Red foot in the tropics of Philippines

[EryninCebu]

Hello everyone, it's been 3 months since I got my red foot (local captive bred), his/her name is Drew and is now about 6 months old weighing +/-90 grams. I've always wanted to have a tortoise, and have tried to care for one in the past but failed, now that we have moved back to the Philippines, I thought that I should give it another try. I did my research before deciding on a red foot because of climate suitability (like temperature and humidity) and diet accessibility (like the convenience of sourcing tropical fruit).
I've been stalking this forum since, and I'd like to thank all the people who have contributed scientific and informative information. As was mentioned many times in this forum, many of the information on the internet very mixed up, this forum has helped me to weigh in which information on line makes more sense than others.
Thanks to this forum and help from the local breeder here, Drew was able to fully recover from RI. He/She is now enjoying his/her daily stroll in the garden, and enjoying a very good appetite. From reading all the post here, I just realize that he/she also have some fungus on the plastron, I have just started the treatment. I am confident this too shall be resolved.
I know that turtles are fun, owning a red foot made it seem a lot more fun ...
- I noticed that Drew opens his mouth a lot bigger if he/she likes the food (papaya and insect are his favorite)
- Drew like to move back and forth between the different food in front of him/her
- he/she likes protein food and eats dead baby millipede, lizard's tail, snail, worms and spiders that I find around the house
- Drew seems to like it when I hold the food for him/her
- Drew swims really well
- he likes burrow any place he/she finds to rest and sleep, one of his/her favorite is underneath a huge teddy bear
- Drew's apetite is amazing, and it's fun to watch. Because their diet is so varied, it also makes it so much fun to feed
Hoping to hear more from other similar tropic countries!

 

[wellington]

Glad all is going well and you and Drew are getting along and enjoying each other and this forum

 

[manuetaaz]

Could we have a picture of Drew?

 

[EryninCebu]

Thank you for the interest here are some of my favorites, too bad for the last one as I didn't focus properly

 

[TammyJ]

Hi there! Lovely tort and pictures.
Remember to check carefully that any worms/insects etc. you give him have not been sprayed!!! (With insecticide spray???)
Also remember that fresh weeds and dark leafy greens should make up the larger part of his diet.

 

[EryninCebu]

Hi there! Lovely tort and pictures.
Remember to check carefully that any worms/insects etc. you give him have not been sprayed!!! (With insecticide spray???)
Also remember that fresh weeds and dark leafy greens should make up the larger part of his diet.

I know, most of the insects were killed by our cats and the other time I kill it with my slipper (just killed one spider today for Drew) And yes, read most of the diet requirements. I do give about 30% fruit based on a more objective review of what they eat in nature.

 

[TammyJ]

I would be really careful not to let him eat too many of those Papaya seeds, I have read that they can be toxic and he is just a baby.

 

[EryninCebu]

I would be really careful not to let him eat too many of those Papaya seeds, I have read that they can be toxic and he is just a baby.

Never heard of that, papaya seeds are made into powder here for medicinal use actually. Here's a research article I found on line: http://www.phytojournal.com/archives/2017/vol6issue1/PartF/5-6-25-896.pdf

Of course this research is done for human.

But I do believe that we shouldn't feed our red foot too much of anything, I really work hard on variety, in fact the papaya seed that you see on the photo is the only time I fed him the seeds since I got him 3 months ago. Drew probably have sampled at least over 50 types of different plants, fruits, veggies and bugs (including snail and worms)