Yellow Foot Question

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tortguy521

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Hi i read online that yellow foots like there habitat to be dark and they are not to fond of bright lights well i just got a yellow foot about a week ago and she is pretty active and her uv bulb is nice and bright and her tort table is all lit up and the bright lights do not seem to bother her at all she is still active and eats well so is it ok to not darken the enclosure and keep it the way it is? the bright light will not affect there health right? let me know what you guys think and also can i put one of my red foots in the same enclosure with a yellow foot? Ive heard mixed feelings about that.

thanks
 

jackrat

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The redfoots probably won't like the light.I know mine don't.
 

matt41gb

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I keep two yellow-foots along with the rest of my red-foots. I haven't noticed my yellows seeking darkness any more than my red-foots. They are very active and seem to seek my attention when I'm outside. However, I believe captive bred tortoises act differently than wild tortoises. A wild yellow-foot is found in more dense forests than a wild red-foot. I would provide a dark hide and fake plants to hide in since they are less stressed when they can feel their surroundings. Let your yellow-foot decide whether or not it wants to seek darkness or not. I would by no means keep the enclosure very bright. Warm, humid, and lower lighting is good.

Here is one of my females out and about on a bright day.

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-Matt
 

terryo

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Matt, that girl is beautiful and so smooth. She's just perfect. How long have you had her? Is she outside all the time or do you bring her in?
 

matt41gb

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Thanks! I bought her last year from a guy in Florida, he actually had her posted on Craigslist. He had her for a long time. I believe she was wild caught at some point. She is so friendly and outgoing, she kind of blows everything we have been told about yellow-foots hating sunlight out of the water. She does her share of hiding, but she is out in the sun eating and hanging out just as much. I do bring them inside when the temps dip below 60f at night, they have a heated shed. Here are some more pics of her.

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Madkins007

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Stress in animals is generally defined as the energy expended to make up for the difference between the habitat and diet they need and what they get. Stress is not easy to measure in many animals, including tortoises, but contributes to a lot of little issues.

That is a fancy way of saying that just because you do not see anything bad going on when you are not offering the optimal habitat, it does not mean that bad things are not going on.

On the other hand, there is not a lot of solid evidence that light is a key element of an optimal habitat for Yellows. Just because they spend time in forest does not necessarily mean they hate light. They are often seen in sunny openings, etc. For Red- and Yellow-foots, I think it makes most sense to just offer them a lot of options so they can self-select.

Of course, if the bright lights are not providing a known benefit, why pay for the brightness?

As for sharing living spaces- Reds- and Yellows- share habitat in the wild, so why not in captivity. As long as they all have enough space and options, go for it.
 

matt41gb

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Agreed. Mine have access to sun, shade, deep underground burrows. I let them do what they please. If they are eating, drinking, and acting normal I shouldn't have any reason to worry. It's really neat to have enough outside space to watch how they choose to live. You can really gather a lot of useful data for these types of situations.
 
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