. But if you factor in all the plants, furniture and poop, you'll have no room for a full grown tortoise. I've been told that piles can be as large as hatchlings and I believe it! One of mine is an artist; I mistook a pile for a frog. Yes, she's that good.

A preemptive welcome to the redfoot family. We demand pictures!

I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm following the thread about giant red/yellow foots. Does anyone here have an entire room set up for a tort? I think we are set for a few years, but as Trogdor the Burninator grows, I wonder if it might be possible to set up a greenhouse-type winter enclosure for the little bugger.

 

[Anyfoot]

I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm following the thread about giant red/yellow foots. Does anyone here have an entire room set up for a tort? I think we are set for a few years, but as Trogdor the Burninator grows, I wonder if it might be possible to set up a greenhouse-type winter enclosure for the little bugger.

I'm in the process of building an entire room for my torts. Basically I'm hoping to have an indoor tropical garden. Because of our climate I have to go overboard with the build. Not sure what your climate is like. My thread is." My new Tortoise site". I'm hoping to have it complete by the end of the year. I have a room in my house dedicated to them at the moment. It's not ideal but getting me through. High humidity is no good in the house. Lol, and the missis wants the room back. Damn. Not told her yet that we can't put juveniles in new build. Hee hee heeeee

 

[Anyfoot]

I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm following the thread about giant red/yellow foots. Does anyone here have an entire room set up for a tort? I think we are set for a few years, but as Trogdor the Burninator grows, I wonder if it might be possible to set up a greenhouse-type winter enclosure for the little bugger.

Also. Tortadise has built a really good greenhouse. Have a look at his thread. Can't find it at the minute.

 

[pfara]

I look at my enclosure and always wish it could be bigger. But, to be honest, I'll always keep wanting larger.. to the point where they might as well be let loose in Brazil.

Build the largest you can and just provide the best possible environment that is reasonably within your limitations. There is only so much we can do. And remember, it's nigh impossible to replicate mother nature, but we can try hard for the ones we love.

 

[Rutibegga]

I'm in the process of building an entire room for my torts. Basically I'm hoping to have an indoor tropical garden. Because of our climate I have to go overboard with the build. Not sure what your climate is like. My thread is." My new Tortoise site". I'm hoping to have it complete by the end of the year. I have a room in my house dedicated to them at the moment. It's not ideal but getting me through. High humidity is no good in the house. Lol, and the missis wants the room back. Damn. Not told her yet that we can't put juveniles in new build. Hee hee heeeee

Fantastic, I've followed the thread so I can easily find it and keep up on progress. Thanks!

 

[Anyfoot]

I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm following the thread about giant red/yellow foots. Does anyone here have an entire room set up for a tort? I think we are set for a few years, but as Trogdor the Burninator grows, I wonder if it might be possible to set up a greenhouse-type winter enclosure for the little bugger.

Also N2torts has built some right good stuff. No project too big for him. Just throwing them at ya.

 

[Rutibegga]

Build the largest you can and just provide the best possible environment that is reasonably within your limitations. There is only so much we can do. And remember, it's nigh impossible to replicate mother nature, but we can try hard for the ones we love.

This is my philosophy as well. What we are working on now will be more than adequate for a hatchling, but in a few years we will need to expand, so I'm already planning for that. And an outdoor space for the warm months.

I just want a healthy, happy little (and eventually not so little) tort.

 

[Anyfoot]

I look at my enclosure and always wish it could be bigger. But, to be honest, I'll always keep wanting larger.. to the point where they might as well be let loose in Brazil.

Build the largest you can and just provide the best possible environment that is reasonably within your limitations. There is only so much we can do. And remember, it's nigh impossible to replicate mother nature, but we can try hard for the ones we love.

Made me laugh. Let loose in Brazil.

 

[Rutibegga]

Seems our tort will be joining the family on Monday! Safe travels, little bugger! (I can think of few things I've been this excited about in my life!)