New redfoot, humidity?

[TygerSheik]

My sweet husband just got me a beautiful redfoot girl for Christmas! I've had her for 5 days now. I live in Provo, Utah. They said she was around 5 years old. I havn't measured her yet.
But, I'm very concerned about humidity. Her eyes have been tearing every day since. I have given her two 30 minute soakings. Is it ok to give them to her every day? I have read a lot of contradicting things because of shell rot. She's currently in a 10 gal tank (i've read multiple places now where she should be in a bigger area) with a UVB and heating lamp. I had humidity temp gauges, but I believe that they are broken. I'll be purchasing new ones here in the next day or two. What brand/type should I get? Since her eyes won't stop tearing, I've been spraying her cage about three times a day. We want to get some type of automated misters. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best misters? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep the humidity up and constant??
I would love to put her outside and all, but you know...snow... XD so that's a definate no go right now.
I love her so much already! I don't want to kill her. Please help me!! Here's what she looks like

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Can you post a photo of your lighting?
You will need a MUCH larger enclosure. For one that size, at least a 4x4 foot pen.
They also need very high humidity and temps between 80-90.
On the plus side. Your tortoise looks very nice!

 

[jockma]

Definitely need to get a good-quality hygrometer to measure the humidity in her enclosure. I recommend getting one from Lowe's and other such places instead of pet stores because the pet store ones can be pretty crummy. It should not fall below 80%. She does look quite dry.

10 gal is DEFINITELY too small! I would fix that problem first! Most people recommend AT LEAST 4'x8' but if you don't have enough room you can add ramps and "second stories" to give her more room to romp around in. The bigger the better, basically. Her eyes could be watering due to overheating as well, which happens often in tanks. It looks like her eyes are closed in the picture, is she having trouble opening them? What kind of UVB bulb are you using? If it's a coil bulb, it could be damaging her eyes (which, again, can cause them to water).

My RF came to me with pretty bad shell rot but after getting rid of it, it hasn't come back. I soaked him 3x a day when his health was poorer and I now soak him once or twice a day now that he's strong and healthy. I've never heard of soaking causing shell rot, only wet substrate.

I would add lots of plants to her enclosure to keep the humidity up and give her visual stimulation, enrichment, and something to nibble every now and then. There's a great list on here of plants that are edible. ALWAYS research the plants you're putting in there to make sure they're not toxic. If you're using coco coir as substrate it will not have enough nutrients to sustain plants. In that case you can put the plants in containers with a different kind of soil. Just make sure there are no pesticides in the soil or on the plant.

I can't be sure what substrate you're using, but for RFs the general consensus is coco coir, cypress mulch, and peat moss are great for retaining moisture and releasing humidity. Cypress mulch rots, though. Rotting mulch means lots of springtails. Lots of springtails is pure suffering. Take it from me. Go with the coco.

Also, if the top of the enclosure is a wire mesh, what happens is all of the humidity generated just floats right up and escapes from the enclosure. When you build a new enclosure for her, I recommend a covering the top with plexiglass (or even plastic wrap, if you're in a pinch. Hell, you can even use tinfoil). Cut holes out for the heat lamps so they don't melt the plexiglass/plastic. Drill air holes in the sides of the enclosure to provide ventilation. Plywood is cheap and works well for enclosures. Just make sure to waterproof it to prevent mold. I don't recommend doing this in her current 10 gal tank because she needs all the ventilation she can get. I really, really cannot stress this enough: she needs a bigger place to live!

 

[jockma]

Forgive me for not mentioning how great she looks and focusing on the negatives! She's a beautiful tort. With such minimal pyramiding you'll have a lovely-looking full-grown tortoise. It looks like she received good care before you got her so I'm confident she's healthy and believe me, you won't kill her with just a short period of dryness. I'm always happy to see new tort owners doing whatever they can to learn how to give their new babies the best care possible. I can't wait to see how she looks once the humidity issue is resolved.

 

[TygerSheik]

Definitely need to get a good-quality hygrometer to measure the humidity in her enclosure. I recommend getting one from Lowe's and other such places instead of pet stores because the pet store ones can be pretty crummy. It should not fall below 80%. She does look quite dry.

10 gal is DEFINITELY too small! I would fix that problem first! Most people recommend AT LEAST 4'x8' but if you don't have enough room you can add ramps and "second stories" to give her more room to romp around in. The bigger the better, basically. Her eyes could be watering due to overheating as well, which happens often in tanks. It looks like her eyes are closed in the picture, is she having trouble opening them? What kind of UVB bulb are you using? If it's a coil bulb, it could be damaging her eyes (which, again, can cause them to water).

My RF came to me with pretty bad shell rot but after getting rid of it, it hasn't come back. I soaked him 3x a day when his health was poorer and I now soak him once or twice a day now that he's strong and healthy. I've never heard of soaking causing shell rot, only wet substrate.

I would add lots of plants to her enclosure to keep the humidity up and give her visual stimulation, enrichment, and something to nibble every now and then. There's a great list on here of plants that are edible. ALWAYS research the plants you're putting in there to make sure they're not toxic. If you're using coco coir as substrate it will not have enough nutrients to sustain plants. In that case you can put the plants in containers with a different kind of soil. Just make sure there are no pesticides in the soil or on the plant.

I can't be sure what substrate you're using, but for RFs the general consensus is coco coir, cypress mulch, and peat moss are great for retaining moisture and releasing humidity. Cypress mulch rots, though. Rotting mulch means lots of springtails. Lots of springtails is pure suffering. Take it from me. Go with the coco.

Also, if the top of the enclosure is a wire mesh, what happens is all of the humidity generated just floats right up and escapes from the enclosure. When you build a new enclosure for her, I recommend a covering the top with plexiglass (or even plastic wrap, if you're in a pinch. Hell, you can even use tinfoil). Cut holes out for the heat lamps so they don't melt the plexiglass/plastic. Drill air holes in the sides of the enclosure to provide ventilation. Plywood is cheap and works well for enclosures. Just make sure to waterproof it to prevent mold. I don't recommend doing this in her current 10 gal tank because she needs all the ventilation she can get. I really, really cannot stress this enough: she needs a bigger place to live!

Oh my goondess! Thank you so much! This Will be extremely helpful! I feel much better knowing how to help her!! I think we'll be able to build her a bigger area, though we'll have to do the whole two story thing.
I think her eyes still open... I've never seen her blink though.. Her eyes could very well possibly be tearing from the lamp. I'm not sure what type it is (I'm currently too lazy to go into the basement and search for the box). But the light takes up practically the whole tank, and she spent all day yesterday in the farthest corner she didn't eat anything, and she only drank something when I placed her in her drinking bowl before I went to bed. She made noises while she drank! I had no idea tortoises made noises!!

 

[TygerSheik]

Forgive me for not mentioning how great she looks and focusing on the negatives! She's a beautiful tort. With such minimal pyramiding you'll have a lovely-looking full-grown tortoise. It looks like she received good care before you got her so I'm confident she's healthy and believe me, you won't kill her with just a short period of dryness. I'm always happy to see new tort owners doing whatever they can to learn how to give their new babies the best care possible. I can't wait to see how she looks once the humidity issue is resolved.

thanks for that, and you need not be sorry. You were extremely helpful!

 

[jockma]

Oh my goondess! Thank you so much! This Will be extremely helpful! I feel much better knowing how to help her!! I think we'll be able to build her a bigger area, though we'll have to do the whole two story thing.
I think her eyes still open... I've never seen her blink though.. Her eyes could very well possibly be tearing from the lamp. I'm not sure what type it is (I'm currently too lazy to go into the basement and search for the box). But the light takes up practically the whole tank, and she spent all day yesterday in the farthest corner she didn't eat anything, and she only drank something when I placed her in her drinking bowl before I went to bed. She made noises while she drank! I had no idea tortoises made noises!!

This is what a coil bulb looks like. This is a no-no. If it takes up the whole tank it sounds like it's a tube bulb. I've never heard of issues with those. However it should be 12" AWAY from her, keeping it too close can cause problems.

One more thing! Tortoises need a place to hide. This could be why she's in the corner. Do you have one for her yet? If you have a spare plant pot that she can fit comfortably inside, you can use that. Not being able to hide stresses them out.

And yep, tortoises make sounds! Redfoots are known to make clucking sounds or grunting sounds. I just recently learned this because my boy never made them until he reached a certain level of sexual maturity. You sure you got a female there?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Noises, yes. But, I've never heard noises while any of mine drink.

 

[jockma]

Noises, yes. But, I've never heard noises while any of mine drink.

I hear a gulping/swallowing noise when mine drinks sometimes, I assume that's what you mean, @TygerSheik? Can you describe the noise?

 

[TygerSheik]

This is what a coil bulb looks like. This is a no-no. If it takes up the whole tank it sounds like it's a tube bulb. I've never heard of issues with those. However it should be 12" AWAY from her, keeping it too close can cause problems.

One more thing! Tortoises need a place to hide. This could be why she's in the corner. Do you have one for her yet? If you have a spare plant pot that she can fit comfortably inside, you can use that. Not being able to hide stresses them out.

And yep, tortoises make sounds! Redfoots are known to make clucking sounds or grunting sounds. I just recently learned this because my boy never made them until he reached a certain level of sexual maturity. You sure you got a female there?

Oh ok. I do not have a coil bulb. And no, I don't have a hiding place yet. The pot idea is a great suggestion! Thanks
Haha when she made noises, I remembered reading that the males make noises while mating. but she laid eggs at the pet store, so they were pretty confident that they were selling my husband a femle. When it's light outside, I'll take a picture of her underside and post it.
And @ZEROPILOT I'll also take a picture of her lighting for you at the same time

 

[TygerSheik]

I hear a gulping/swallowing noise when mine drinks sometimes, I assume that's what you mean, @TygerSheik? Can you describe the noise?

She was in between drinking. When I placed her in the water and walked away, I thought someone was farting haha. It was very quiet. I turned and saw her jaw moving. She then lowered her mouth in the water for a short little while. When she lifted her head, she made the same little farting noise haha. It was the funniest noise! She did that two more times before retreating to her corner again.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

We'll get you sorted out.
once you get it all figured out, it gets pretty easy.

My male makes chicken noises when he is persuing one of my five females. (CLUCKING)
Also, they DO fart.

 

[TygerSheik]

We'll get you sorted out.
once you get it all figured out, it gets pretty easy.

My male makes chicken noises when he is persuing one of my five females. (CLUCKING)
Also, they DO fart.

Bahahaha XD that's great! I can't wait!

Also, I havn't seen her poop yet... Is it possible she's defecating in the substrate? (i think it's substrate anyway)

 

[jockma]

She was in between drinking. When I placed her in the water and walked away, I thought someone was farting haha. It was very quiet. I turned and saw her jaw moving. She then lowered her mouth in the water for a short little while. When she lifted her head, she made the same little farting noise haha. It was the funniest noise! She did that two more times before retreating to her corner again.

She could be grunting, she could also be grinding her "teeth". Sounds totally normal! I love the noises torts make. Their farts are really something else. When I feed mine a lot of fiber or animal proteins, he starts letting out the machine gun farts.

She could be eating her poop, they do that a lot. They like to poop during soaks. What did they feed her at the pet store? If they fed her pellets or the like it could take a while for her to start eating and pooping normally. Mine was raised on those rainbow-colored pellets and I had to mush them up and spread them all over greens in order to switch him to fresh foods. Then the poops became normal and regular.

 

[TygerSheik]

She could be grunting, she could also be grinding her "teeth". Sounds totally normal! I love the noises torts make. Their farts are really something else. When I feed mine a lot of fiber or animal proteins, he starts letting out the machine gun farts.

She could be eating her poop, they do that a lot. They like to poop during soaks. What did they feed her at the pet store? If they fed her pellets or the like it could take a while for her to start eating and pooping normally. Mine was raised on those rainbow-colored pellets and I had to mush them up and spread them all over greens in order to switch him to fresh foods. Then the poops became normal and regular.

They weren't pellets, it was fresh food. Well... At least that's what they said. Maybe they did both? Idk. Haha they did say her favorite thing to eat was prunes XD they warned me about her poops after the fact though!!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Redfoot will often go on a hunger strike if they taste something that they really like. Such as watermelon.
Most of those colored pellets are very sweet and not very good nutritionally.
(Redfoot do well on Mazuri tortoise chow as part of the diet.)

 

[jockma]

Redfoot will often go on a hunger strike if they taste something that they really like. Such as watermelon.
Most of those colored pellets are very sweet and not very good nutritionally.
(Redfoot do well on Mazuri tortoise chow as part of the diet.)

Oh yes, @TygerSheik I really recommend Mazuri occasionally for your RF. I feed it to mine when he has loose stools to firm them up, or help him poop if he's constipated. I feed it once a week to keep him regular otherwise. It sounds like they took good care of her. Her shell is in good condition, that's proof enough for me.

I had to slather the rainbow pellets on his food to get him to eat because he was malnourished and extremely underweight so I needed to get him to eat ASAP. He hasn't had a bite in years.

 

[TygerSheik]

Can you post a photo of your lighting?
You will need a MUCH larger enclosure. For one that size, at least a 4x4 foot pen.
They also need very high humidity and temps between 80-90.
On the plus side. Your tortoise looks very nice!

Here's her lighting...kinda hard to see.. Also, I'll be getting a stand for the light soon as I can.

 

[TygerSheik]

She could be grunting, she could also be grinding her "teeth". Sounds totally normal! I love the noises torts make. Their farts are really something else. When I feed mine a lot of fiber or animal proteins, he starts letting out the machine gun farts.

She could be eating her poop, they do that a lot. They like to poop during soaks. What did they feed her at the pet store? If they fed her pellets or the like it could take a while for her to start eating and pooping normally. Mine was raised on those rainbow-colored pellets and I had to mush them up and spread them all over greens in order to switch him to fresh foods. Then the poops became normal and regular.

she did both in her morning bath!!

And here's a photo of her underside. I kinda measured her from head to tail. About 8.5 inches

you can barely see, but ..she's got something white ish coming out.. Happened after she peed I think.

 

[TygerSheik]

Definitely need to get a good-quality hygrometer to measure the humidity in her enclosure. I recommend getting one from Lowe's and other such places instead of pet stores because the pet store ones can be pretty crummy. It should not fall below 80%. She does look quite dry.

10 gal is DEFINITELY too small! I would fix that problem first! Most people recommend AT LEAST 4'x8' but if you don't have enough room you can add ramps and "second stories" to give her more room to romp around in. The bigger the better, basically. Her eyes could be watering due to overheating as well, which happens often in tanks. It looks like her eyes are closed in the picture, is she having trouble opening them? What kind of UVB bulb are you using? If it's a coil bulb, it could be damaging her eyes (which, again, can cause them to water).

My RF came to me with pretty bad shell rot but after getting rid of it, it hasn't come back. I soaked him 3x a day when his health was poorer and I now soak him once or twice a day now that he's strong and healthy. I've never heard of soaking causing shell rot, only wet substrate.

I would add lots of plants to her enclosure to keep the humidity up and give her visual stimulation, enrichment, and something to nibble every now and then. There's a great list on here of plants that are edible. ALWAYS research the plants you're putting in there to make sure they're not toxic. If you're using coco coir as substrate it will not have enough nutrients to sustain plants. In that case you can put the plants in containers with a different kind of soil. Just make sure there are no pesticides in the soil or on the plant.

I can't be sure what substrate you're using, but for RFs the general consensus is coco coir, cypress mulch, and peat moss are great for retaining moisture and releasing humidity. Cypress mulch rots, though. Rotting mulch means lots of springtails. Lots of springtails is pure suffering. Take it from me. Go with the coco.

Also, if the top of the enclosure is a wire mesh, what happens is all of the humidity generated just floats right up and escapes from the enclosure. When you build a new enclosure for her, I recommend a covering the top with plexiglass (or even plastic wrap, if you're in a pinch. Hell, you can even use tinfoil). Cut holes out for the heat lamps so they don't melt the plexiglass/plastic. Drill air holes in the sides of the enclosure to provide ventilation. Plywood is cheap and works well for enclosures. Just make sure to waterproof it to prevent mold. I don't recommend doing this in her current 10 gal tank because she needs all the ventilation she can get. I really, really cannot stress this enough: she needs a bigger place to live!

Ok... So... I just talked to my husband. I feel extremely stupid... XD as you can tell in the picture, she is not in a 10 gal. tank. She's in like a 50-60 gal tank. You see, I was basing the measurements off a little tank I previously had bought from my sister (I've had it for a few years now). Its a 10 gal tank, but for some reason I had it in my head that it was a 1 gal tank (do those even exsist haha). So, upon talking to my husband he made me aware that a gal is as big as a gal of milk (DUH!!!) and now I'm feeling extremely stupid and not smart at all haha.
If it makes any difference, I have a little baby boy, 4 months old, and he's teething, so I'm going off of little to no sleep right now haha.