What in the world am I doing wrong?!

[Emily Deshar]

So I always have 80%-90% humidity and ahe has varying temps to go to, one said is normally around 75F and the other is 85F. She has a big water for her to drink and bath in. No I dont give her a bath every day, just once a week or so because she wouldnt gwt bathed in the wild and I figured with the humidity she wouldnt need it. I can bath her more often if that will help. I give her as much variety of food as I possibly can. She gets lettuce abs romaine lettuce in winter, but spring and summer I do all kinds of weeds and flowers that I know are safe. I do one day fruit with greens, one day just greens, one day veggies and greens, one day just greens, etc and I try to give her some protein once a week. Her enclosure has tons and tons of rolly pollies in there, so if I see one I put it by her to get. Idk if she gets them on her own.. we are going to start to build her a 7ft enclosure in July. I do not however give her Mazuri or calcium powder. I do have a calcium stick thingy in there..
Her shell is bumpy even though I'm hitting what everyone has told me to do.... so please help, I want to have as smooth of a shell as I possibly can with her! She is also over 1 years old and very small compared to the 1 year olds I see... please please help with any advice you can give me! I'm here to listen and change my ways! Thanks!!

 

[daniellenc]

Definitely bath 30 minutes a day! How many inches is she? I don’t think she looks small but it’s hard to tell in pictures. Also, search on here for winter diets. Mines never even had romaine and I too rely on the grocery stores in the winter. Escarole, endive, dandelion greens, radicchio, bok choy, beet and turnip greens, mushrooms, red pepper, and so many others can be found at your local store, Whole Foods, or Asian market. Even my Safeway carries something called spicy herb mix which is pretty decent and I just add heartier greens into it. Your pyramiding issue is definitely due to not being soaked though so start that ASAP. Is your enclosure closed or open? Posting pics may be helpful.

 

[Tom]

I don't do red foots, but I might have a tid bit of info that can help.

The electric heat that we all use is extremely desiccating be it CHE or incandescent basking bulb. This is a huge contributor to pyramiding. When temps are on the cool side, like 75-85, it encourages the tortoises to bask and hang out under the heating elements more, which causes more pyramiding. In my hatchling enclosures, I let ambient temps creep into the low 90s during the day. This discourages basking because they are already warm enough, and they stay warmer longer in-between basking sessions. The result for my stars, leopards and sulcatas is ZERO pyramiding.

Daily soaks help too. Instead of speculating about the wild and what may or may not happen there, I get better results when I do the things that I know work in a captive environment. Daily soaks work to reduce or eliminate pyramiding.

Another element of my strategy to prevent pyramiding is regular spraying of the carapace with either distilled or RO water. At least 3-4 times a day, but more is better. It really helps. I learned this trick from RF keepers.

 

[Emily Deshar]

You can buy dandelion greens at a store?! Oh I need to see all the kind of lettuces they can have. Oops..
Ya see I was told by many people not to worry too much on bathing, but I will now. Thanks! I plan on planting tons of different flowers all for her this summer. And some in the house to help in the winter. I give her mushrooms aand worma too, but she doesn't like eggs or chicken.... thanks. I will do daily soaks!

Definitely bath 30 minutes a day! How many inches is she? I don’t think she looks small but it’s hard to tell in pictures. Also, search on here for winter diets. Mines never even had romaine and I too rely on the grocery stores in the winter. Escarole, endive, dandelion greens, radicchio, bok choy, beet and turnip greens, mushrooms, red pepper, and so many others can be found at your local store, Whole Foods, or Asian market. Even my Safeway carries something called spicy herb mix which is pretty decent and I just add heartier greens into it. Your pyramiding issue is definitely due to not being soaked though so start that ASAP. Is your enclosure closed or open? Posting pics may be helpful.

 

[Emily Deshar]

So up my heat? Alright will do. To make it in the 90sF. I will also do daily soaks too. There has been a few people who say not to worry about soaks every day, but I will definitely do them every day from now on. Thank you so much for replying.

I don't do red foots, but I might have a tid bit of info that can help.

The electric heat that we all use is extremely desiccating be it CHE or incandescent basking bulb. This is a huge contributor to pyramiding. When temps are on the cool side, like 75-85, it encourages the tortoises to bask and hang out under the heating elements more, which causes more pyramiding. In my hatchling enclosures, I let ambient temps creep into the low 90s during the day. This discourages basking because they are already warm enough, and they stay warmer longer in-between basking sessions. The result for my stars, leopards and sulcatas is ZERO pyramiding.

Daily soaks help too. Instead of speculating about the wild and what may or may not happen there, I get better results when I do the things that I know work in a captive environment. Daily soaks work to reduce or eliminate pyramiding.

Another element of my strategy to prevent pyramiding is regular spraying of the carapace with either distilled or RO water. At least 3-4 times a day, but more is better. It really helps. I learned this trick from RF keepers.

 

[Emily Deshar]

Oh yes and I have an enclosed tub. It's like a plastic tub. I will post a picture later. We are building a big 7ft×4ft closed enclosure in July. Cant wait for that!

Definitely bath 30 minutes a day! How many inches is she? I don’t think she looks small but it’s hard to tell in pictures. Also, search on here for winter diets. Mines never even had romaine and I too rely on the grocery stores in the winter. Escarole, endive, dandelion greens, radicchio, bok choy, beet and turnip greens, mushrooms, red pepper, and so many others can be found at your local store, Whole Foods, or Asian market. Even my Safeway carries something called spicy herb mix which is pretty decent and I just add heartier greens into it. Your pyramiding issue is definitely due to not being soaked though so start that ASAP. Is your enclosure closed or open? Posting pics may be helpful.

 

[Tom]

So up my heat? Alright will do. To make it in the 90sF. I will also do daily soaks too. There has been a few people who say not to worry about soaks every day, but I will definitely do them every day from now on. Thank you so much for replying.

Just sharing info. I would take the advice of an experienced RF keeper over the info I shared with you about other species. I just thought it might offer some insight.

 

[lisa127]

I agree with tom on upping the cool side. But for a redfoot go for low to mid 80s. Into the 90s is too hot for them.

 

[Joetheyido]

My cherry red has grown pretty slowly, I'm not sure if you get runts in torts but possibly, he has slight pyrymiding and a few marks on the scutes that he as allways had maybe from when he was in the egg, has allways been kept at 80-85 and the same humidity, I haven't soaked him everyday but he goes in and out of the water countless times a day and gets sprayed, eats well probably to well, gets mice every so often, he seems pretty healthy but I'm no expert either, just my experience so far.

 

[Tom]

My cherry red has grown pretty slowly, I'm not sure if you get runts in torts but possibly, he has slight pyrymiding and a few marks on the scutes that he as allways had maybe from when he was in the egg, has allways been kept at 80-85 and the same humidity, I haven't soaked him everyday but he goes in and out of the water countless times a day and gets sprayed, eats well probably to well, gets mice every so often, he seems pretty healthy but I'm no expert either, just my experience so far.

What is your substrate there? Sand mix? You might have some sand impaction happening. Not enough to stop the whole works, but enough to block some of the intestine.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Let me ad one thing that you might find interesting.
Redfoot kept in a tropical setting, such as here in steamy south Florida, mimic the Redfoots natural range pretty well. Warm. Very, very humid.
But my Redfoot still spend a lot of time soaking in their pools of water.
I can only imagine that they also take water and or mud baths in the wild.
They are very aquatic actually.

 

[Anyfoot]

So I always have 80%-90% humidity and ahe has varying temps to go to, one said is normally around 75F and the other is 85F. She has a big water for her to drink and bath in. No I dont give her a bath every day, just once a week or so because she wouldnt gwt bathed in the wild and I figured with the humidity she wouldnt need it. I can bath her more often if that will help. I give her as much variety of food as I possibly can. She gets lettuce abs romaine lettuce in winter, but spring and summer I do all kinds of weeds and flowers that I know are safe. I do one day fruit with greens, one day just greens, one day veggies and greens, one day just greens, etc and I try to give her some protein once a week. Her enclosure has tons and tons of rolly pollies in there, so if I see one I put it by her to get. Idk if she gets them on her own.. we are going to start to build her a 7ft enclosure in July. I do not however give her Mazuri or calcium powder. I do have a calcium stick thingy in there..
Her shell is bumpy even though I'm hitting what everyone has told me to do.... so please help, I want to have as smooth of a shell as I possibly can with her! She is also over 1 years old and very small compared to the 1 year olds I see... please please help with any advice you can give me! I'm here to listen and change my ways! Thanks!!

What are you using for heat and light?

 

[Joetheyido]

What is your substrate there? Sand mix? You might have some sand impaction happening. Not enough to stop the whole works, but enough to block some of the intestine.

Soil/ cococoir. He/she has been on bark the first few yrs never see eat it and food is allways in a dish

 

[Anyfoot]

I don't do red foots, but I might have a tid bit of info that can help.

The electric heat that we all use is extremely desiccating be it CHE or incandescent basking bulb. This is a huge contributor to pyramiding. When temps are on the cool side, like 75-85, it encourages the tortoises to bask and hang out under the heating elements more, which causes more pyramiding. In my hatchling enclosures, I let ambient temps creep into the low 90s during the day. This discourages basking because they are already warm enough, and they stay warmer longer in-between basking sessions. The result for my stars, leopards and sulcatas is ZERO pyramiding.

Daily soaks help too. Instead of speculating about the wild and what may or may not happen there, I get better results when I do the things that I know work in a captive environment. Daily soaks work to reduce or eliminate pyramiding.

Another element of my strategy to prevent pyramiding is regular spraying of the carapace with either distilled or RO water. At least 3-4 times a day, but more is better. It really helps. I learned this trick from RF keepers.

How old are your smooth stars, Leo’s and sullys Tom?

 

[Pearly]

So I always have 80%-90% humidity and ahe has varying temps to go to, one said is normally around 75F and the other is 85F. She has a big water for her to drink and bath in. No I dont give her a bath every day, just once a week or so because she wouldnt gwt bathed in the wild and I figured with the humidity she wouldnt need it. I can bath her more often if that will help. I give her as much variety of food as I possibly can. She gets lettuce abs romaine lettuce in winter, but spring and summer I do all kinds of weeds and flowers that I know are safe. I do one day fruit with greens, one day just greens, one day veggies and greens, one day just greens, etc and I try to give her some protein once a week. Her enclosure has tons and tons of rolly pollies in there, so if I see one I put it by her to get. Idk if she gets them on her own.. we are going to start to build her a 7ft enclosure in July. I do not however give her Mazuri or calcium powder. I do have a calcium stick thingy in there..
Her shell is bumpy even though I'm hitting what everyone has told me to do.... so please help, I want to have as smooth of a shell as I possibly can with her! She is also over 1 years old and very small compared to the 1 year olds I see... please please help with any advice you can give me! I'm here to listen and change my ways! Thanks!!

She looks to me like a juvenile RF and as for such I’d keep by the following rules: encolure temp 80-85F (never let temps go lower than 80), with humidity AT LEAST 80% (more is better), daily 20-30 min baths in warm water temps betw. 95-105F. You temp gun will be your best friend[emoji6] My 2 RFs are almost 3 yrs old and I STILL bathe them daily and will continue to do so until they permanently move outside to their big garden and I see them use their wafing pools every day. And also work on the diet. WIDE VARIETY is the key to raising healthy RF. Check out Tortoise Library and Turtletary websites for great RF diet tips. RFs eat lots of mushrooms, fruit and also animal
protein, make sure you get those for her as well. Plus, your list of greens should be LOOOOOONG[emoji6] there are lots of good greens you can use daily (try to change them out daily or mix different ones. I have been mainly using store bought produce for mine but even with that you can provide a pretty good variety. Check out your farmers matkets, your Whole Foods produce, oriental markets, or other ethnic ones. Their produce is often much more interesting then our lettuces. Though some lettuce is ok to as PART of the diet. Think of such lettuces as : endive, escarole, radicchio, use collard greens, try mustard greens, go easy on spinach/kales (not good in lg amts) also do not forget your cactus!!! And Opuntia pads can be bought in many grocery stores as can dandelion greens,some even carry purslane. Add all kinds of tropical fruit (papayas, mango, melons, prickly pear fruit, fresh figs, all kinds of berries) the list just goes on and on! Then your mushrooms, occasional egg, and meat/fish every week. In nature they eat anything they can find dead or not moving (too fast[emoji6]) Some people do pinky mice, i thing it’s gross and stick with grocery store fresh or cooked shrimp (never any salt/spices), fish, or any meat. When cooking I trim off little bites of fresh meats and they adore that. Check out thise websites that I mentioned above. They were my “RF bible” the first 1.5 yrs. As for bumpy shell, don’t worry about it, it’s cosmetic and some torts just do that. Both of mine have been kept in same conditions “since birth” (2” when i got them, with egg tooth still there, Tuckers yolks sac scar was not quite fully closed, still raw and wet looking) Shelly (RF) is and has been little bumpy and Tucker (cherryhead) smooth, but they are both healthy and strong and I adore them both. As long as you know you’ve got all the RF keeping principles covered, I don’t think there is any reason for concern about little bumpy shell

 

[Tom]

How old are your smooth stars, Leo’s and sullys Tom?

I have lots and lots of all three. Are you asking about babies or my adults? All of my babies raised in closed chambers are perfectly smooth, then I ruin all my hard work when they get bigger and have to go live outside in my dry climate. I'm continually looking for ways to improve that transition and I think I've got it now, but I have no immediate plans of raising any babies for a long time now.

 

[Anyfoot]

I have lots and lots of all three. Are you asking about babies or my adults? All of my babies raised in closed chambers are perfectly smooth, then I ruin all my hard work when they get bigger and have to go live outside in my dry climate. I'm continually looking for ways to improve that transition and I think I've got it now, but I have no immediate plans of raising any babies for a long time now.

I meant your babies. I keep seeing a change at around 6 months old with redfoots, and I’m not moving them into a different enclosure.
I’m waiting to see what my next lot are going to be like. So far so good atcatound 8 months old.

When you say the outside dry climate is ruining them, what exactly are you seeing that is ruining them, and roughly how old are they at this period?

 

[Emily Deshar]

Let me ad one thing that you might find interesting.
Redfoot kept in a tropical setting, such as here in steamy south Florida, mimic the Redfoots natural range pretty well. Warm. Very, very humid.
But my Redfoot still spend a lot of time soaking in their pools of water.
I can only imagine that they also take water and or mud baths in the wild.
They are very aquatic actually.

Makes sense. I have a big water bowl in her enclosure that she goes in and out throughout the day. Some days more than others and I spray her shell, but it's just not enough I guess. So I've been giving her a bath every day since I made this post. She actually stopped eating after I first started doing it for 3 days.. last night she finally pooped really big and is eating again..weird huh..

 

[Emily Deshar]

What are you using for heat and light?

Che bulb and Uvb strip light

 

[Emily Deshar]

Soil/ cococoir. He/she has been on bark the first few yrs never see eat it and food is allways in a dish

That's what I use too and I have a very thin layer of cocobark on top to help it not be so wet and muddy to help prevent shell rot.