Need help - taking care of sister's yellow foot

trufflecame

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Jun 21, 2016
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Hi everyone, nice to meet you all. My younger sister has a tortoise and asked me to take care of it for the summer since she is away. Honestly, her husbandry is a mess. I always tried to get her to look up information, but she wouldn't listen. She doesn't even know if it's a male or a female...

And that's why I'm here! Want the best for this animal. It is currently housed outside, so its UVB intake is fine. However, it's in a patio with no grass, just white tile. It looks very hot, especially here in Puerto Rico. The enclosure is a dog play pen. Pretty decent size for a tortoise I think. But he looks desperate; he wants to get out all the time and it's probably because of the heat. Half of it is under a tree and half gets sun. I'm thinking of getting patches of grass and putting them in a small inflatable pool and have that inside the playpen so he doesn't fry to death.
He has his little "pool" but I haven't seen him soak in a while.
What I most have an issue with is its food. I don't know exactly what to feed it. I know a lot of greens (spinach arugula, kale, and I have a hibiscus plant that the tortoise really seemed to enjoy, he loves fruit. He didn't like aloe vera, he spat it out the first bite), but besides that what else can I feed it? What foods are toxic? And what supplements does it need? I'm not new to reptiles, I'm very aware that they need calcium supplements in captivity but how exactly do I do this?
Humidity is not a huge problem in Puerto Rico, as it's pretty humid all year round even if it doesn't rain in a while. If it gets dry, I hose the tree above the enclosure and it makes it pretty humid in that spot for a while.
It also looks like it's starting to pyramid. How do I stop this from progressing?

Any information is greatly appreciated! I hate seeing this tortoise like this.
Thank you!
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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They are a tropical tortoise, but live in the shade and don't like high heat or bright light.
Can you place some potted plants in the enclosure for shade?
Is there water that he can climb into to cool off?
 

trufflecame

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Jun 21, 2016
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They are a tropical tortoise, but live in the shade and don't like high heat or bright light.
Can you place some potted plants in the enclosure for shade?
Is there water that he can climb into to cool off?
Yes, there are plants in the enclosure and the tree above gives it considerable shade.
He does have his water, but again, hasn't used it much. I guess I should put it under the shade?
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Yes, there are plants in the enclosure and the tree above gives it considerable shade.
He does have his water, but again, hasn't used it much. I guess I should put it under the shade?
Yes. Water in the sunlight can get very hot. Especially if it's in a metal pan.
My pools are large enough for one or two to swim or soak in together and made of cool cement.
 

Yvonne G

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Your idea of patches of grass in the pool is a good one. Here's something else you can do. See if you can find this at your stores there:

upload_2016-6-27_9-59-38.jpeg

It's a plastic swirly-shaped pipe with a misting head on top, and you attach a hose to the bottom. This will provide a cooling mist for the tortoise during the hottest part of the day.
 
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