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Since we put them outside, they are going to have to deal with the temperature fluctuations. We have a lot of hides and small spaces to help them find warm spots at night.
Redfoot and high humidity
- Thread starter ZEROPILOT
- Start date
This is the best out of the 3 juveniles I have. I got them at 4months old from a reptile shop, so don't know how they were started, the yearlings they had in the same shop were all pyramided. The shop owners were also breeders.
This one is heading up to 6" SCL. I've fed them just about everything you can whilst finding my feet on what i think is and isn't the best to feed. I think I feed more fruit and mushrooms than most. I've tried to keep away from grocery greens and only feed weeds, if I had to guess I would say 30% grocery and 70% weeds, I feed protein once a week, usually egg or pinkies, but have fed cat food every now and then.
So I reckon over the 18 months I've had them I've covered everything regarding diet whether it's considered good or bad.
Soaking is the one thing I keep going back and forth on with my thoughts, I can't stop thinking that when the get soaked it empties the gut load, then they eat more and grow faster. However, to give estimates on my soaking over the last 18 months I would say 6 months at 2 to 3 soaks per week, then 8 months at 1 soak per week and no soaking for about the last 4 months, except to clean them to check over, not really a soak but a wash.
I've sprayed the enclosure down virtually every day or every other day at least. The last 4 months I've made sure the torts got sprayed because of no soaks.
So up to now I've fed everything and anything with higher fruit, mushrooms and protein than what I'm guessing others do and no pattern to soaking other than I've reduced it to zero over 14 months.
This one may be a shocker, I reckon in the 18months I've had them they have spent no more than 100hrs outside, definitely no more Don't worry they get plenty of exercise, but until body mass gets bigger I don't have them outside for longer than 1hr at a time, mostly 30 minutes.
Now, the only thing that I have been 100% consistent with is temps and humidity. My temps have consistently been 88f down to 82f. My humidity has never dropped below 80%. Most of the time it is 90% to 99%.
They have always had access to piles of spagnhum moss and deep moist coco coir that they love to bury into for long long periods. In the morning when they come out they look a dull Matt color because they have slowly absorbed moisture over night, I'm guessing this is what it would be like in the wild when hidden in the dense undergrowth.
So all I can can come up with from the small amount of experience I have for now is very high humidity helps smooth growth.
Does humidity and growth rate have to have the correct ratio. The slower you grow them the less humidity you get away with, does humidity increase elasticity of the keratin, i don't know the answers, just making suggestions.
Obviously diet has to be correct for other health issues.
Here is peaches
This one is heading up to 6" SCL. I've fed them just about everything you can whilst finding my feet on what i think is and isn't the best to feed. I think I feed more fruit and mushrooms than most. I've tried to keep away from grocery greens and only feed weeds, if I had to guess I would say 30% grocery and 70% weeds, I feed protein once a week, usually egg or pinkies, but have fed cat food every now and then.
So I reckon over the 18 months I've had them I've covered everything regarding diet whether it's considered good or bad.
Soaking is the one thing I keep going back and forth on with my thoughts, I can't stop thinking that when the get soaked it empties the gut load, then they eat more and grow faster. However, to give estimates on my soaking over the last 18 months I would say 6 months at 2 to 3 soaks per week, then 8 months at 1 soak per week and no soaking for about the last 4 months, except to clean them to check over, not really a soak but a wash.
I've sprayed the enclosure down virtually every day or every other day at least. The last 4 months I've made sure the torts got sprayed because of no soaks.
So up to now I've fed everything and anything with higher fruit, mushrooms and protein than what I'm guessing others do and no pattern to soaking other than I've reduced it to zero over 14 months.
This one may be a shocker, I reckon in the 18months I've had them they have spent no more than 100hrs outside, definitely no more Don't worry they get plenty of exercise, but until body mass gets bigger I don't have them outside for longer than 1hr at a time, mostly 30 minutes.
Now, the only thing that I have been 100% consistent with is temps and humidity. My temps have consistently been 88f down to 82f. My humidity has never dropped below 80%. Most of the time it is 90% to 99%.
They have always had access to piles of spagnhum moss and deep moist coco coir that they love to bury into for long long periods. In the morning when they come out they look a dull Matt color because they have slowly absorbed moisture over night, I'm guessing this is what it would be like in the wild when hidden in the dense undergrowth.
So all I can can come up with from the small amount of experience I have for now is very high humidity helps smooth growth.
Does humidity and growth rate have to have the correct ratio. The slower you grow them the less humidity you get away with, does humidity increase elasticity of the keratin, i don't know the answers, just making suggestions.
Obviously diet has to be correct for other health issues.
Here is peaches
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Peaches looks like she grew up in the tropics! Nice!
I have one that is very smooth like her. Strangely it's one of 3 that grew up together side by side. Go figure.
The other two are lightly pyramided.
I have one that is very smooth like her. Strangely it's one of 3 that grew up together side by side. Go figure.
The other two are lightly pyramided.
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I feed almost no weeds except when Purslane is growing.
They eat Kale and Romain. Mazuri and eggs, sweet potato. A lot of Hibiscus... I mean I could go on and on about the menu. Last year I spoke with a man who had written a lot on the internet about Redfoot eating mostly fallen fruit in the wild and I bumped up the fruit content. It might be as much as 30-40% some weeks now.
But I've only had these four for a little while. Not long enough to talk about my long term success.
Every other tortoise I've had, came to me very, very pyramided already.
They eat Kale and Romain. Mazuri and eggs, sweet potato. A lot of Hibiscus... I mean I could go on and on about the menu. Last year I spoke with a man who had written a lot on the internet about Redfoot eating mostly fallen fruit in the wild and I bumped up the fruit content. It might be as much as 30-40% some weeks now.
But I've only had these four for a little while. Not long enough to talk about my long term success.
Every other tortoise I've had, came to me very, very pyramided already.
I can't figure out my other 2. 1 is a splitty and has what look like creases in the carapace. The other is not a splitty but has similar creases. Not sure if it's pyramiding, could it be deformities from incubation.????
Also things that could vary in my group of three could be, time spent under the CHE, food type eaten, self soaking, stress levels.
I feed quite a bit of fruit and mushrooms. Also dandelion flowers and greens from the yard, romaine, spring mix, bell peppers, zucchini and squash, grated carrots. Mine will not eat eggs no matter how I make them or any live food either. High quality dog or cat food he will eat though. I'm stumped with protein....
All 3 of my males don't eat the meat protein like the females do. They will eat it, but it's like they can take it or leave it. I've seen them eat the greens and leave the protein. The females go crazy for it.
I'm talking about my adults. Do females require more protein for reproduction?
If so , that kinda blows the protein theory out of the water, well regarding pyramiding anyway. Too much can cause other issues.
My big male would eat protein every day if I let him. My largest female may as well. Of the 3 smaller ones 2 could take it or leave it and the 3rd one would chew your fingers off if she could catch them.
When you say protein, in what form? All mine would eat dry cat biscuits till the cows come home if I let them, but males seem a lot less enthusiastic about animal protein.
Theres probably nothing in the thought of males v females to protein intake quantity, but it's good to talk.
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I'm also still doing a side experiment that's about impossible to prove.
I had a big issue with worms when I got the three Miami tortoises and had to treat all four tortoises from that particular pen. Then to be safe, the other three in another pen. (Round worms and pin worms treated with 3 rounds of Panacur.)
since then at about once every three to six months I toss a little D/E in with some Mazuri as a preventative thinking that it can do no harm...But does it do any good? the last random fecal test showed no eggs, worms, nothing.(I now inspect myself with a second hand high powered microscope)
I appreciate these conversations about Redfoot from members who are also learning as they go.
I had a big issue with worms when I got the three Miami tortoises and had to treat all four tortoises from that particular pen. Then to be safe, the other three in another pen. (Round worms and pin worms treated with 3 rounds of Panacur.)
since then at about once every three to six months I toss a little D/E in with some Mazuri as a preventative thinking that it can do no harm...But does it do any good? the last random fecal test showed no eggs, worms, nothing.(I now inspect myself with a second hand high powered microscope)
I appreciate these conversations about Redfoot from members who are also learning as they go.
Ok ok ok it's probably something really obvious but other than your name backwards what is D/E?
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Sorry. Diatomacios Earth.
Spelling it is always frightening.
Spelling it is always frightening.
I don't think anyone can spell DE correctly. I always end up looking it up.
Good to know it's not just my male! That's really interesting though.When you say protein, in what form? All mine would eat dry cat biscuits till the cows come home if I let them, but males seem a lot less enthusiastic about animal protein.
Theres probably nothing in the thought of males v females to protein intake quantity, but it's good to talk.
Mine is another +1 for cat kibble. We had to start feeding the cat up high because Vern learned to push around the gallon bucket her food is in until he got it wedged and could knock it sideways.
Ed. Those 3 you had grow side by side, was that under any artificial heat source or outside?
Did they all grow at the same pace?
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They were all hatched and grown out doors. The guy had no provision for keeping them inside. Just separate from the adults.
Do you know anything about the enclosure they were in, the size, was it dense in foliage or more open.
We're there lots of hatchlings together?
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An open field like for horses. Dozens if not hundreds of them together.
Food dumped out in a long thin line.
Mine is just over a year now and very smooth - she eats a lot and has grown a lot, but I have raised her in very high humidity in a Christmas tree bin where it stays at least 90% humidity except directly under the dark bulb. It is relatively humid here in MO during her outside time; she also has a sprinkler that soaks the pen a couple times a day. She will eat about any kind of protein(worms of any kind, dubia roaches, F/T pinkies, Mazuri,...) but also eats a lot of green stuff and eats fruit maybe 2 or 3 times a week. It seems that the "fast growth" factor, at least on it's own, is not really a contributor to pyramiding. My RF case is only one individual, but this seems to be the case, at least much of the time, with leopards and sulcatas as well, where the fastest growing individuals in a group are sometimes also the smoothest. I will try to post a pic of mine later today.
