Redfoot Trouble

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Pesky Fly

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I have had my redfoot for around two months he is doing fine, but I think I need to crack down on his care. He is fed 4 times a week with Romaine Lettuce, Strawberries, a SMALL amount of cat food, and tortoise mix food. He refuses to eat every day, so I made my routine fit his. I almost never soak him (i know VERY BAD) but he has 24/7 access to a med. water dish always full. I can never keep the humidity above 50% I mist once a day and add water once, but the humidity will not stay up, I have live (tort friendly) plants in his cage but nothing seems to work. And he has not seemed to grow much is this normal? He seems active and healthy but just small. He is a yearling now.

ANY help is wonderful thanks!

-Pesky
 

egyptiandan

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Are you keeping track of his length and weight? When you see an animal every day it's hard to tell when or if they are growing. Thats why it's a good idea to weigh and measure them at least once a month. :)

Danny
 

Itort

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I find that keeping half of his enclosure covered will help keep humidity up as will a moist hide with sphagum moss. You will need to mist more often than once a day. I feed my yearlings 7 days a week (4to5 gram portion no more). They get 4 days of dark greens, 2 days of fruit, and one day of protein. The growth of a young tort is almost impercitable day to day but by keeping records (I use photos), you can see growth. Checkout www.redfoots.com for a more complete caresheet.
 

Madkins007

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Pesky,

I am afraid if you fed my guys on the stuff you are feeding yours, they would refuse to eat as well- there are a lot of great foods out there, but your mix is pretty low on calcium and other nutrients.

Humidity and internal hydration levels also are a big deal. What is your set-up like that you cannot keep the humidity up? I find that a mostly enclosed habitat with long-fibered sphagnum moss properly wetted gives me good results.

I am not a fan of daily soakings, and what about your lighting? These guys, especially babies, are almost photophobic- they shun light most of the time- although there is a lot of variety in personalities.

Please try http://www.redfoots.org
 

tandrreptiles

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Like Madkins said you should feed them more of a variety of foods. Theres tons of different foods for them out there that redfoots love papaya squash plums nectorines all different types of greens also. They dont grow very fast either remember that. Ryan

2.3 redfoots
1.1 cherryheads
 

Redfoot NERD

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An untold number of redfoot hatchlings have been 'started' and raised to become smooth and healthy when using the guidelines in the links in my signature.

On an average.. my hatchlings range from 1.5 - 1.75 inches. And at 6 months they are 3".. and 4" as yearlings ---- so redfoot tortoises actually are one of the fastest growing tortoises. Of course set-up and diet has to be in order for healthy growth. Unfortunately and apparently you have been told how to care for your redfoot by someone who really doesn't know what works best for redfoots. Romaine and strawberries are virtually useless. You can count on 1 hand the total number of items I feed mine as their staple diet.. that includes the greens and the fruit and the protein source. Quality [ calcium/fiber/protein ratio ] is far more important than variety.

Take a look...

NERD
 
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