Red Footed

[lynderson]

Rosie is an Adult red-footed tortoise we’ve had fir a little over a month. Were still learning how to care for her and have lots of questions!


How much should they eat daily and how often? Bought a few bags of dried fruit etc they has for them and she likes none of them. Got her dried crickets and meal worms and she doesn’t caee for any.
Shw will eat Kale, fruits (pineapple, papaya, mango, apple) for protein they suggested cat food. We have dogs so tried our dogs Fresh Pet. (They saw us giving her there food today and apparently they don’t want to share). Any other suggestions? She liked cranberry sauce as well. Again need
To know how much and how often. Think she would ear all day but we’re not allowing that.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Rosie is an Adult red-footed tortoise we’ve had fir a little over a month. Were still learning how to care for her and have lots of questions!

View attachment 388435
How much should they eat daily and how often? Bought a few bags of dried fruit etc they has for them and she likes none of them. Got her dried crickets and meal worms and she doesn’t caee for any.
Shw will eat Kale, fruits (pineapple, papaya, mango, apple) for protein they suggested cat food. We have dogs so tried our dogs Fresh Pet. (They saw us giving her there food today and apparently they don’t want to share). Any other suggestions? She liked cranberry sauce as well. Again need
To know how much and how often. Think she would ear all day but we’re not allowing that.

Hello! Rosie is gorgeous! Lovely nameso glad you’ve made your way here!

Provide a nice shelled sized portion of food daily, if she finishes, offer morethere’s no over feeding a tortoise providing she has an appropriate sized enclosure, they pretty much eat all day everyday in the wild! So don’t limit feeds, just limit certain food items
Instead of dog food for protein, try a head sized portion of steamed chicken breast, some also feed gut loaded critters, egg, or thawed feeder mice

For the indoor side of things, Hopefully this thread might be be helpful, I primarily made it for folks that I’d seen with adult red foots in already very small open set ups as a means of instant improvement, not every average new member can modify entire rooms or sheds. That said, I go over a greenhouse set up here with ceramic bulbs, but a modified room/shed with RHP(s) and oil heating would be much more optimal for an adult red foot, however if you’re needing an indoor set up, perhaps follow these steps and start saving for a better future set up. This housing thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, importance of a closed chamber for red foots(only way to maintain the humidity you need indoors), appropriately maintaining the humidity(they are prone to shell rot so this is important! No misters or humidifiers), safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, a diet list and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! But I’ll add some more ideas below for closed chambers

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes different closed chambers, some work better than others

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it, anything indoors will need to be a closed chamber style

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Really hope they help! Sorry it’s a lot to go over lol, but feel free to ask any further questions! Welcome to the forum

 

[COmtnLady]

Welcome to The Forum!

Here has the best most up-to-date info, plus there are a lot of decades of expert tortoise keeping represented by the various members here. Everyone will do their best to help you help your tortoise to have a happy healthy life.
.
For your own peace of mind don't listen to the "advice" given by other sources, like: pet shops, social media sites, many of the YouTube videos, people at reptile shows, and even most veterinarians. They're still using, and repeating, old info that doesn't work as well as what you'll find here.

Study the info in the links offered. All those head-exploding details will show you how to best help your tortoise thrive.

And, ask questions.

hint: Run it by the members before you buy new equipment or whatever - their expertise will save you a lot of time, stress, and money.