Tortoise candy order for my baby torts ASAP!!!

[Beasty_Artemis]

The baby red foots (2) are not doing as good as they potentially be.... I have to be big and admit it's completely due to my own below-average care.....
So I just finished ordering some new Zilla tortoise fruit mix to add to their salads/normal food.... I just ran out. One has gotten fungus in her shell pretty bad. I'm sad.

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

I'll order some more cuttlebone and calcium supplements as well. ASAP

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

Can someone tell give me the best link for the best replacement strip light for my 2 separate hatchling enclosures?

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

 

[ZenHerper]

Let's back up. lol

How old are they? What are the temps? Humidity?
Photos of the torts (especially the place where you see fungus)?
What foods do they eat?
Where do they poo?
Do you need to replace the uvb light set up?

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

Whoops!
I'll get back on those pics later sorry

 

[ZenHerper]

The thing with reptiles is that they have very specific environmental and nutritional requirements that we have to meet. You need to have a somewhat obsessive attentiveness to their condition and environment every day.

Even if wee ones are incubated, hatched, and started correctly, we still have to carry on with a well-calibrated habitat and proper foods.

Redfoots need an environment much more like those for terrestrial turtles...moderate temperatures in the low 80s day and night (aim for 83*F for youngsters), high humidity (80%), and a lot of shade plants to protect them from heat bulbs (the sun). Open tables make this very hard to achieve.

Because the humidity needs to be very high, refuse like stool, urates, and leftover food need to be kept after. Bedding can also carry fungal spores, so even Very Clean set ups can lead to fungal infections from time to time. A standard athlete's foot fungus treatment (nothing fancy - store brand is fine) can be used when spots come up. Change out the substrate when you find an infection so that spores don't cross-infect the habitat.

Redfoots also eat more like land turtles...they need a good variety of brightly-colored fruit along with their mature greens (no baby lettuce mix like what is marketed to people who don't eat salads). But they also need protein. Boiled egg contains all of the amino acids needed to build strong muscles and internal organs. They can also eat invertebrates (insects and worms), but egg is usually easier for most folks to keep around the house and prepare ahead.

For very small torts, I'd start with 1/8 of a boiled egg with the main daily meal. Not everyone gives meat every day, but I think the habit of including a small bit (instead of a more ambitious amount every few days) lets the body take up what it needs as it needs it.

The packaged "fruit" diets are lots of sugar and chemicals. If you are using real fruit, you don't need to bother filling the stomach with unhealthful fillers.


Get those photos posted and you can get some confirmation of the infection, and an overall impression of what their current overall condition is.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I had a Redfoot until a couple of months ago...I buy this from my Safeway for my box turtles and the Redfoot...I cut up some Spring mix into small pieces the put the fruit on top...For $5 it will last babies a long time and it's cheaper and more healthy than anything from Zoomed...

They also really like cooked egg and mushrooms...Redfoots are so easy to feed...

hope this helps...

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

When I arrived home from the hospital after this bad epilepsy episode, I was extremely surprised and proud of my inexperienced ex-boyfriends success at keeping all 3 of my different sized torts alive!!! Holy cow!
So my torts might have just saved the relationship for me....?

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

But the littlest 2 are in poor conditions...
One much more than the other (Grizelda!) I WAS horrified by her shell when I spotted them apon my return....

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

These pics are only of Grizelda

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

My larger female is Artemis. This one is around 10 inches long.
She was born in 2016, July.

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

The 2 smaller hatchling are around 4 and a half inches long, and we're hatched from tortstork eggs ordered online in 2020.
One, Vladimir seems to be developing dark, bolder black and red coloration. Plus his tail looks longer already!!! Wtf?! And he is friendlier to everyone, plus a total asshole to the other torts.....WTF???

 

[ZenHerper]

@Toddrickfl1

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

This animal turns out to be shockingly healthy! Plus quite large!!!

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I can't tell from the pictures of that's fungus or if they're just really dry. I would soak them really well and apply some cheap athletes foot cream to the white area for a few days.

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

So this one is my baby boy Vladimir Wayne!

 

[Beasty_Artemis]

Oh crap! I don't know now! I'm going to just treat it like it's both at first!