Relieved that Darwin is emerging

[jsheffield]

Hello all,

Darwin, my tiny Redfoot Tortoise, came to live with me nearly a month ago.

(Darwin only hatched the end of July, so I know he could be a she, but ....)

At first I never saw him except during the daily soak and feeding, when he displayed good appetite, movement, curiousity, pooping, and awareness of his surrounding ... as soon as I put him back in the enclosure though, he would disappear into one of the hides.

The temperature and humidity levels in the enclosure are good, and he seemed healthy, so I resigned myself to not seeing him much ... until last week.

Starting last week, I began seeing him more often while I was writing during the day and night. He came out of the warm-end hide, and would explore the enclosure a bit, stopping to snack at his food dish or nibble (seemingly ineffectually) at the cuttlebone. This morning he came out to browse his way through some mint and oregano I put in the enclosure (I grow some herbs hydroponically, over a goldfish tank).

My hope, and belief, is that Darwin has grown a bit more comfortable with his enclosure, with me, and with the change in lifestyle from Florida to New Hampshire.

I love watching him grow and change from day to day, and am so glad that he's come to live in my office.

Jamie

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Sounds like he's getting settled in.

 

[Anyfoot]

Hello all,

Darwin, my tiny Redfoot Tortoise, came to live with me nearly a month ago.

(Darwin only hatched the end of July, so I know he could be a she, but ....)

At first I never saw him except during the daily soak and feeding, when he displayed good appetite, movement, curiousity, pooping, and awareness of his surrounding ... as soon as I put him back in the enclosure though, he would disappear into one of the hides.

The temperature and humidity levels in the enclosure are good, and he seemed healthy, so I resigned myself to not seeing him much ... until last week.

Starting last week, I began seeing him more often while I was writing during the day and night. He came out of the warm-end hide, and would explore the enclosure a bit, stopping to snack at his food dish or nibble (seemingly ineffectually) at the cuttlebone. This morning he came out to browse his way through some mint and oregano I put in the enclosure (I grow some herbs hydroponically, over a goldfish tank).

My hope, and belief, is that Darwin has grown a bit more comfortable with his enclosure, with me, and with the change in lifestyle from Florida to New Hampshire.

I love watching him grow and change from day to day, and am so glad that he's come to live in my office.

Jamie

He will become more and more outgoing as he grows. As babies they just like to hide away to feel safe in a warm humid hide.
What your seeing is all normal behaviour.

 

[Anyfoot]

@jsheffield

I’ve noticed if any of mine are going to start showing signs of pyramiding, it is around the 5 month mark. I think, or it could be one reason is that they become more outgoing and tame, in turn they stop hiding and digging in as much. So the surrounding air isn’t keeping the carapace moist enough whilst they are still at the softish stage of life. Every single healthy redfoot tort I have raised was perfectly smooth up until 5 months old(ish). Then some pyramid slightly and some don’t. I think it’s the dumb *** brave torts that sit out in the open air that start to pyramid. Even at 80/85% humidity with no basking spot. So my new enclosure with 24 babies in is at 99% humidity with no basking spot. I’ve coated the enclosure with rubber paint. Water is literally dripping off walls and ceiling as the humidity condenses. Time will tell if it works.
Because you only have one tort I would literally put it to bed every night. Make sure it’s on moist coir with moist moss on its carapace.

 

[jsheffield]

Thanks for the tip!

The enclosure reads as 99% humidity most of the time, but I'll make sure the hides, and his other favorite spots are saturated as well.



Here's a pic of Darwin yesterday, getting after some kale during his lunchtime soak and meal ....

Jamie

 

[Anyfoot]

Thanks for the tip!

The enclosure reads as 99% humidity most of the time, but I'll make sure the hides, and his other favorite spots are saturated as well.

View attachment 255149

Here's a pic of Darwin yesterday, getting after some kale during his lunchtime soak and meal ....

Jamie

He looks good.
Don’t end up with saturated coir. It will become stagnant and may cause shellrot. You want the coir moist, not saturated. Put moss over him that is moist, not dripping wet through if you are using a hide. If you just have moss piled up with no hide then cover him with moss and spray the moss. That will then evaporate and not allow the coir to become sodden. If you keep spraying moss then cover with hide it won’t evaporate and become sodden.