Redfoot questions

[David Save]

Hi, I'm new to tortoises, but have been readin up on em for the past couple months or so, I'm in my last years of college, and am interested in buying a redfoot tortoise; I'd have a tortoise table for him/her for their first few years, and a larger enclosure as the years go on. I have a couple of pretty basic questions that seem to have multiple answers with every source I've checked, so I am just lookin for some clarification.
1.How big do these guys get? 9-14? 11-16? Varied answers everywhere I look.
2.How early can you tell the gender? I see breeders advertising less than a year old redfoots for sale, and they specify the gender; I didn't know that was possible, but im also a noob
3.How fast do these guys grow? I will upgrade enclosures accordingly, just curious on what the growth will look like, since i do plan on buying babies.

Thats all! Thanks guys so much! Love this community!

 

[Anyfoot]

Hi David and welcome.

There are different localities of redfoots that grow to different sizes. Northerns and Brazilians average around 12", occasionally 14 to 16".

Gender identification is really on size not age, around 8" is when you may get some indications, 8" can take around 4yrs.
At 3 yr Lodi have torts between 6 and 8". They all grow at different rates.

All the above are not gospel figures but a good guide line for you.
To sum up, assuming you don't have a Bolivian redfoot(which are giants) I'd work on a full size of 12 to 14" SCL. At 1 yr old mine are around 3 to 4" and at 3yrs 6 to 8" SCL.

BTW you are best with a closed system not an open table. You can't maintain high humidity and ambient temps in an open table. If raised dry your tort will pyramid.

 

[David Save]

Hi David and welcome.

There are different localities of redfoots that grow to different sizes. Northerns and Brazilians average around 12", occasionally 14 to 16".

Gender identification is really on size not age, around 8" is when you may get some indications, 8" can take around 4yrs.
At 3 yr Lodi have torts between 6 and 8". They all grow at different rates.

All the above are not gospel figures but a good guide line for you.
To sum up, assuming you don't have a Bolivian redfoot(which are giants) I'd work on a full size of 12 to 14" SCL. At 1 yr old mine are around 3 to 4" and at 3yrs 6 to 8" SCL.

BTW you are best with a closed system not an open table. You can't maintain high humidity and ambient temps in an open table. If raised dry your tort will pyramid.

What does SCL mean? Also is there a way to tell between the different species? Do they have different shells?
And I'm just not great with my lingo, I'm building a table top, closed enclosure, its not open. I thought tort tables just meant tort enclosures that are elevated.

Also one last question, will humidity need to be kept high, throughout his/her life time? How high? Sorry about all the questions

 

[Anyfoot]

SCL(straight line carapace) is one method of how to measure your tortoise. You measure the length of the capace(shell) without bending the tape measure to the curve of the carapace.

High humidity is needed for babies, when they hide in the wild their humidity when in dense foliage will be higher than the average air humidity. As adults when they wander about more the air humidity is ok. As babies aim for 80/90% humidity to imitate them being hidden in the wild. Soak your baby every day for 15 mins in warm water. Remember dehydration and a dry environment will equal pyramiding. Temps want to be 80/88f throughout the enclosure with NO basking spot that dries your tort out. Use a CHE(ceramic heat emitter) on a thermostat for heat, and use a small fluorescent uvb tube for light and vitamin D. Put the light over the feeding area towards one end of the enclosure so the opposite end is darkish so your tort feels secure. Keep light on 12/14 hrs per day.
How big is your enclosure and tortoise.
It's hard to identify a baby tort but we can try when you get it.

 

[David Save]

The enclosure the baby will have for a year or so will be 1' by 4'

 

[Redfool]

As for breeders sexing less than year old hatchlings, they are probably going by incubation temps. Cooler temps (sub 85) for males and warmer temps (over 86) for females. You'll probably have to wait 4 to7 years to find out.

 

[Redfool]

Good to see you are researching before buying rather than learning on the fly. These guys can be a lifelong pet, living for more than 50 years. My oldest is 24 years old. Mine reached their "outside size" at about four years old. They were on the average of +/- 6 inch SCL.

 

[David Save]

So when they post the gender for babies, its a hypothesis? Hmm very interesting. Thank you very much for all the info!

 

[Ernie Johnson]

Not to make this a promo, but I have a YouTube channel dedicated to RF's and a hour long video husbandry course and am always happy to answer questions on these guys. I've been working with them for 17 years and have an adult breeding pair I raised from hatchlings. They're my profile pic. Not including the links so as to not make this a promo.