My yellowfoot.
- Thread starter Mick.Ire
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He is gorgeous!
Very Nice Looking, I like Yellowfoots, they have great personalities.
Simply lovely little 
Beautiful. Maybe he'll end up being a giant.
Gorgeous!
Thanks for the pics!
Thanks for the pics!
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2012
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Beautiful tort!
Wow! A beauty for sure!
He is a cutie...
Gorgeous 
I've been looing for other yellow foots to compare to mine o belive mine was hatched august or september I believe. She is about 3.5" but what I want to compare is diet and the shell mine seems to be "indented" or flat for lack of better words
Name:
if boy - Killer Tank
if girl - KT
Side pic
Pic with ruler
Top view
Not the best pictures all done with my cell phone
Name:
if boy - Killer Tank
if girl - KT
Side pic
Pic with ruler
Top view
Not the best pictures all done with my cell phone
Attachments
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Hey rover, lovely little tortoise you have there.
This is my first yellowfoot too however I've been keeping other species since I was a young lad. Raised two sulcatas from hatchlings and the biggest weighs in at 22kgs. Also leopards and hingebacks. Just hatched 5 baby hingebacks and their care is a little like that of the south american species although they are african.
My little guy hatched last April and is a bit smaller than yours. About 3 inches.
Now this doesn't worry me and shouldn't worry you either. Different torts of the same species commonly grow at different rates. This could be down to genetics, sex of the tortoise or many different husbandry factors.
I see what you mean about your guys carapace. With torts it's normally the opposite problem people have with the carapace growing outwards more, known as pyramiding. Yellow foots however are a more elongated shaped tortoise and wont always grow symmetrically, ie:even all the way around.
Males in particular grow even more elongated and form a waste, narrowing in slightly and then back out. Yours is a bit young for this though. One thing I've noticed with adults is some do have flat tops. I've seen this with my guys parents. Here's a pic. Note the "waste" on the male and flat top and the more domed top of the female. The tort on the left is a red foot. Sorry about the quality. Also taken on my phone.
This is why I'm not too concerned about your guys shell. For example, while mine has not grown a lot in lenght since I have him, he has domed quite a bit.
Yours seems opposite, longer but not as domed. This could be an indication of sex but at such young ages it's not certain. Also with bigger species of tortoises they can go through growth spurts.
For good shell growth humidity is a huge factor for this species. At the start I used to spray my fellas viv regularly but in the end bought a cheap ultrasonic humidifier, 20$ I think. He loves it and always becomes very active when it's on. Here's a pic, you can see the fine mist in produces.
I feed mine a staple diet of Nutrazu/Mazuri pellets, some mushroom and dandoline greens. Haven't tried live food yet like worms or slugs but he's getting big enough now to try it soon.
That is a towel on the floor of his viv but it's only a temp thing, I had a few aphids in his viv that came from a nearby infested plant. I'll be replacing his substrate in the next few days, I'll probably use a soil, cypress mulch mix with areas of sphagnum moss. This should really help maintain the humidity and allow him to dig down. I also always have a large water dish that he sits in every day for up to half an hour. Usually as the humidifier goes on and before the food is put in.
So what are you feeding yours, do you maintain a humid climate and what kind of set up do you have, table or viv? Do you use a calcium supplement?
I hope the above info helps a bit and puts your mind at rest.
This is my first yellowfoot too however I've been keeping other species since I was a young lad. Raised two sulcatas from hatchlings and the biggest weighs in at 22kgs. Also leopards and hingebacks. Just hatched 5 baby hingebacks and their care is a little like that of the south american species although they are african.
My little guy hatched last April and is a bit smaller than yours. About 3 inches.
Now this doesn't worry me and shouldn't worry you either. Different torts of the same species commonly grow at different rates. This could be down to genetics, sex of the tortoise or many different husbandry factors.
I see what you mean about your guys carapace. With torts it's normally the opposite problem people have with the carapace growing outwards more, known as pyramiding. Yellow foots however are a more elongated shaped tortoise and wont always grow symmetrically, ie:even all the way around.
Males in particular grow even more elongated and form a waste, narrowing in slightly and then back out. Yours is a bit young for this though. One thing I've noticed with adults is some do have flat tops. I've seen this with my guys parents. Here's a pic. Note the "waste" on the male and flat top and the more domed top of the female. The tort on the left is a red foot. Sorry about the quality. Also taken on my phone.
This is why I'm not too concerned about your guys shell. For example, while mine has not grown a lot in lenght since I have him, he has domed quite a bit.
Yours seems opposite, longer but not as domed. This could be an indication of sex but at such young ages it's not certain. Also with bigger species of tortoises they can go through growth spurts.
For good shell growth humidity is a huge factor for this species. At the start I used to spray my fellas viv regularly but in the end bought a cheap ultrasonic humidifier, 20$ I think. He loves it and always becomes very active when it's on. Here's a pic, you can see the fine mist in produces.
I feed mine a staple diet of Nutrazu/Mazuri pellets, some mushroom and dandoline greens. Haven't tried live food yet like worms or slugs but he's getting big enough now to try it soon.
That is a towel on the floor of his viv but it's only a temp thing, I had a few aphids in his viv that came from a nearby infested plant. I'll be replacing his substrate in the next few days, I'll probably use a soil, cypress mulch mix with areas of sphagnum moss. This should really help maintain the humidity and allow him to dig down. I also always have a large water dish that he sits in every day for up to half an hour. Usually as the humidifier goes on and before the food is put in.
So what are you feeding yours, do you maintain a humid climate and what kind of set up do you have, table or viv? Do you use a calcium supplement?
I hope the above info helps a bit and puts your mind at rest.
A lot of help thank you I'm hoping for a girl but it sounds like it might be a male. I know its too young to tell.
I've only had her since december 12th
Diet has been a mix of kale, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce(found out not the best), red cabbage, carrot top greens/sticks/shavings, celery stock and leaves, tomatoes(only tried 2 times a week apart) spinach (feed once but will feed again 2 weeks after) 2 snails mondays and fridays (normally eats 1 and a half), I've tried cucumber once.
I know there are much better options muster greens, callard greens, dandelions, ect. I'm just trying to find where to buy them.
The temps rang from 77 -80 cool side middle is 80-84 and warm is 84-92 the low is the average night drop temp when the uvb light is off and only the CHE is on. With the light on I get a 2-3degree difference.
The humidity I'm trying to keep up right now the highest I seem to get is a little over 70% lowest 60%. This is in a 30" long 12"wide 12" high glass tank this week end she will be move to a 36" long 18"wide and oddly 15" high. I'm looking for "safe" and "edible" plants to add in hopes it will get my humidity above 80.
My substrate is coco fiber multch mix on on half long ways and moss on the other have with moss in and on both hides.
Hope this gives a good idea of what I have and what I'm doing. Feel free to add your opinions/recomendations
I've only had her since december 12th
Diet has been a mix of kale, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce(found out not the best), red cabbage, carrot top greens/sticks/shavings, celery stock and leaves, tomatoes(only tried 2 times a week apart) spinach (feed once but will feed again 2 weeks after) 2 snails mondays and fridays (normally eats 1 and a half), I've tried cucumber once.
I know there are much better options muster greens, callard greens, dandelions, ect. I'm just trying to find where to buy them.
The temps rang from 77 -80 cool side middle is 80-84 and warm is 84-92 the low is the average night drop temp when the uvb light is off and only the CHE is on. With the light on I get a 2-3degree difference.
The humidity I'm trying to keep up right now the highest I seem to get is a little over 70% lowest 60%. This is in a 30" long 12"wide 12" high glass tank this week end she will be move to a 36" long 18"wide and oddly 15" high. I'm looking for "safe" and "edible" plants to add in hopes it will get my humidity above 80.
My substrate is coco fiber multch mix on on half long ways and moss on the other have with moss in and on both hides.
Hope this gives a good idea of what I have and what I'm doing. Feel free to add your opinions/recomendations
Rover15 said:
All sounds pretty good. Yeah it can be hard to maintain humidity in large tanks alright. I haven't looked back since I got the humidifier.
In the spring and summer you should be able to find some wild dandolines etc and have you tried shop bought rocket, I also use this. I've only started using the pellets for my torts about a year ago and find them brilliant but not a necessity.
They love fruit as well but only as a treat. I'm gonna try mine with snails so, great source of calcium.
I'm not sure about your substrate as I've never used it but I think I've heard people say that coco stuff is bad for going mouldy, maybe not but just keep an eye incase. Yeah the moss is great stuff and they seem to like to bury in it.
I've mine in a smaller glass viv for now although it won't last him too much longer, maybe 6 months tops.
Does yours wallow in a pool or anything?
Mick.Ireland said:
I've never seen any mold in my substrate as of yet I had a critter log style hide that start to show mold after 2 days I removed it boiled it and then left it in my snakes setup as she needed a larger hide.
What is shop bought rocket? Never herd of it. Pellets I've concidered and I might use I'm trying to sorce out a proper natural diet first (no pellets, cat food, and even avoid any powder if possible) but if I can't seem to find/supply the right natural diet by the end of january then ill go the pellet route
And I don't recall ever seeing her in her water dish ever but again I soak 2 times a day the substrate isn't soaking wet but I keep it most/damp the water dish is also right under the CHE in an atempt to raise humidity and to keep water warm. Not to sure this is helping the humidity stays consistant for longer however this could also be becaus the moss that I have ontop of the hide beside the dish I normally soak in water then squeez half the water out leaving it wet so it drys out.
Shee seems a lot more active from when I first got her she went from hiding all the time only coming out when I pull her out of her hide to soak, and I would place her away from the food to encurage her to walk/hunt(not much of a hunt it is always in the same spot but I never put her in the same spot) for it.
Yeah I get what you mean, I don't take mine out to bath so that's probably why he wallows himself. A lot of the time he poops in there too.
Your right, stay away from catfood or anything like that. And your also right, natural weeds are a great diet if you can maintain it. Rocket is the closest to dandoline that can be bought in shops. Same family I think. Anyway makes a great supplement when the Dandos are gone in the winter time.
They are a shy species by nature, mine hides a lot too but when the humidity climbs he comes out for a walk.
Another to look out for with these is chapped mouths, right at the side of the mouth, where lower jaw meets top can get chapped and sore. Mine had it once in the early days, wouldn't eat, probably because it hurt so I treated with vaseline, worked a treat and never came back. I say it happened because it was too dry in the viv for too long periods.
Interesting comparing similar age yellowfoots, whats your guys eyes like? By nature they have wet eyes.
With the pellets, I'd only use Nutraz/Mazuri. They are nutritionally best so keep them in mind for the future in case.
Here's a picture of the packets of rocket I get.
Your right, stay away from catfood or anything like that. And your also right, natural weeds are a great diet if you can maintain it. Rocket is the closest to dandoline that can be bought in shops. Same family I think. Anyway makes a great supplement when the Dandos are gone in the winter time.
They are a shy species by nature, mine hides a lot too but when the humidity climbs he comes out for a walk.
Another to look out for with these is chapped mouths, right at the side of the mouth, where lower jaw meets top can get chapped and sore. Mine had it once in the early days, wouldn't eat, probably because it hurt so I treated with vaseline, worked a treat and never came back. I say it happened because it was too dry in the viv for too long periods.
Interesting comparing similar age yellowfoots, whats your guys eyes like? By nature they have wet eyes.
With the pellets, I'd only use Nutraz/Mazuri. They are nutritionally best so keep them in mind for the future in case.
Here's a picture of the packets of rocket I get.
Mick.Ireland said:Yeah I get what you mean, I don't take mine out to bath so that's probably why he wallows himself. A lot of the time he poops in there too.
Your right, stay away from catfood or anything like that. And your also right, natural weeds are a great diet if you can maintain it. Rocket is the closest to dandoline that can be bought in shops. Same family I think. Anyway makes a great supplement when the Dandos are gone in the winter time.
They are a shy species by nature, mine hides a lot too but when the humidity climbs he comes out for a walk.
Another to look out for with these is chapped mouths, right at the side of the mouth, where lower jaw meets top can get chapped and sore. Mine had it once in the early days, wouldn't eat, probably because it hurt so I treated with vaseline, worked a treat and never came back. I say it happened because it was too dry in the viv for too long periods.
Interesting comparing similar age yellowfoots, whats your guys eyes like? By nature they have wet eyes.
With the pellets, I'd only use Nutraz/Mazuri. They are nutritionally best so keep them in mind for the future in case.
Here's a picture of the packets of rocket I get.
I will deffinitly keep an eye out for that but yes I enjoy comparing them as well not many yellow foots out there that I know of. Due to lack of yellow foots to compare to I've been told I have "hypochondria by proxy syndrome" I was worried that she was getting fat but, Her eyes look good its like a wet glossy look I understand it to be healthy. I tryed to take a picture to show but camera just shows black eyes, however I have some other pictures to show.
Nice dome look just flat on top a bit and a nice tail shot (long or short?)
An other tail shot
My fav out of the newest pictures
Should I be concurned or is this just hypochondria by proxy syndrome?
The bring yellow spot is a lump idk if you can tell in the picture but I don't think it is pyimiding just because it is a lone bump I might start a thread to get more opinions if it gets wose but what do you think?
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Looks very healthy to me. Its good that It has a bit of meat on it. No such thing really as a fat tortoise. Over feeding will effect shell growth mainly and your shell looks great. I say its because it's a yellow foot that its a bit flat on top. So long as its kept hydrated the shell will form in it's natural way if ya get what I mean. Although its such a young tortoise if I was a betting man I'd say it's gonna be male. It's tail is much bigger than my guys even for the size difference between them.
I know what ya mean about being a bit of a hypochondriac. Initially having never kept yellows before I was worried about it's eyes. After more research turns out its how they're meant to be.
Also that lump in the front is like the vertebrae showing through a bit, little bit of a ridge. This could just be that and nothing to worry about. Depending on the way it was positioned in the egg can determine little flaws like this, nothing to worry about and most disappear as the tortoise gets older. Definately not pyramiding as pyramiding makes the entire scute raise with growth lines running from outside to the centre.
I'd say your doing a great job with him/her. Also you wouldnt just see pyramiding in one area. My fella has a slight dent in the same position as yours has the lump, how I know it's from the egg is we just hatched 5 baby Hingeback tortoises and two have the same dent because they were sideways in the egg. Another had a full vertebrae ridge down its entire shell, more pronounced than the others and it's already receding and they're only weeks old. This is because of what ever way he was positioned and subsequently formed in the egg. If it was a new lump that just formed since you've had him, then there's something up but if it's always been there I bet it's because of the above.
My guy could very start to go elongated like yours in the near future, actually I'm expecting just that and could well develop the flat top also.
It's gas that I keep referring to mine as a he and you refer to yours as a she when most likely opposite is the case. It'll be interesting to see if we're right with such young torts. Very few people with yellow foots this part of the world too, they tend to be more expensive and people tend to think they're not as attractive as reds but I'd go the opposite direction any day. I think because they are more reclusive and more jungle torts this makes them more intriguing. To me anyway.
Keep me posted on your guys progress for sure as its a learning curve for both of us.
I know what ya mean about being a bit of a hypochondriac. Initially having never kept yellows before I was worried about it's eyes. After more research turns out its how they're meant to be.
Also that lump in the front is like the vertebrae showing through a bit, little bit of a ridge. This could just be that and nothing to worry about. Depending on the way it was positioned in the egg can determine little flaws like this, nothing to worry about and most disappear as the tortoise gets older. Definately not pyramiding as pyramiding makes the entire scute raise with growth lines running from outside to the centre.
I'd say your doing a great job with him/her. Also you wouldnt just see pyramiding in one area. My fella has a slight dent in the same position as yours has the lump, how I know it's from the egg is we just hatched 5 baby Hingeback tortoises and two have the same dent because they were sideways in the egg. Another had a full vertebrae ridge down its entire shell, more pronounced than the others and it's already receding and they're only weeks old. This is because of what ever way he was positioned and subsequently formed in the egg. If it was a new lump that just formed since you've had him, then there's something up but if it's always been there I bet it's because of the above.
My guy could very start to go elongated like yours in the near future, actually I'm expecting just that and could well develop the flat top also.
It's gas that I keep referring to mine as a he and you refer to yours as a she when most likely opposite is the case. It'll be interesting to see if we're right with such young torts. Very few people with yellow foots this part of the world too, they tend to be more expensive and people tend to think they're not as attractive as reds but I'd go the opposite direction any day. I think because they are more reclusive and more jungle torts this makes them more intriguing. To me anyway.
Keep me posted on your guys progress for sure as its a learning curve for both of us.
Definitely funny that I keep calling mine a she and yours a he.
I love the yellow foots because they get bigger, and less common. Also if you know CFL (canadian football league) I'm from hamilton ontario home of the tiger cats black and gold(or yellow) are there colours XD
Ty for the reassurance with the bump
I love the yellow foots because they get bigger, and less common. Also if you know CFL (canadian football league) I'm from hamilton ontario home of the tiger cats black and gold(or yellow) are there colours XD
Ty for the reassurance with the bump
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