Hello to everyone at the forum. In many of the things I've done in the past, I've gotten a lot of help form people through forums....hoping I will have good luck here as well!
My girlfriend and I recently adopted our first tortoise a little over two weeks ago now, a Redfoot male that I named Rourke. We got him from someone who had too many of them, (6-10) and hadn't been able to properly take care of them in quite some time. They were set up in a large tray that was loosely sprinkled with dry garden soil. There was a small water bowl in the corner that looked pretty fouled, but other than that there was no water source, and all the tortoises looked pretty dry (too dry, I thought..)
We brought him home and he hung out in the cardboard box he was presented in while i opened and spread the bag of Forest Floor in the 40 gal breeder reptile tank we set up for him. (I'm pretty sure it's a 40).
He really seemed to like walking around in the moistened mulch, and went straight for the water, soaking himself in both bowls..
He has been eating good and producing solid stools. Every time I walk by to look at him his feet and plastron are wet, so I think he's constantly trompin through the water dishes. They get changed every day. Sometimes twice a day.
I built some of the mulch up in one corner and set in a half broken pot, after I carefully filed the broken edges smooth as for him not to cut himself while digging.
I've been misting occasionally, enough to keep the mulch moist but not damp. I am unsure on how "wet" the tank should really be though?
Equipment..
-Zoo-Med Forest Floor
-I have an Exo-Terra under-tank heater going
-A polished sun dome with an Exo-Terra ReptiGlow 5.0 (26 watt) UVB (hanging about 12 inches off the surface of the substrate)
-Another ceramic-housing equipped hood hanging a few inches higher than the UVB, but all it has in it at the moment it a 60 watt home use lightbulb,
(I am mainly using it to put a small amount of heat directed at the top of his terracotta pot hideout)
-Exo-Terra water/soaking dishes
I have him on a diet of mixed greens (Romaine, red and green leaf lettuce, kale, collard greens, yellow squash, and zucchini) for 2 days, followed by a day of apples/bananas, 2 more days of the mixed greens, and the next 2 days I usually do a mix of fruit (apples/bananas/berrys) and crickets or butterworms.
My main concern is...
He seems to be trying to get under the household bulb, almost to "bask".. But I thought Redfoots mainly lived in the shade, and that if you see them trying to bask in direct unlight, it's because they are looking for warmth, not light.. The undertank heater keeps the tank floor and the inside of his hideout at a steady 76 degrees. and during the day when the UVB and the household bulb are on, the tank sits at about 81 degrees.
I am planning on removing the household bulb and replacing it with a ceramic heat emitter, and raising it much higher above the tank of course, to promote overall heat rather than a directed heat source... Does this sound about right?
He also has a small amount of what looks like shell rot...
Here he is the first day..
And after a lil misting..
My girlfriend and I recently adopted our first tortoise a little over two weeks ago now, a Redfoot male that I named Rourke. We got him from someone who had too many of them, (6-10) and hadn't been able to properly take care of them in quite some time. They were set up in a large tray that was loosely sprinkled with dry garden soil. There was a small water bowl in the corner that looked pretty fouled, but other than that there was no water source, and all the tortoises looked pretty dry (too dry, I thought..)
We brought him home and he hung out in the cardboard box he was presented in while i opened and spread the bag of Forest Floor in the 40 gal breeder reptile tank we set up for him. (I'm pretty sure it's a 40).
He really seemed to like walking around in the moistened mulch, and went straight for the water, soaking himself in both bowls..
He has been eating good and producing solid stools. Every time I walk by to look at him his feet and plastron are wet, so I think he's constantly trompin through the water dishes. They get changed every day. Sometimes twice a day.
I built some of the mulch up in one corner and set in a half broken pot, after I carefully filed the broken edges smooth as for him not to cut himself while digging.
I've been misting occasionally, enough to keep the mulch moist but not damp. I am unsure on how "wet" the tank should really be though?
Equipment..
-Zoo-Med Forest Floor
-I have an Exo-Terra under-tank heater going
-A polished sun dome with an Exo-Terra ReptiGlow 5.0 (26 watt) UVB (hanging about 12 inches off the surface of the substrate)
-Another ceramic-housing equipped hood hanging a few inches higher than the UVB, but all it has in it at the moment it a 60 watt home use lightbulb,
(I am mainly using it to put a small amount of heat directed at the top of his terracotta pot hideout)
-Exo-Terra water/soaking dishes
I have him on a diet of mixed greens (Romaine, red and green leaf lettuce, kale, collard greens, yellow squash, and zucchini) for 2 days, followed by a day of apples/bananas, 2 more days of the mixed greens, and the next 2 days I usually do a mix of fruit (apples/bananas/berrys) and crickets or butterworms.
My main concern is...
He seems to be trying to get under the household bulb, almost to "bask".. But I thought Redfoots mainly lived in the shade, and that if you see them trying to bask in direct unlight, it's because they are looking for warmth, not light.. The undertank heater keeps the tank floor and the inside of his hideout at a steady 76 degrees. and during the day when the UVB and the household bulb are on, the tank sits at about 81 degrees.
I am planning on removing the household bulb and replacing it with a ceramic heat emitter, and raising it much higher above the tank of course, to promote overall heat rather than a directed heat source... Does this sound about right?
He also has a small amount of what looks like shell rot...
Here he is the first day..
And after a lil misting..
