New redfoot, humidity?

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Even though your tank is bigger than 10 gallons, it's still too small. For tortoises you need a bigger floor space, and the gallons in aquariums are measured by how tall the sides are. You don't care about gallons, you want a big footprint.

Also, the screen filters out the beneficial UV rays the light gives off. It shouldn't be sitting on the screen.

You have a beautiful tortoise. What a nice Christmas present.

 

[TygerSheik]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Even though your tank is bigger than 10 gallons, it's still too small. For tortoises you need a bigger floor space, and the gallons in aquariums are measured by how tall the sides are. You don't care about gallons, you want a big footprint.

Also, the screen filters out the beneficial UV rays the light gives off. It shouldn't be sitting on the screen.

You have a beautiful tortoise. What a nice Christmas present.

Oh, thank you for that information!
I measured it, and it's 3' by 1.5' It's not 4x4, but my point was that it is deffinately better than a 10 gal tank haha. And I was just mostly embarrassed that I didn't know the difference between 1 gal and 10 gal.
For now, what she is in will have to do, but we will deffinately get working on a bigger place for her.
Thanks so much for letting me know about the UV rays! we will be modifying this as well.

 

[jockma]

Oh my goodness she is beautiful!!! Even more gorgeous than I originally thought.

White stuff is probably urates (correct me if I'm wrong because I only saw it once years ago when I first got my RF) and they're totally healthy and normal in other species, but it's a sign of dehydration in species like redfoots because they have access to tons of water in the wild and don't need to "solidify" their urine. If you're soaking her and giving her plenty of water to drink it shouldn't be a problem.

First thing I would do is get a good hygrometer and thermometer. You need to measure the heating in her tank. She needs a cool side, a warm side, and a basking spot. Tanks can overheat so it's important to make sure she's not getting too hot in there. She really looks great.

 

[jockma]

Also the poop is a little bit soft-looking, could be from the stress of moving but I'd feed her some squash, weeds, opuntia CACTUS if you can, to try and firm it up. It should be brownish-green, moist and firm, with visible fibers in it. Sometimes it can look loose like that if they step in it a lot in the soak.

 

[TygerSheik]

Hehe thanks! Wow you're so helpful! I'm excited! This is going to be great! I'm so glad you like her too!!

 

[jockma]

Once you get the temps sorted out you can cover the top of the tank with tinfoil to trap humidity. Just make sure it's well ventilated and doesn't overheat.

You can also add sphagnum moss to the substrate. That will boost the humidity as well. I know it all sounds daunting but once everything is sorted out it will be a breeze. Give her a nice hide and some plants and you'll see a huge improvement. I can't wait to find out what her personality's like when she gets settled in.