I was browsing through the sticky and found a lot of good tid bits, but I still had some questions about my Red Tail. And truthfully, they may have been answered in the sticky but that's a heck of a lot of skimming and I probably missed a bunch of stuff.
In any event, the questions:
1.) Is there a generic growth rate for Red Tails? On and off of MFK, I'm finding a lot of answers like "should be 10in by the 1st year", "should be just under 2ft by the first year", "shouldn't reach 2ft for the a few years", and so forth. Is there a general size range that they should reach for their 1st year, 2nd year, etc? I know they're supposed to grow quickly, but that's really rather vague, heh.
2.) What is the coldest temperature that a Red Tail can handle? I'm seeing mid 60's as the most common answer, but on other forums there's reports of them handling mid 50's and lower. And then there's the info from the LFS he was purchased from (they side with the 50's or lower info).
Depending on the temperature range, I'll know where to house my buddy as he outgrows all my tanks. Ideally, I'd like to put him out in OK at my aunt's property since that's a several acres of property that's just pond. But the winters will mean a general water temperature of 40-50s. If that's too cold, I want to put him at my place in FL. It's a little over an acre (the water area) in size, smaller than in OK, but the winter would mean a general water temperature of the low to mid 60s.
3.) I've seen on a lot of sites that Red Tails will readily accept foods from hand and often become very "friendly" with their owners. Is this true for the species as a whole, or just the few who happen to own rather personable individuals?
Eh, I think that's about it. Everything was just idle thoughts, hah. Oh, here's my lil' buddy:
Oh, one more question lol. A lot of sites say that crustaceans make up a large part of Red Tails diet. Any particular crustacean or does it not matter? I feed Marmorkrebs (crayfish) to my other cats, could I do the same with my Red Tail?
In any event, the questions:
1.) Is there a generic growth rate for Red Tails? On and off of MFK, I'm finding a lot of answers like "should be 10in by the 1st year", "should be just under 2ft by the first year", "shouldn't reach 2ft for the a few years", and so forth. Is there a general size range that they should reach for their 1st year, 2nd year, etc? I know they're supposed to grow quickly, but that's really rather vague, heh.
2.) What is the coldest temperature that a Red Tail can handle? I'm seeing mid 60's as the most common answer, but on other forums there's reports of them handling mid 50's and lower. And then there's the info from the LFS he was purchased from (they side with the 50's or lower info).
Depending on the temperature range, I'll know where to house my buddy as he outgrows all my tanks. Ideally, I'd like to put him out in OK at my aunt's property since that's a several acres of property that's just pond. But the winters will mean a general water temperature of 40-50s. If that's too cold, I want to put him at my place in FL. It's a little over an acre (the water area) in size, smaller than in OK, but the winter would mean a general water temperature of the low to mid 60s.
3.) I've seen on a lot of sites that Red Tails will readily accept foods from hand and often become very "friendly" with their owners. Is this true for the species as a whole, or just the few who happen to own rather personable individuals?
Eh, I think that's about it. Everything was just idle thoughts, hah. Oh, here's my lil' buddy:
Oh, one more question lol. A lot of sites say that crustaceans make up a large part of Red Tails diet. Any particular crustacean or does it not matter? I feed Marmorkrebs (crayfish) to my other cats, could I do the same with my Red Tail?
