Maggie's Layla

[Maggie3fan]

We hijacked "hello there" thread...bad....
Here is my Layla...look carefully there are no ridges...she is almost as smooth as my butt.

I am not a keeper the way you are thinking...I was injured on the job and medically retired...My sister had me come hang out with her and scoop tort poop...she had a large turtle and tortoise rescue. One day she asked if I would keep a male Sulcata for her as she didn't have any room away from her large male Sulcata who would break down a fence to protect his property against another male...she said keep him for a couple of weeks until she could find a home for him. That was 20 years ago...I kept him for 17 years
I moved from California to Oregon and brought numerous chelonia with me...Maybe 20 or more. I ended up being very good with sick torts, and it was nothing to get up in the morning and find a bag with a tort/turtle in it at my door. I ended up with a small special needs turtle and tort rescue, without a computer, media education or money. I have blind ones, 3 legged ones, mean, dumb and sad. So while I have had 'pet' chelonia, most were rehabbed and adopted out. I'm common and the common feral Sulcata is my species but at one time or another I had about 40 to 50 here, sidenecks diamondbacked terrapins, box turtles...so many to list here...for a good while before I moved here I would headstart clutches of Sulcata and Gopherus agassizzi for my sister who would get those clutches dumped on her. 20 to 30 babies at a time...or at least it seems that way...Hey sis do you remember those 15 map turtles I got...lol anyway. I keep Layal she's 3 now, 11 box turtles most are Terrapine ornata ornata. Several torts over the years...a couple now. I also keep and breed parakeets and am owned by 3 kittens
Illegal drag racing Friday nights and Saturdays in the summer drifting in my IROC at the small dirt track at the closed airport and keeping a great car is my other life's work...
I figure that should have answered most of your questions.
BTW I do disagree with you about RF being more pyramided in captivity...The ones I've seen and had contact with were freakin beautiful overall...You probably know by now Layla lives in a greenhouse in my house with an outside pen for spring and summer...in my humble opinion there is no good reason any Redfoot is pyramided...their requirements are minimal, their diet is broad, their temperament is sweet and loving...well, not in Layla's case after she's dumped her water tray over and now she's thirsty, giving me the stink eye...I usta have Houdini the serious RF escape artist...and this is Lil Sesame having a nap after digging a hole lol
this is Angel, (but she's NOT!!)

 

[Ink]

Lil sesame looks like he has eyes on his scutes, according to Lyns. Always watching you . Layla looks great. Thank you for sharing and helping! PS: we are impressed by the IROC

 

[wellington]

Between you and Yvonne,I can't imagine the number of turtles and tortoises that have gone thru just one of your hand, let alone both of you and been saved from a poor life or even death.
That's a lot of years and experience.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

BTW I do disagree with you about RF being more pyramided in captivity...The ones I've seen and had contact with were freakin beautiful overall...You probably know by now Layla lives in a greenhouse in my house with an outside pen for spring and summer...in my humble opinion there is no good reason any Redfoot is pyramided...their requirements are minimal, their diet is broad, their temperament is sweet and loving...

I’m definitely glad the ones you’ve encountered grew out well! I too have seen many beautiful smooth captive red foots, no argument there.

Just from what I’ve witnessed, generally speaking, captive red foots are more pyramided, this is usually of course down to the common husbandry issues we see, being kept too dry or incorrect lighting, or a combination of both. A sad but true fact

That said I’ve seen some reds seemingly kept in near perfect conditions like your sweet girl, that still present with ever so minor pyramiding, my guess is difficultly in truly mimicking the 100% optimal conditions of their natural habitat, obviously I can’t say that for certain, but it’s my best guess, there’s so many factors to consider.

I agree there is never any good or nice reason a red foot is pyramided because it’s almost always down to less than perfect husbandry, their requirements certainly are minimal for those who are familiar with their care/good tortoise care in general, but for someone led astray with bad information n such, I imagine it can feel an up hill battle