new red foot mommy!!!

[saep1523]

hi!

so we have a new red foot (franklin gender unknown) and we are loving it!!! now I do have a couple questions:

1) my baby is finally eating! I did have a couple questions about protein intake? is an egg enough, should I be giving shrimp or cat food? she seems to favor more her mazuri food over veggies which I don't know if it's a bad thing

2) in the enclosure we have a little home for her but she favors to dig herself in and kinda just spend the day/night there. we soak her every morning and once I put her in there, she eats and goes straight to hang out. is this normal should I be worried?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Diet variety is a key for raising a healthy tortoise. Same applies for protein: hard-boiled eggs, boiled chicken breast, sometimes a shrimp, some invertebrates, low-fat high quality cat food - rotate what you offer and don't stick to one product.

Mazuri is a fine supplement, given once or twice a week, to compensate deficiences in grocery store foods. Mush it with greens, so your tortoise eat it all. It's easy to get a "Mazuri-addicted" tortoise which is, certainly, a bad thing.

2. Tortoise behaviour is largely influenced by environment (temperatures, lights, humidity). If she prefers to stay out of hide it could be because she doesn't consider it safe enough, it's too hot/too cold, too dry/too humid, too dark/too bright or it might just recently pooped inside and hates the smell. If she stays buried this might be because temperatures are too high.

Can you post some pictures of the enclosure and what temperatures (day/night, cold/warm end) and humidity are? What do you use for heating/lightning?

 

[mojo_1]

Hatchlings hide out a lot. You can also feed them boiled plain chicken. Try to limit Mazuri to once or twice a week

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Photos are needed for better help.
Your enclosure. Your lighting. Your heating.
Also, what are you feeding exactly?
Redfoot can eat hundreds of items. The key is variety.
Welcome to the forum!