I very recently brought home my new (to me) baby cherry head. I suspect he is somewhere around 8 months old and so far he looks to be doing alright adapting to his new home here. I think he wasn't being given the proper humidity in his enclosure prior to coming to live with me as he was being kept with 2 baby leopards and 2 baby hermans and was also quite sluggish when I saw him there and up until he got a nice warm soak and a nap in his moss-filled hide. Anyway, as a new owner I have done my best to do my research but, of course, there is always more to learn. So any tips for a new cherry head owner? Maybe diet suggestions? Thanks
New Cherry Head youngster. Tips?
- Thread starter Chewis
- Start date
Hi there and welcome. Any photos you could share of your tort and enclosure.
This is a good list for redfoot foods.
http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/nutrition-2/good-foods-list/
Welcome and congrats with your new tort! Any pictures? 
Regarding the diet I also like The Tortoise Table website: thetortoisetable.org.uk
Just remember redfoots need greens, some fruit and some animal protein.
Enjoy!
Regarding the diet I also like The Tortoise Table website: thetortoisetable.org.uk
Just remember redfoots need greens, some fruit and some animal protein.
Enjoy!
TerrapinStation
Well-Known Member
Hello and welcome. Kind of scary that your redfoot was kept with other species...... I hope it is not sick....
Definitely post pics of your tort and enclosure... we are all here to help.
Has the tort become more active? clear eyes, good appetite?
Best of luck!
Definitely post pics of your tort and enclosure... we are all here to help.
Has the tort become more active? clear eyes, good appetite?
Best of luck!
Thank you for all of the replys! I am working on the picture, but he is still pretty lazy as he sleeps most of the day. He does move around for awhile after he gets his bath. He will sometimes not open his eyes right away when he wakes up (he will start walking with his eyes still closed for a minute or two) but when he does open them they seem clear. And his appetite seems pretty good. He races straight for the food when it is time to eat. Does most of this sound okay/normal?
Welcome and congrats with your new tort! Any pictures?
Regarding the diet I also like The Tortoise Table website: thetortoisetable.org.uk
Just remember redfoots need greens, some fruit and some animal protein.
Enjoy!
Here's the little guy eating his lunch today!
This is his enclosure, I just changed it today from cypress to coconut coir. The cypress was a bit too much for such a little guy in my opinion. He has a mercury vapor bulb overtop for heat and uva + uvb, a water dish, and a few small rocks (some are out of frame) for him to eat on as well as the half log (which he doesn't use) and the small log on top of that which he likes to use as his shelter
Hi there. Your tort looks gorgeous, if I was you I would add some spaghnum moss to that enclosure for your tort to hide in. It will help with humidity too. Redfoots will hide in the moss, this in turn helps the carapace keep humid and grow smooth. At least 2" in depth mounded up in areas. Around and in that hide would be a good area.
Make sure your ambient temp is between 82f to 88f. No area should be less than 80f. No hot or cold spots.
Thanks! And thanks for reminding me about the moss. Haha I do have some moss but I took it out when I took out the cypress. I will put more in & I also have a heating pad to keep spots out of the light warm. The light keeps the area around 90°
TerrapinStation
Well-Known Member
Looks great..... Glad everything is working out. They do like to hide and burrow in a little, so some more plants (like the moss mentioned) will help. I planted some normal grass seed in a few patches around my enclosure and as it grew, my redfoot loves to lay in it and eat it.
He may grow into liking the log home- some do, some don't. Ours loves his, but I have heard of others avoiding them altogether.
What kind of foods have you been offering? Our redfoot loves collard greens, swiss chard, kale, opuntia cactus, mango, kiwi, banana, spring mix, Mazuri, Try to get yours going on a variety!
He may grow into liking the log home- some do, some don't. Ours loves his, but I have heard of others avoiding them altogether.
What kind of foods have you been offering? Our redfoot loves collard greens, swiss chard, kale, opuntia cactus, mango, kiwi, banana, spring mix, Mazuri, Try to get yours going on a variety!
So just normal grass is okay? That sounds like a good idea. And so far I've been offering kale & I've tried to give him blue berries (which he didn't like). I've only had him for about 1 week so I'm working on getting mazuri & some cactus pads as well as mixing up the types of greens he gets. But he definitely likes kale so far.
TerrapinStation
Well-Known Member
Yes, just normal, run of the mill grass seed. just make sure it is not coated or treated with any fertilizers or pesticides.
Good luck!
Good luck!
What a cutie! Nice space for him to live in now. I would add some hiding spaces like plants or a terracotta pot for plants on it's side.
Are you able to keep the humidity up (>80%) in his enclosure?
Are you able to keep the humidity up (>80%) in his enclosure?
Kale is great but not too much (high in oxalates). Variety is a key. Your baby looks pretty small to me. Start weighing/measuring her and record at least monthly or better yet weekly until you establish good routine. Make sure she's growing and putting on weight. That'll be a fairly good measurable indicator of how you are doing with your husbandry. I have 2 RF babies. Mine are about 10 months old (?). One of them is a Cherryhead who was not eating at the beginning. I started blending his food (can use those little smoothie blenders), offering few of different things 3 x day, and it wasn't until I put soaked and mashed up Mazuri with his blended greens that he actually started eating. I don't blend his food anymore, but everything gets chopped very finely. He just happens to like the taste of commercial tortoise food, so I have 3 different ones that I rotate and put in with his greens. He also looooves his protein! I always put out whole leaves of different greens for them to chomp in and they do but they love their "salad". I try to adhere to the basic nutrition principle: to serve a "rainbow", meaning variety, different colors veggies/fruits, always the good greens (no iceberg lettuce) and cactus as a staple, weeds (if you have access to places where things don't get sprayed with chemicals), good protein, cuttlebone in the enclosure and fresh water at all times plus maybe pinch of calcium powder couple of times per week. The Tortoise Library site has tons of very good reliable info including list of foods. To me the deal was to alter consistency of the food to help this tiny little mouth manage his bites. Once things made into soft mash he started eating like a champ. And still is. I'm still in my dietary/nutritional quest for those babies though. Keep trying different foods, different textures, find out what she likes and mix that in with stuff that is good for her. Give her time and warm baths.., and don't forget to enjoy her!
T
example of few different breakfast items all in separate piles( finely chopped) 
they are tearing through their favorite-shrimp 
here's chopped hardboiled egg, cactus and baby greens, on the side whole leaves
here you can see Mazuri on the side, most of the times I'll just be tossing it (or other commercial tort food soaked and mashed) with the greens
and nothing better than home grown sprouts
example of few different breakfast items all in separate piles( finely chopped) they are tearing through their favorite-shrimp here's chopped hardboiled egg, cactus and baby greens, on the side whole leaves here you can see Mazuri on the side, most of the times I'll just be tossing it (or other commercial tort food soaked and mashed) with the greensand nothing better than home grown sproutsNice habitat I agree add sphagnum moss and plastic plants
NDevon
Active Member
What are those growing in that pic? I didn't know they could eat or liked hard boiled egg - whole egg or just the yolk? And didn't know they ate shrimp - any specific type? And last question, cactus, where do you get it and what sort? I'm in the UK and they are not so common, ones I have seen for sale are very prickly and I'm sure not at all suitable.
You mean the little sprouts? Think those were radishes but I put all kinds of their edibles in there for them to munch on
Hard boiled egg?! You kidding?! They LOVE IT!!! People whose Reds are adult crush the while egg with shell and all and feed it. And yes for the shrimp! Any shrimp. I give it cooked/steamed with no salt no spices, they need that protein and some animal fat (not too much
to be healthy. Check out the diet section here for ideas. I feed protein once a week: chicken, beef heart, liver, really any organ meet you can get in that small quantity (my babies are still small, it takes very little to fill their tummies), you can also feed live worms. My babies' favorites are waxworms but they are hard to come by in my area. Might as well, they are loaded with fat so you don't want to overdo. The key is : diversity of food, greens, fruits, veggies, mushrooms, eggs, meats. I also use freeze dried shrimp or mealworm for "reward snack". Not that I have any clue in how to train animals, nor would I ever be consistent enough to accomplish anything, just when they do something I like they get snack. Who knows? Maybe over time they will make a connection "certain behavior=favorite snack"?
I give mine the whole hard boiled egg including the shell which provides a little calcium, cool huh?
