Need opinions on this RF Tortoise please. This is a tortoise I am considering buying-

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
Enjoy your little guy and stick around! I knew that song would stick in your head.......?
 

sportytorty

New Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Northeast
as long as he is healthy at the time of purchase I would get him. He seemed to have struck a chord in your heart. He is a cute little guy. You will find that in 20 years when he is grown that his value will not be measured by the dollar. He will make a 50 year devoted friend. If his personality is great the price shouldn't be an issue. I paid 250 dollars 22 years ago for my female yellowfoot and aside from my wife she is my best friend. She acts like a dog when I let her romp around my house in the winter. Follows me anywhere and climbs up on the couch to sit on me or my wife Its all in the personality. These animals are amazingly smart and are dead loyal to a proper trusted owner.
 

Tony the Tort42

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
Messages
233
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Almost all, haha. I had a fish that got itself stuck in a place it couldn’t get out of, and we had to cut open the feature to let him go. It was one of those castle tunnel things. He was a cool fish though. Tortoises seem much smarter than that fish, though my baby flips himself often...
 

Macca33

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
50
Location (City and/or State)
MN
@sportytorty your yellowfoot sounds like a true companion- I love hearing that. I hope my redfoot is around for 50+ years and is as comfortable with the family as yours.

Thought I'd post an update on the first few days. He was certainly pensive the first 24 hours, but he is warming up to his new home. His house is not ideal and is hard to keep humid. I've got a rubbermaid bin with a hole cut in the top for the heat lamp and some small air holes on the opposite end. I mist him several times a day and am managing to keep the temps around 90F. Despite the cramped temporary quarters, Raph is doing great!- eating lots, picking at his cuttlebone, acting curious about us, etc.

While I mostly feed him dark leafy greens (as in a spring mix), once a day I give him a treat with his greens. He loves blueberries and zucchini (fruit is not and will not be an every day thing). I feed him about a third of a cup in the morning and again in the evening.

Here are some pics of his bath raph bath1.jpg

- I gently scrubbed him down with a toothbrush, which he actually seemed to love.

raph bath 3.jpgraph plastron.jpgraph bath 4.jpg
 

Macca33

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
50
Location (City and/or State)
MN
Good looking Redfoot you have there. I hope it likes the new enclosure.

Thank you! I hope he likes it too- It's taking longer to put together than I expected. Got a solid frame made of 2x4s and the box/enclosure table top is all Aspen and Birch plywood (was on sale at my hardware store). Got this on heavy duty casters for ease of moving it. Mainly I was held up looking for ways to waterproof it safely. Decided to drop in some HDPE panels and seal the edges/corners with 100% silicone for plastics. Waiting on the poly to dry then will install the plexi windows and HDPE panels.
Gonna have a large storage area underneath. Should be able to come up with an idea for the lid around the UVB/A lights and CHEs. Here's a pic from yesterday-before I started sealing the interior
tort table.jpg.
 

Sa Ga

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
653
Location (City and/or State)
MN
Hello everyone!! I'm from MN and new to the forum, but can already see that it has a wealth of knowledge provided by experienced members. As I search the forum for valuable info, I'm also hoping to get some opinions on a tortoise that I am considering buying.

I recently met a RF tortoise at a local reptile shop, and (hopefully you fellow tort lovers will understand this) made an unexpected connection with it. Of the two RF's in the cage, both were hiding out of sight when I crouched to look in. One of them clearly started smelling me and came out to engage with me. Long story short, this guy really responded to me and feel that it could really use a good, loving home and family to enjoy life with. I also suspect that it is not being kept in the ideal environment, which looks more suited to a desert tort (very low humidity for this tropical forest tortoise) and would like to help it out.

I've never owned a tort, but have researched reptiles/turtles/tortoises most of my life and understand that good husbandry involves more than just reading books (I am dedicated to my animal family members and strive to provide the best care possible and even have a vet in mind that specializes in reptiles and tortoises). I plan on providing it with a 4'X8' tort table to begin with, using coco coir/play sand/sphagnum moss as substrate with hiding places and line-of-sight breaks. I will balance humidity/temp/light/UVB to match its native environment as closely as possible. I have room to expand this table/housing indoors and plan on also creating a tortoise garden in my back yard for the warm summer months.

The RF tort I speak of is around 5-6" and appears to be in good health. He has a crack in his shell- about the diameter of a pencil eraser but he has shown me how well he eats, walks, climbs, and takes water breaks. He also has what appears to be an old crack among the front scutes of his carapace just being his neck/head. He may well have had some trauma, but he seems tough. His shell looks to me to have some signs of pyramiding, but I am by no means an expert and would really appreciate any opinions you can offer about his condition based on his appearance. --I keep saying "he" because I saw its tail which appeared longer and rear scutes which look less "U-shaped" than of females I've seen. I know it is likely too young to accurately sex.

Sorry for the extremely long first post, but I've attached some pics for you to look at. Not sure if I can post a video, but I have one of him responding to my request to take a "dip" - he looks up and goes into his water (gosh I hope I don't seem like a crazy Doolittle wannabe, lol).

Thank you all in advance for any insight and observations you can provide me regarding this tort!!

View attachment 285436View attachment 285437View attachment 285438View attachment 285439

I TOTALLY Know what you mean! I walked into Petsmart one day to buy dog treats and I peeked at a Russian tort. The Asst Mgr came up and said, "Hey, she's a surrender and up for adoption." I didn't need another pet, but I said, sure....why not look at her?

The moment I held her and she reached her head out to touch my nose, she was mine! I had looked at other torts bf for fun, but this...this was LOVE! lol

She was free from the store....but ended up diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, and vet bills have been over $1000 so far--and I've only had her since Sept.

That said, she's been worth EVERY penny and brings me joy and tranquility worth 100x that. Point being, yeah, of course $150 rules over $250. But when you find your "heart" individual animal, it is really priceless. Trust me, you won't even think about that price diffr after he's home with you!

He's absolutely adorable and I hope things work out for getting him! That table is awesome!!!

Keep us posted!

P.S. I'm in MN too! Depending where u live, i can recommend a wonderful vet, and this forum and the Herp Society at the Uof MN are priceless resources!!
 

willee638

Active Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
283
Location (City and/or State)
HK
OH! also, the shop owner quoted me "Around $250" for this Tort. What I've seen, he should be around $130 at most? Advice on pricing would also be appreciated. Thank you so much!!
That is insanely pricy even for North America unless it's 2 or more years old, maybe the shop owner sensed you were interested & eager to buy him. A hundred bucks would be a good starting price to consider. I would guess cherry heads & yellow foots are more expensive than red foots, like another forum member rightfully said the price of the tortoise is only a small part of investing on a pet tortoise & the upkeep & life long care for him to follow.
 

Macca33

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
50
Location (City and/or State)
MN
That is insanely pricy even for North America unless it's 2 or more years old, maybe the shop owner sensed you were interested & eager to buy him. A hundred bucks would be a good starting price to consider. I would guess cherry heads & yellow foots are more expensive than red foots, like another forum member rightfully said the price of the tortoise is only a small part of investing on a pet tortoise & the upkeep & life long care for him to follow.
My redfoot, Raph, is about 5-5.5" in shell length. Not sure how old he (she?) is. Someone on the forum said they think he is a young juvenile, so maybe 2-3 years old. I ended up paying $250 for him, which I know was overpaying...but fortunately my wife was on board and we just sucked it up- I was attached already and couldn't reject him. lol I'm sure the store employees/manager recognized me as the guy who came in several times to see him. I didn't have a poker face so to speak.

IMO he's a beautifully colored redfoot with great shell growth and character (healed crack behind his head which looks cool).

While it was more money than we wanted to spend, we don't regret it for a second. Raph has enriched our lives and become a part of the family in the short time we've had him (It's amazing how responsive tortoises can be). Plus, i mean, how could I reject this face?:
20200214_192847.jpg
 

Blackdog1714

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
4,666
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, VA
My redfoot, Raph, is about 5-5.5" in shell length. Not sure how old he (she?) is. Someone on the forum said they think he is a young juvenile, so maybe 2-3 years old. I ended up paying $250 for him, which I know was overpaying...but fortunately my wife was on board and we just sucked it up- I was attached already and couldn't reject him. lol I'm sure the store employees/manager recognized me as the guy who came in several times to see him. I didn't have a poker face so to speak.

IMO he's a beautifully colored redfoot with great shell growth and character (healed crack behind his head which looks cool).

While it was more money than we wanted to spend, we don't regret it for a second. Raph has enriched our lives and become a part of the family in the short time we've had him (It's amazing how responsive tortoises can be). Plus, i mean, how could I reject this face?:
View attachment 286853
You must catch hell buying a car! You have the math right though-If You Are Happy andYour Tort IS Happy then the price is right!
 

Macca33

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
50
Location (City and/or State)
MN
You must catch hell buying a car! You have the math right though-If You Are Happy andYour Tort IS Happy then the price is right!
LOL! I work very hard to maintain our vehicles so as to avoid having to buy one...lmao ;) RE tort price, you said it!
 

willee638

Active Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
283
Location (City and/or State)
HK
You must catch hell buying a car! You have the math right though-If You Are Happy andYour Tort IS Happy then the price is right!
Yes, a young juvenile of 2-3-4 years old is probably worth this much as just a new hatchling is already $100 or more. I would rather prefer a juvenile than a hatchling because everything is much more developed & mature would have less chance of being sick
 

New Posts

Top