my cherry head red foot is always sleeping

[aidanhd500]

well its been almost a month now and i have not seen my tort out and about for more than 10 minutes at at time. i feed him spring mix, mostly arugula though, and green leaf lettuce. the temperature is at 83ish and im getting one more heat lamp that i will turn off a night. i have the repti sun and he is in a 4 foot by 2 foot enclosure. humidity is at 90 in the spot he hides in. the substrate is repti soil and its very good i must say. ive had him for a month and he has not basked at all he just eats and sleeps. he is pyramiding from the store he was at and im not gonna sugar cote it im pissed off at the store. any help would be fantastic thank you guys

 

[N2TORTS]

Well ...to tell ya my family of red's has slowed a bit too. Its winter no doubt and even with the so called high temps we try and keep them at , they tend to slow down a bit in the winter.
Your little guy does not look too bad as far his pyramiding, just keep misted and continue with healthy diet..
Enjoy your Cherry.....!

JD~

 

[Laura]

I dont think they like a lot of light. Just warm and wet..

 

[Jessicap]

I agree with Laura, I don't think they like the light, not sure why I even have it go on during the day. My redfoot comes out and about for about 15min - 1/2 hr before the light comes on and comes out later in the evening usually after the light goes off. So is out for no more than 1 hr total each day. The rest of the time Sid is in the hide and if I am lucky he sometimes sits with his butt half way out so I can at least get a glimps of him.

 

[Madkins007]

well its been almost a month now and i have not seen my tort out and about for more than 10 minutes at at time. i feed him spring mix, mostly arugula though, and green leaf lettuce. the temperature is at 83ish and im getting one more heat lamp that i will turn off a night. i have the repti sun and he is in a 4 foot by 2 foot enclosure. humidity is at 90 in the spot he hides in. the substrate is repti soil and its very good i must say. ive had him for a month and he has not basked at all he just eats and sleeps. he is pyramiding from the store he was at and im not gonna sugar cote it im pissed off at the store. any help would be fantastic thank you guys

Eating OK? Moving around? Looking good overall? Sounds OK to me.

Basking is something it will do if it feels the need. They don't bask a lot, but they do bask when they want to. UV is a part of basking- how are you doing your UV or vitamin D?

Lighting- Cherry-heads come from rather open scrub forests, they can handle the light. That does not give us permission to blast them, but normal light is fine. Make sure there are hides and shade.

How much do you feed him? And do you offer anything other than lettuces? Food is a big reason they come out. Try hiding food like a strawberry or mushroom in a far corner. Try hanging a bundle of greens from a tank wall. Try leaving a bigger pile of the green leaf after it eats the more nutritious stuff- it is OK if they fill up on lower-energy stuff as long as they get their nutrients first.

I would also like to see what happens when you boost the temps a but more.

You can try the articles in the Tortoise Library in my sig. I am working on a different site- www.tortoiselibrary.com- you can try as well but it is not done yet.

 

[terryo]

I would up the temp. a bit. My whole viv is in the high 80's.

 

[aidanhd500]

well i bought the zoo med repti-fogger and i love it. ever since then he has been out regularly on his own terms and he finally gets some face time.... i recommend this product to anyone and everyone

 

[allegraf]

Have you had him checked for parasites? I agree with TerryO, boost the temps a bit. Also I think you may have a northern RF not a cherryhead.

Allegra

 

[Madkins007]

well i bought the zoo med repti-fogger and i love it. ever since then he has been out regularly on his own terms and he finally gets some face time.... i recommend this product to anyone and everyone

I'm glad it is working for you!

I'm not a fan of this or similar products since they cool the air temps by several degrees. Of course, where we thought your temps were too low, they may have been too high and this corrected it?

On the other hand, as Terry O has pointed out before, a lot of times they come out a lot when we make changes to see what is going on.

 

[tortoises101]

I agree with terryo, up the temps a bit. I don't think he likes the heat lamp...too bright and too dehydrating. Have you fed him any fruit yet? RF's should have a diet that's half fruit. Protein is also important, give him a spoon of low fat cat food (or turtle pellets, crickets, trout chow, see what works for you).

 

[aidanhd500]

thats odd the repti fogger up-ed the temp not lowerd... ive fed him kiwi but i havnt fed him any protein yet. ive heard give him low fat cat food is good and ive heard others say its bad so i will test it out.

 

[Madkins007]

In the small doses we offer tortoises, cat (or dog) food once in a while is not a big deal. There are other options available that may better suit Red-foots- most kinds or worms and insect larvae, lots of kinds of bugs and invertebrates, baby or young mice and rats, eggs, lots of kinds of fish ('oily' fish offers Omega 3 oils), poultry, organ meats, etc.

I think offering worms and other 'bugs' to even very young Red-foots is a good idea. There is a theory (so far unproven) that y6oung Red-foots, and perhaps other species of tortoises, eat more bugs than we think. It makes sense for a small, tasty animal that hides a lot to eat bugs which will come to them in their hiding places. But, like I said, so far the theory is just a theory.

 

[Marty333]

My redfoot is a sleepy one also. I got her from a pet store. As long as she is eating a drinking and putting on weight I wouldnt be worried. Also I dont think she is a Cherryhead she looks like a northern redfoot.

 

[tyler0912]

Raise the temperature abit....see if that works?