New Redfoot Hatchling owner, Houston,TX

[Nlarocca]

Hi All,

I have been browsing here for the past few weeks after searching for more tips and resources to help with care of my new 7 week old Redfoot Hatchling.

We researched tortoises and box turtles for months to determine which type to get. I settled on Redfoot because it is a tropical species and our climate here in Houston is extremely humid and mostly hot pretty much year round. I made an outdoor enclosure which is 4’ x 8’ and pretty much Fort Knox secure. I do have the ability to house “Torchy” indoors in a small cement tray box in our laundry room ( not air conditioned and gets fairly hot and humid) if I need to. Here are some pics of Torchy, the indoor box and the outdoor enclosure. I welcome any pointers and tips. Torchy eats a lot of St. Augustine grass and hibiscus leaves (both abundant in my backyard), cilantro and mustard greens along with tortoise pellets on occasion. I have tried mealworms but those get mostly ignored.
Thanks, Nick in Houston

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Direct sun can be problematic in two ways.
1) Redfoot avoid bright lights.
2) The temperature can very quickly get too hot.
Anything higher than 90 and they'll seek out shade.
These are not bright sunlight or high heat tortoises

 

[TortoiseWarrior]

Welcome

 

[Nlarocca]

Direct sun can be problematic in two ways.
1) Redfoot avoid bright lights.
2) The temperature can very quickly get too hot.
Anything higher than 90 and they'll seek out shade.
These are not bright sunlight or high heat tortoises

Thanks for the reminder. I think the original pics of the enclosure may have been at a deceiving angle. Here is a shot from the side, half of the enclosure is covered to provide ample hide areas. Additionally, the area in which it is located is shaded by trees for large portions of the day. The one benefit of outdoors in Houston is that the humidity is never going to be too low!

 

[TurtleTimeYt]

Nice enclosure

 

[Golden Greek Tortoise 567]

Welcome to the forum! Your baby redfoot is a little cutie. ?

 

[Nlarocca]

Welcome to the forum! Your baby redfoot is a little cutie. ?

Thanks! Here’s an updated pic from today after we made a few improvements to the enclosure. Added more and evened out the cypress mulch substrate and added a humid hide box in the back corner. Hopefully Torchy will find it pleasing!

 

[TurtleTimeYt]

really like that setup wish I could have a year round out door set up for leo the ornate box turtle

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi All,

I have been browsing here for the past few weeks after searching for more tips and resources to help with care of my new 7 week old Redfoot Hatchling.

We researched tortoises and box turtles for months to determine which type to get. I settled on Redfoot because it is a tropical species and our climate here in Houston is extremely humid and mostly hot pretty much year round. I made an outdoor enclosure which is 4’ x 8’ and pretty much Fort Knox secure. I do have the ability to house “Torchy” indoors in a small cement tray box in our laundry room ( not air conditioned and gets fairly hot and humid) if I need to. Here are some pics of Torchy, the indoor box and the outdoor enclosure. I welcome any pointers and tips. Torchy eats a lot of St. Augustine grass and hibiscus leaves (both abundant in my backyard), cilantro and mustard greens along with tortoise pellets on occasion. I have tried mealworms but those get mostly ignored.
Thanks, Nick in Houston

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He's awfully cute! Welcome to the Forum!!

 

[Nlarocca]

Thanks to all of your helpful and kind replies! I have learned many helpful hints over the past few weeks of being around the TF. I have greatly improved the outdoor enclosure by adding an extra layer of cypress mulch substrate and I found a cool tip to make a cheap and easy humid hide box. Last night “Torchy” didn’t find it but then I moved it to the favorite corner of the enclosure and as you can see, Torchy seems to like it!

 

[txturtle13]

I also live in Houston (north Houston) and have a red footed hatchling. How is Torchy doing? Love all these pictures