Hello--
I will start by saying I will abbreviate redfoot to RF, because otherwise spellcheck keeps changing it to REDCOAT...
I live in zone 10a on an island off the Gulf Coast of FL and I currently have my group of 4 juvenile (6" or so) RF/CH in a 10' x 4.5' enclosure (see photo). There is a large plastic upside-down tub inside for foul weather and in the "winter" months when the temps may dip into the high 40s one or two nights, I place a Stansfield electric heat mat inside that I believe is intended for pigs. Is the 10' x 4.5' dimension ok for now, as they are juveniles?
My enclosure is constructed of 2" pressure-treated lumber, and the 1/2" galvanized hardware mesh insures it's predator proof.
Predators, in this case, are raccoons.
We started out with 5 babies when we got them a few years back, and at first we kept them in a tupperware container atop a table on the front porch--which is up a flight of stairs--with a covered lid at night. One evening close to midnight I heard a loud THUMP outside just as I was dozing off. Sparing the gory details, I quickly discovered a raccoon had pushed the tupperware container off the table, which in turn knocked the lid off. The smallest and friendliest of the baby RFs evidently did not retract itself into its shell--you can guess what happened. For the next few months we kept the remaining 4 inside, until I built the enclosure pictured below.
My first question: Why do I find so many videos of RFs in tropical climates similar to mine where the pens have no tops on them? Are there no raccoons in these areas...? Is there a magic number size (i.e; 8") where the RF is sufficiently large enough that raccoons won't mess with them? If so, what happens when my RFs get to breeding age: are their eggs instantly raccoon food? My idea would be to let them eventually roam the confines of my side yard and lay/hatch the eggs au nautrel; is this not a good plan?
I have a prefect side/backyard area for them that's roughly 30' x 30' and already surrounded about 75% by railroad ties. Assuming they grow large enough to the point where they will not be terrorized by raccoons, I would like to place them there to wander and graze amongst bamboo and hibiscus. I also have Mexican Petunia (ruellia) and a plant called Devil's Backbone in that area, both of which are poisonous. Will they innately know not to eat those? The native box turtles that I aways see around somehow know to avoid those plants.
Also, the area in question is prone to partial flooding, both during the rainy season (now) as well as late October, when high tides of salt water temporarily envelop the parts of the terrain by as much as 3" in some spots. There are high spots that are never submerged in this area, so would this be ok?
To reiterate my main concerns: 1) Can adult RFs live in an open terrain in an area with raccoons at night; 2) Will the RFs know to avoid poisonous plants or will they need to be ripped out; and 3) Will they know to move to high spots during heavy rains/flooding?
Thank you for any/all tips.
I will start by saying I will abbreviate redfoot to RF, because otherwise spellcheck keeps changing it to REDCOAT...
I live in zone 10a on an island off the Gulf Coast of FL and I currently have my group of 4 juvenile (6" or so) RF/CH in a 10' x 4.5' enclosure (see photo). There is a large plastic upside-down tub inside for foul weather and in the "winter" months when the temps may dip into the high 40s one or two nights, I place a Stansfield electric heat mat inside that I believe is intended for pigs. Is the 10' x 4.5' dimension ok for now, as they are juveniles?
My enclosure is constructed of 2" pressure-treated lumber, and the 1/2" galvanized hardware mesh insures it's predator proof.
Predators, in this case, are raccoons.
We started out with 5 babies when we got them a few years back, and at first we kept them in a tupperware container atop a table on the front porch--which is up a flight of stairs--with a covered lid at night. One evening close to midnight I heard a loud THUMP outside just as I was dozing off. Sparing the gory details, I quickly discovered a raccoon had pushed the tupperware container off the table, which in turn knocked the lid off. The smallest and friendliest of the baby RFs evidently did not retract itself into its shell--you can guess what happened. For the next few months we kept the remaining 4 inside, until I built the enclosure pictured below.
My first question: Why do I find so many videos of RFs in tropical climates similar to mine where the pens have no tops on them? Are there no raccoons in these areas...? Is there a magic number size (i.e; 8") where the RF is sufficiently large enough that raccoons won't mess with them? If so, what happens when my RFs get to breeding age: are their eggs instantly raccoon food? My idea would be to let them eventually roam the confines of my side yard and lay/hatch the eggs au nautrel; is this not a good plan?
I have a prefect side/backyard area for them that's roughly 30' x 30' and already surrounded about 75% by railroad ties. Assuming they grow large enough to the point where they will not be terrorized by raccoons, I would like to place them there to wander and graze amongst bamboo and hibiscus. I also have Mexican Petunia (ruellia) and a plant called Devil's Backbone in that area, both of which are poisonous. Will they innately know not to eat those? The native box turtles that I aways see around somehow know to avoid those plants.
Also, the area in question is prone to partial flooding, both during the rainy season (now) as well as late October, when high tides of salt water temporarily envelop the parts of the terrain by as much as 3" in some spots. There are high spots that are never submerged in this area, so would this be ok?
To reiterate my main concerns: 1) Can adult RFs live in an open terrain in an area with raccoons at night; 2) Will the RFs know to avoid poisonous plants or will they need to be ripped out; and 3) Will they know to move to high spots during heavy rains/flooding?
Thank you for any/all tips.