Temporary Enclosure for Hatchling Red Foot Tortoise - Questions?

[muddled]

Hi guys! I'm new to the forums and to the tortoise arena, but I do have two turtles that I've had for about 3 years now. I'm going to get my hatchling red foot tortoise from Vicki at tortoiseyard.com tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. The tortoise was hatched on 03/03/09, here's some pictures of the little guy:

He's full of color and he has an extra scute; can't wait to meet him! :}

My dad (a carpenter) is making a tortoise table and it's going to be around 5' by 3' and when the tortoise is an adult he/she will be living in my backyard on an outdoor pen, but in the meanwhile I set up the enclosure in a 30 gallon tank. I have staghorn moss and coconut substrate; I've been playing with the moisture levels in the substrate for a week now and I think I got it at a steady 80%. The temperature is good!

I've spent hours and hours doing research, but I still have one more question: The light fixture is a zoomed 20" combination hood (this one) and so far I've got a 60 watt blue daylight blub and a 60 watt red nighttime bulb. I can also put a 18" UVA light, but I'm not sure if I should go with the 5.0 or 10.0 reptisun -- which one would you guys recommend for the hatchling? I tried searching but no good, so in the meanwhile I have a basking light from one of the turtle tanks, but I don't know if it's too much for a tortoise hatchling :x

Also, I've read mixed opinions on using tanks as enclosures for tortoises. Some say never to use them, some (like on redfoots.com) say it's fine as long as the tortoise can't see outside, so I put staghorn moss high enough so the tortoise wouldn't be able to see past the glass. What are your opinions? Here's the enclosure so far... I'm picking up a cover for the tank that actually FITS today... I used two 10gal ones and it looks really ghetto lol.

Thankees and nice to meet you!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi "Muddled": Welcome to the forum! I think you mean "spagnum" moss. Your enclosure looks pretty good to me. What you want is for some temperature variation from one end to the other...a warm side and a not-so-warm side. I've heard some pretty good things about Vicky's tortoises, and your little guy is a real cutey pie!

Yvonne

 

[jorrow]

Both of my RF's came from Vicki, My younger came straight from her and the older I obtained though someone who purchased it from her. I can say that she is the BEST. She will help you as much as she can. I still talk to her about every other week, and its been atleast 4 months since I purchased. Your little guy is cute I like his extra scutes I had looked at him on her site before.

---

Is it 6 extra scutes he has?

 

[muddled]

Whoops! Lol yeah, spagnum moss! Second time that happens XD

I agree, Vicki has been very kind and informative to me so far, and her tortoises look great! I posted a few "wanted" classfields in different places when I was looking for a redfoot, and in all of them Vicki was recommended to me. That and the fact that when I was researching about tortoises her website was one of the ones I found, so I'm more than happy ;>

I'm not 100% sure on how many extra scutes he has but I think you're right, Josh. I didn't know if the extra scutes were bad, so before buying the hatchling I did some googling and it seems that it's harmless, right? I'm just expecting lots and lots of scutes when it's shedding time - no problems here!

 

[Crazy1]

Hi Muddled, Looks like your tank is ok for now at least. It's hard to get a varied climate in a glass tank plus the additional light can be a problem. Remember RF do not like a lot of light because they come from a forest type area where they live under the three canopy and leaf liter and get most of the needed D3 (D3 is what torts need to utilize calcium. Most Desert or Herbivores need sunlight (ultra violet rays) to convert calcium into a usable form) from the meat they consume (D3 comes from several sources once is meat and one is sun). I would recommend using a ceramic heat emitter with them and Red and Black lights they can't see. Sounds like your humidity is good. I used straight Sphagnum moss by Moser Lee. I helped rehab a sick RF with the info from www.Redfoots.com and highly recommend them on their set up and diet recommendations.

 

[jorrow]

From everything I have been told extra scutes are purely cosmetic I've actually seen a few guys on here looking for torts with extra scutes

 

[muddled]

Hmm! I'm glad I came here then because there's a lot of contradicting info everywhere, huh? If the D3 comes from the food, then yeah. XD Saved $40 on the bulbs then! The temperature is usually very warm in San Diego, but I'm definitively getting the heat emitters tonight. Thank you very much, just the info I was looking for!

From everything I have been told extra scutes are purely cosmetic I've actually seen a few guys on here looking for torts with extra scutes

Seriously? Wow! The main reason why I fell in love with this little guy (or girl) is because of the color, and because I thought the shell had an interesting pattern. Hehehe I guess people have good taste! I'll post more pictures tomorrow then the tortoise arrives, time is going abdominably slow so far!

 

[bettinge]

Responding to your question about the bulbs. The 10.0 UVB bulbs were designed for lighting situations where the reptile my frequently be more than 12 inches from the light (ceiling to floor, not like the tort in the cool end of enclosure). I use the ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 UVB bulbs in my chameleon enclosures. This way the cham gets the benifits from the bulb, even if their on lower branches where its cooler. (Cham cages the cool area is lower or vertical, where torts the cool area is hortizontal) As for a tort, the distance from the bulb to the substraight (tort) never changes, and therefor a 5.0 bulb should be fine. I have seen many articles on the web (probably not based on facts, but on observation or guessing) that the 10.0 bulb can cause blindness in reptiles. I do not know if this is scare tatics, but why take the risk with a tortoise, they live too long. Many reptiles, like chameleons, that the 10.0 bulb was designed for, only live 5-10 years. Therefore, if it takes 10 years to cause blindness.....who cares, the cham lived a full life! A tortoise on the other hand would have 90+ years of blindness. Fact or fiction....you be the judge! The potential risk is not worth it to me. If there someday is conclusive evidence that this argument is fiction, I will switch to the 10.0 bulb.

 

[jorrow]

oh about the heat emitter, i bought mine from petsmart for like 45 bucks, only to see them on ebay for 30 bucks and less. So if you can make with out one for a few days it probally be worth ordering. Cant wait to see some new pics

 

[muddled]

Bettinge, so do you recommend purchasing the 5.0 bulb for the hatchling or should I do that if I get a bigger enclosure? Gawd, they should put a disclaimer in the 10.0 bulb for the blindness, I was so close to buying it because I figured the higher the number the better but I hesitated, whew! Jorrow, I found some very very very cheap online for like $16! But in some bad luck, today is the first day in a loong time when the temperature is at like 60 The bulbs I have right now sorta warm up the place to the 70s, but still not warm enough! Stressing out about this, sigh... and for some reason, the favorite spot the tortoise has is under the tree ornament I have, and never uses the log. I don't know if it's comfier or if he's stressed out, opinions? :x

ANYWAY, THE TORTOISE IS HERE!!! ​

The little guy arrived at like 9:30 am, but I was at work at the time so my parents were the one who put the baby in the tank and I didn't get to see the little guy till 4:30, I decided to skip college classes to bond with the tortoise! Sometimes one has to prioritize! <3 I took a bunch of videos and I spent a LOT of time editing one while I was gawking at him in my bed, but because I had a song by led zeppelin in the background youtube actually MUTED my vid before it even processed. Jeez e__e

Here is video one (the one that got muted); and here's video two, when I got home from work and started rollin' the film right away. I swear I had filled the dish up before I left for work, so I filled it up again. No idea if it fell or if someone was extremely thirsty! And up next, pictures and lots of them, 56krs, I'm sorry!

BTW, I got this e-mail from Vicki and it looks like the tortoise already has a name. I don't have the heart to change it (at least not right now, hehe) so you have all met little 'Mater!

Hey Maria,
Thank you so much for letting me know she arrived safely.
LOL, little 'Mater is now a California baby. Seems weird seeing the babies all over the country after having them here with me. I usually don't name the babies because it's too hard to let them go if they have a name. That one was born with such a red head I nick named it Tomato Head and it went to 'Mater from there.<g> Have you picked out a name yet?
I would love to see more pics if you get the chance. Have fun tort keeping!

Vicki
http://tortoiseyard.com

 

[Stazz]

Mater is beautiful awwwwww !!!!! Have fun with your new baby....I love bonding hehehe, bond with my little Tallula for ages

 

[muddled]

I agree, I think he's the most gorgeous tortoise I've ever seen! <3 *oozing with motherly love* I actually came a few hours late for work today because I kept staring at little Mater. Hehe this is looking out to be quite troublesome

 

[terryo]

Little Mater is so full of color and beautiful too. All Vicki's babies are loaded with color....one better than the other.
I put a heat emitter on one side of the vivarium and a long tube 10.0 UVB on the other side. My viv is a 75 gal so for your size, I would probably use a 5.0. Pio, my Cherry Head, has a cool side and a hot side. I've noticed as he got older he liked the cool side better during the day and at night he goes on the hot side. Good luck with that baby...and keep posting pictures. He is beautiful!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Doncha just love "mater-head" as a name?

Yvonne

 

[tortoisenerd]

I love Mater! Cool log too--haven't seen that type.

 

[Crazy1]

Very pretty shelled baby. Nice high color. I too like the look of the extra scutes. Mater is a cute name too. Congratulations

 

[Jentortmom]

Mater is adorable, good luck with her.

 

[muddled]

Thank you for the nice comments! Mater is warming up, I caught him napping under the log and parading around in the tank instead of always hidden inside the moss. It's hilarious when I put the breakfast plate and I see Mater popping out of nowhere to get his share. When I hold him, he inspects my finger to see if there's food hidden somewhere -- we're becoming BFFs!

I put a heat emitter on one side of the vivarium and a long tube 10.0 UVB on the other side. My viv is a 75 gal so for your size, I would probably use a 5.0. Pio, my Cherry Head, has a cool side and a hot side. I've noticed as he got older he liked the cool side better during the day and at night he goes on the hot side. Good luck with that baby...and keep posting pictures. He is beautiful!!

I've got the heat emitter but I'm wondering if the 5.0 bulb would still be recommended on my new enclosure plans, which will probably will be ready in a week or two.

It will be a 3' by 3' pen, similar to the one below. The house side will be 1' by 3' and the rest of it will be 2'3; it will be 1' tall, or maybe 2', I'm not sure what height is recommended. I know to keep it short to let more air flow but I don't want to keep it short enough that he'll be tempted to escape! Anyway, this is the design I'm going to base on, but with different dimensions:

The round top will have door brackets on the side so it's able to open, and the front will be with pexiglass. Keeping it moist will be a challenge, so I'll probably have to buy something like a habamist. What do you guys think? And what side should be the warmest one -- the "house" side or somewhere in the other side? And considering the dimensions, how long should the tortoise would be fine when it comes to size in this enclosure?

I've already got the materials and my dad is getting his tools out for the building, yawwhooo!

 

[terryo]

My Cherry head's enclosure is 4' x 2' and is 21 inches high. (I don't know if that is a 75 gal..or not) I keep the heat emitter on the side where his hide is and the long tube 10.0 on the other side. For humidity I just have a lot of plants. The substrate shouldn't be too moist, because this will cause shell fungus. I only water the plants and keep the hide very humid. Some people attach a wet sponge on the top of the hide to keep in the humidity. I have no light bulbs of any kind as I was told they don't like bright lights as they come from the forest floor where the sunlight is filtered through the trees.

 

[muddled]

Yup, that sounds like a 75 gallon! That would also make the height a little bit under two feet. Do you recommend I put it one or two feet for a hatchling? Or maybe keep it at a feet in a half (18")? I keep reading about not using strong UVB lights, but then somewhere else I'll read about how tortoises need the UVB. Then I'll read about how they'll get them from their food but to add them anyway, totally confused. :x

As far as moisture goes, right now I'm using a mister to keep it at 80%, but by the end of the day it goes back to 70% so I have to do it once or twice a day. Not sure I'll have same strength to keep misting the moss to keep a 3' by 3' pen moist that way so thank you for the suggestions lol!