RedFoot

[shushyouneek]

Hi I bought a redfoot in August of 2020 and the pet shop said he was probably around 9 months old however since I had bought him he is more or less the same size even though i’ve been supplementing frequently and feeding a balanced diet of protein greens and fruit varied everyday and weekly soaks i’ll put a picture of him and he is very very small (i don’t know the gender as too young to sex so i’m calling it a ‘him’) the picture of him on his slate eating is the most recent and the rest are from august is there anything that could be wrong with him? he’s getting enough UV and hear constantly too

 

[jsheffield]

The trick with tortoises, especially if you don't live in the tropics, as you and I don't, is to observe and record.

• I can sort of see his enclosure, but not the whole thing
• what are the temperatures throughout the enclosure, morning and night
• what is the humidity throughout the enclosure, morning and night
• what type of UV are you using, and how far away is the source from the tort
• detail and describe your weekly feeding routine
• how many times, and for how long, do you soak him in a week
• how much does he weigh now, a month ago, two months ago, three months ago

If you know, and control, these things, then you can move forward in figuring out what might be wrong; people who wing it generally aren't successful in caring for tortoises.

If you can establish that he's not growing, then eliminate the things above as possible contributors to that lack of gain over time, then other options present themselves... parasites is always a likely suspect.

A temperature in the 27-31 range in Celsius is a good baseline.
Humidity above 75% is good for hatchlings.
UV needs with RFs is a debated subject, but I use an MVB and a fluorescent buls to get mine UV 12 hours a day at one end of her enclosure.
I feed my RF a mix of greens everyday, fruit (primarily papaya and mango) 2-3 times a week, veggies (primarily butternut squash and pumpkin) 2-3 times a week, some kibble (either Mazuri or zoo-med or fluker) 1-2 times a week, and animal protein once a week.
For the first year I had her, I soaked her daily.
I way all of my tortoises every month, to keep an eye on longterm gain... if they go two months without gaining weight, I know there's a problem worth addressing.

I'm not trying to be overly prescriptive here, just sharing what works for me... I'm sure other people will chime in.

I hope you are able to turn things around for your tort!

Jamie

 

[Maggie3fan]

Do you have a scale? Recording his weight will tell you his growth. You see him all the time, so there is not visible growth, sorta