Does anyone keep these? I am thinking of getting 1 or 2. What type of enclosure is the best? size of enclosure? what else do i need? i am looking into the cherry head type as they will be smaller when full-grown.
RED FOOT TORTOISE
- Thread starter CHILLI RED
- Start date
Very rewarding torts to keep
I dont have them at the moment (insted I have a male yellow head tortoise wich is filling a huge terrarium in the basement
) but know several people that own them. The keys for good keeping is like in most tortoises a large habitat(even cherrys must have at least a 5 foot terrarium
), a constantly moist and warm evoirement(day temps in the 26-28C with 32c basking spot and 25c during the nigth), a large but shallow warm water conteiner, a good deco(large peaces of cork for hidding, coconut fiber bedding material, fake plants, a smood rock here and there) and a fiber rich diet(60-70% dark leafy vegetables and other greens, green beans, butter nut cabage, water cress, green kale, mustard greens, chycory greens, collard greens, turnip greens, spineless Opuncia, Hibiscus, dandilions,etc, along side 40-30% fiber rich fruit like figs, mango ,papaya, bananas, grapes,etc). Also the habitat must be a "closed" one that is it must build in a green house kind of thing, as oposed to a open habitat like a tortoise pen wich is better for grassland species
I dont have them at the moment (insted I have a male yellow head tortoise wich is filling a huge terrarium in the basement) but know several people that own them. The keys for good keeping is like in most tortoises a large habitat(even cherrys must have at least a 5 foot terrarium), a constantly moist and warm evoirement(day temps in the 26-28C with 32c basking spot and 25c during the nigth), a large but shallow warm water conteiner, a good deco(large peaces of cork for hidding, coconut fiber bedding material, fake plants, a smood rock here and there) and a fiber rich diet(60-70% dark leafy vegetables and other greens, green beans, butter nut cabage, water cress, green kale, mustard greens, chycory greens, collard greens, turnip greens, spineless Opuncia, Hibiscus, dandilions,etc, along side 40-30% fiber rich fruit like figs, mango ,papaya, bananas, grapes,etc). Also the habitat must be a "closed" one that is it must build in a green house kind of thing, as oposed to a open habitat like a tortoise pen wich is better for grassland speciesThey're easy to keep, very personable, and very interactive... We keep babies in small cattle troughs with alphalpha pellets as a bedding and a 40watt basking light on one side, floruscent light fixture running lenght wise (zoomed 5.0), they're soaked every other day, and go outdoors with weather permits.
Adults are kept outdoors on a yearly basis, only occasionally when it gets real! cold do we bring them in (60F or below), other than that they live in a outdoor pen that measures 50ft x 80ft maybe smaller, we have a huge spineless cactus thats in they're pen and provides daily snacks for them, we feed them the same stuff we feed our bearded dragons, there is a papaya tree at one corner of they're enclosure, so it provides them with a little treat every now and then...
They're loud when it comes to mating LOL, but other than that... they're one of my favorite tortoises, and one of the prettiest too... I'll post photos later this week so you can see they're pen... Its nothing fancy... just KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Raul
Adults are kept outdoors on a yearly basis, only occasionally when it gets real! cold do we bring them in (60F or below), other than that they live in a outdoor pen that measures 50ft x 80ft maybe smaller, we have a huge spineless cactus thats in they're pen and provides daily snacks for them, we feed them the same stuff we feed our bearded dragons, there is a papaya tree at one corner of they're enclosure, so it provides them with a little treat every now and then...
They're loud when it comes to mating LOL, but other than that... they're one of my favorite tortoises, and one of the prettiest too... I'll post photos later this week so you can see they're pen... Its nothing fancy... just KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Raul
Here are some photos I pulled out of my photobucket
these guys are at least a year old... when I get home I'll post the outdoor pens.
these guys are at least a year old... when I get home I'll post the outdoor pens.
Great looking Torts! I'd love to get a few of these guys in the future. I wish I could keep more stuff outdoors in this climate. 