Wild Caught Yellow-Foot Tortoise

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MeganAlyse

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I recently came into possession of a wild caught yellow footed tortoise, estimated to be about 3 years old. The seller said she had been "dewormed" and had been eating like a pig and seemed healthy while in his care. What should I do to try and make my tortoise as comfortable and healthy as possible?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Megan:

Build her a nice, roomy outdoor habitat. There's no way a wild caught tortoise can thrive indoors.

Lots of plants for shade and humidity, with plenty of broad-leaf weeds and ground covers to eat. A pool big enough for her to enter and sit.

This is a good time to be getting a new tortoise because she has all summer and part of the fall to get used to you before you have to bring her indoors for the winter.

You might take in a stool sample to the vet to have it checked for parasites (even though you've been told that has been taken care of). Also, find out what kinds of foods she is used to eating.
 

EricIvins

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Feed and take care of it?

Seriously, everyone makes this out to be harder than it really is......Feed and take care of it like you would if it were a captive bred animal......The shyness will last all of three days once it realizes you are the hand that feeds it.......
 

Laura

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do you have others? have you done your homework on this type ?
Do not put it with other torts.. a quarantine is needed.. good diet..
private time to get it used to be in captivity.. outdoors is best.. Big area.
like Yvonne said..
this person who took it.. does he do this a lot? permits? Dont encourage him to take more.. unless its done legally..
 

-EJ

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Wild caught Yellow foots are very difficult to acclimate although the odds increase with a younger age. Have a vet check it out. As with any WC tortoise... protozoa are the greatest threat.

If it's small your best chances to acclimate is to get a large stock tank or large aquarium with a good thick layer of mulch and leaf litter. Keep one section really moist but give the tortoise the opportunity to dry out.

One of those land/aquatic turtle tubs would work great for yellowfoots... they really like the water.

If has not been feeding... any sweet fruit will get it going. Once they are eating... use the fruit to flavor something like Mazuri tortoise diet. If you get the tortoise eating that the rest of the battle is easy to win.


MeganAlyse said:
I recently came into possession of a wild caught yellow footed tortoise, estimated to be about 3 years old. The seller said she had been "dewormed" and had been eating like a pig and seemed healthy while in his care. What should I do to try and make my tortoise as comfortable and healthy as possible?
 

MeganAlyse

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She eats just fine, eating everything I offer her from bananas and collard greens to the decor in her tank. She's in a 60 gallon tank (I think an aquarium), with cyprus mulch in about 3/4 of it, and sand in the other, dry and hot end. She has a very large water dish to soak in that I've seen her sitting in more than once. She is a little scared when I try to touch her, and moves her legs up and down rhythmically, like a slowed-down shiver? I'm not sure what it means. I don't have the money right now to do a fecal exam, and I live on top of a hill, so I don't have adequate room for a large outdoor enclosure (nor the money to build one, after setting up her tank). She's got both UVA (also the heating bulb) and UVB (next to her hide spot on the cold side of her tank). I've taped up the sides with duct tape so she can't see through the glass and hurt herself. I've done a lot of research on this species, though most people want to tell you about red-foot ones. The seller was very busy and didn't get much time to talk to me, since I purchased her at a reptile expo, but said he had had her for about 2 months. I made him write out his info for me, so I could look it up later... His name was Brian with wildsidepet. I'll try to get pictures soon. She's about 4 1/2 in SCL.
 

MeganAlyse

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Picturessss...

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Yvonne G

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I don't know...waiting to hear from Madkins or EJ or someone with more knowledge about the species...but that looks like a redfoot to me.
 

Yvonne G

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The usual way to tell them apart is the spots on the head. A yellowfoot has two vertical circles directly above the nares, while a redfoot's spots start with only one.
 

matt41gb

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That is a red-foot tortoise 100%. Some have a lot of yellow on their heads and legs.

-Matt
 

Yvonne G

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Whew! (wipes brow) I wasn't sure.
 

allegraf

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That is a redfoot and does not look like a WC. You can check out tortoiselibrary.org for more care info.
 

MeganAlyse

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I was told it was wild caught... Why would someone lie about THAT? And the way people talk about red-foots, she seems very skiddish for a captive-bred one.

Though she only half-retreats into her shell when confronted with a finger trying to pet gently on the head.
 

EricIvins

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It is a "Farm Raised" Colombian Redfoot - I'd venture to say 50-60% come in like that........Colombians are very prone to being lumpy, and that is a trait right out of the wild.......Some are bred and hatched at the Farm, others are collected as hatchlings and raised untill the 4" ( legal ) mark......I see anywhere between 200-400 at a time when they do come in, and the majority are lumpy and bumpy........It isn't diet or anything environmental either......Some will smooth out somewhat, others just get worse with time.......


AND just because a Tortoise has yellow legs doesn't make it a Yellowfoot.........
 

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MeganAlyse

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She's very smooth and well-rounded. Does that mean she's not wild caught, and is farm raised like you said? Sorry... some of your wording confused me a bit, Eric. Thanks :)
 
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