New parents!!!!

[MagicElla]

Hello, all!

My family and I were gifted a one week old red footed! It's adorable and SO tiny! We think we are doing a good job taking care of her but any help will be welcomed! We have her on a big environment, with a shallow water plate, and a variety of greens available for eating. She only seems to eat when we place her outside of the environment though. Is there a quantity of food they should go through? She eats for a bit, then starts walking away. Is that okay? When she is inside the environment, she mostly burrows herself under the humid mulch and sleeps! She walks a lot outside of her house. She seems very curious about the world. She hasn't drank any water though. We placed her on the water and she just walked out. Here's a picture!!! Any tips will be much appreciated! It's our first ever!!!

-AR.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome Congrats on the little one. One week is quite young. Be sure to soak her every day in warm water for 20-30 minutes. Babies do sleep a lot. Others that raises RF can help you better on one that young.

 

[ascott]

http://www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm


While of course there is never one way to care for a tortoise, but this is a good starting point....

ADORABLE baby by the way

 

[shanu303]

Hello and Welcome to TFO!! your tort is really really cute and so young...

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi AR. :

Welcome to the Forum!!

Please read the info here at the Tortoise Library

 

[MagicElla]

Thank you, everyone!!!! Those are all very helpful! Here's a picture of her first feeding last week nomnomnom!

 

[Maggie and Torie the Tort]

Aww cute red foot! Welcome to the forum!

 

[sunshine_hugs]

Welcome. She sure is a cutie. Love the picture of her eating.

I have 5 young redfoots (2 are now 8 months old, the other 3 are just a few weeks old)...got them all at just days old. I found they slept and hid a lot at the beginning...to the point where it worried me.

Mine didn't seem to eat much at the beginning...but water is important...soaking her is a good idea (they can absorb water, even if you don't see them actually drinking). You'll want to place her in warm water for 15 - 20 mins...take her out before the water gets cold....and do it in a dish she can't walk out of (but just a little water).

All of mine now have great appetites, and are much more active, although it sounds like your little one is already pretty active.

You'll find a lot of knowledge on TF.

Good luck with your little one.

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

ADORABLE!!!
Welcome to the forum

 

[MagicElla]

Update! She drank water today!!! She dove into her water dish and stayed there drinking and drinking and drinking after her dinner lol it was adorable!!! She also walked a lot outside. Here's a picture of her reading the mail...

We are completely enthralled with our red footed. And our dog is super jealous! Lol

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

So glad to hear of a such dedicated & responsible new tort owner. Keep up the good work!

 

[zman7590]

welcome!

 

[sunshine_hugs]

Yay! Glad she's drinking.

 

[MagicElla]

We finally got her environment mostly ready! We are missing some moss by her little log house, which I have to go get. We got the lamp and thermometers today, as well as her calcium supplements. Her hot side is currently at 80 degrees. The moss has been sprayed with water all over, also. She has been more active today and is eating a lot! She doesn't seem to find the water on her own though, but drinks when she's in it here are a few pictures, including one of her yawning! Lol

 

[panda]

Congrats on your new baby! TF is an amazing group of people. I'm sure you will find all the info and help you need to raise your RF!!

 

[Redstrike]

You might consider covering part/all of the enclosure to maintain a humid climate? I strongly second the use of Mark's website (tortoiselibrary.com) and also recommend Mike Pingleton's book "The Redfoot Manual".

Beautiful baby, welcome to the forum.

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

That is one of the most adorable & amazingly cute baby torts I've ever seen!!

 

[WinterRose]

So precious!! Really love that 2nd pic.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using TortForum mobile app

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What is her cold side? She might b a lil chilly. Yeah mark's tortoise library is awesome!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using TortForum mobile app

 

[cemmons12]

Hi and welcome! Thats a cute little one you got there!

 

[MagicElla]

Well, we live in South Florida. Luckily for us, humidity is the least of our problems! She sleeps in the garage which is very humid and has a low temp of about 78-80 degrees at night. During the day, she stays in my room by the window which is the hottest spot. I turn on her light which makes it 80 degrees also, if not a bit more. Her cool side might be between 70-75. She tends to stay on the cool side a lot more, idk why! She is getting natural sunshine every day for at least 30 min. And her enclosure is moist at all times because I spray it every day.

She's only eating outside of the enclosure though. I literally have to take her out to feed her. Otherwise, she doesn't eat :/ This might be a problem in the future when my schedule begins to get complicated again.

My dog is dying to eat her. Lol

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Also, I'll definitely look at those sites and manuals. Thank you all for all your amazing help! I'm scared I'm not a good tort parent... It's a lot harder than having a dog because she can't tell me what she needs! I don't want to be bad at this

I'll keep you all updated <3