CandyApple
New Member
A little about me, my name is Taylor and my boyfriend Kody of 6 years' favorite animals are turtles and tortoises. We also have four snakes, three cats, three dogs and a hedgehog. We used to have a Russian tortoise from a pet store who randomly stopped eating one day and died the same night. We aren't sure what happened but it's been over a year since we've lost him now and he finally decided he was ready for another tortoise. We want to make sure we're doing everything right for our new baby in hopes that he will outlive us.
We got our baby red foot last Sunday at a reptile expo. We were told s/he was 11 weeks but a Facebook group informed us s/he looks much younger. We have him in a 40 gallon glass tank running a UVB bulb on a timer and a CHE but plan to replace the bulb with the long tube kind and need to cover the top to help hold humidity. He's on a mixture of cypress mulch and a little spaghnum moss. He's got a rather large shell shaped hide and I just added smaller Terra cotta pot hides in the corners where he seems to like to dig down and sleep. We also have Terra cotta saucers for water and a food dish.
He's eating well, he had wax worms at the expo last week and half a blueberry yesterday and he's been eating a mix of plantain, grass, dandelion and clover from our untreated yard and a grocery store mix of mustard, collard and turnip greens. He seems to have a healthy appetite. Kody actually picked him because he was biting everyone lol. We've been soaking him daily in very shallow luke warm water.
I'd like opinions on what we are doing right or wrong and what we can do to improve his diet. I'd like to maybe set him up a kiddie pool outdoor enclosure where we can take him out and monitor him while he's little and eventually we want to build an adult indoor and outdoor enclosure. We live in Nebraska and plan to move back to Florida in five years or so where he can spend most of his time outside (and possibly adopt a few more depending on how much space we have).
I'd also like to know what plants I can add to his enclosure. Will he try to eat fake ones? Do we have to grow live ones from seed or are store bought ones safe? What substrate would we use for live plants that's safe? I've read about coco coir and I've seen it much cheaper at garden stores or even the garden center at Walmart but I wonder what brands are safe?
I look forward to learning a lot from you all and I hope our new family member lives a very long happy life!
We got our baby red foot last Sunday at a reptile expo. We were told s/he was 11 weeks but a Facebook group informed us s/he looks much younger. We have him in a 40 gallon glass tank running a UVB bulb on a timer and a CHE but plan to replace the bulb with the long tube kind and need to cover the top to help hold humidity. He's on a mixture of cypress mulch and a little spaghnum moss. He's got a rather large shell shaped hide and I just added smaller Terra cotta pot hides in the corners where he seems to like to dig down and sleep. We also have Terra cotta saucers for water and a food dish.
He's eating well, he had wax worms at the expo last week and half a blueberry yesterday and he's been eating a mix of plantain, grass, dandelion and clover from our untreated yard and a grocery store mix of mustard, collard and turnip greens. He seems to have a healthy appetite. Kody actually picked him because he was biting everyone lol. We've been soaking him daily in very shallow luke warm water.
I'd like opinions on what we are doing right or wrong and what we can do to improve his diet. I'd like to maybe set him up a kiddie pool outdoor enclosure where we can take him out and monitor him while he's little and eventually we want to build an adult indoor and outdoor enclosure. We live in Nebraska and plan to move back to Florida in five years or so where he can spend most of his time outside (and possibly adopt a few more depending on how much space we have).
I'd also like to know what plants I can add to his enclosure. Will he try to eat fake ones? Do we have to grow live ones from seed or are store bought ones safe? What substrate would we use for live plants that's safe? I've read about coco coir and I've seen it much cheaper at garden stores or even the garden center at Walmart but I wonder what brands are safe?
I look forward to learning a lot from you all and I hope our new family member lives a very long happy life!