The other morning I literally tripped over a redfoot. It was sitting placidly on my front sidewalk in my path to the trash can. As near as I can figure, it was someone's pet kept in an outdoor pen and escaped and found its way to my door. Normally a person's instinct when finding someone's lost pet would of course be to find the owner and return the animal, but I know next to nothing about these animals and I could tell that this poor thing has not been in tortoise paradise.
His plastron measures 5 and 3/8" from head to tail, and I don't know what he weighs, only that he feels light for his size. His shell looks like it has some absolutely gorgeous spot patterning, but it's hard to tell because the poor thing has been PAINTED red.
Painted.
I'm not talking water colours either, this is some serious hardcore lacquer paint like one would use on metal. At first I thought it might be nail polish but a very small test area on the top of the shell with some remover did nothing. I don't care who you are, painting an animal with rust-o-leum or such is abuse. Also, I've looked at many pictures of healthy animals and none of them have a shell like this guy. If it weren't for the fire orange scales on his legs, I would have thought him a different species. I assume then that the odd shell shape is from stress and improper care.
The shell domes symmetrically to a peak, and there is a distinct dorsal ridge along the center of the shell from head to tail. The plastron looks clean and healthy as far as I can tell. He isn't very social, but when he does come out of his shell his skin is soft and supple, with no noticeable trouble spots save for the red scales on the forelegs, which some look like they want to peel off. Here are some pictures showing what he looks like, some of them might be fuzzy because he didn't want to pose and I didn't want to stress him any more lol
That stripe I mentioned
The way his shell curls
And in the back too ("Kiss my tail" he says)
Plastron
A rather handsome fellow, really..
Again, not wanting to pose
Currently, I'm feeding him romaine lettuce, a little bit of carrot shreds, apple pieces and Rep-Cal tortoise pellets, which has a higher protien content than the other tortoise foods I found in PetSmart.
What can I do to help him be healthy, and seeing as how I really am not very knowledgeable about this animal's care, might there be someone in the Camp Lejeune, NC area who would like to adopt? (I'm afraid to take him to the shelter because they may return him to his original owner)
His plastron measures 5 and 3/8" from head to tail, and I don't know what he weighs, only that he feels light for his size. His shell looks like it has some absolutely gorgeous spot patterning, but it's hard to tell because the poor thing has been PAINTED red.
Painted.
I'm not talking water colours either, this is some serious hardcore lacquer paint like one would use on metal. At first I thought it might be nail polish but a very small test area on the top of the shell with some remover did nothing. I don't care who you are, painting an animal with rust-o-leum or such is abuse. Also, I've looked at many pictures of healthy animals and none of them have a shell like this guy. If it weren't for the fire orange scales on his legs, I would have thought him a different species. I assume then that the odd shell shape is from stress and improper care.
The shell domes symmetrically to a peak, and there is a distinct dorsal ridge along the center of the shell from head to tail. The plastron looks clean and healthy as far as I can tell. He isn't very social, but when he does come out of his shell his skin is soft and supple, with no noticeable trouble spots save for the red scales on the forelegs, which some look like they want to peel off. Here are some pictures showing what he looks like, some of them might be fuzzy because he didn't want to pose and I didn't want to stress him any more lol
That stripe I mentioned
The way his shell curls
And in the back too ("Kiss my tail" he says)
Plastron
A rather handsome fellow, really..
Again, not wanting to pose
Currently, I'm feeding him romaine lettuce, a little bit of carrot shreds, apple pieces and Rep-Cal tortoise pellets, which has a higher protien content than the other tortoise foods I found in PetSmart.
What can I do to help him be healthy, and seeing as how I really am not very knowledgeable about this animal's care, might there be someone in the Camp Lejeune, NC area who would like to adopt? (I'm afraid to take him to the shelter because they may return him to his original owner)
Glad I wasn't seeing thiings when I saw the first picture and I thought, "Hey wait a minute that.s a boxie's back." Shame they painted him, because he looked colorful enough to start with.
