hello you lovely people just a couple of questions for you redfoot owners out there?

i been more then lucky enough to be given a redfoot which is a large boy aswell the owners before kept it in a viv,but i really dont want to keep in a viv as my other torts are all on tables.

what have you done for your redfoot indoor encloser & outdoor encloser???

what substence do you use??? as i know it must be damp.x

shall i keep him out doors in a green house with a large encloser coming off it for the summer & not bring him in...starting from now???

or shall i have a indoors & outdoors???

all info will be very much greatful for,i have also done alot of reserch on this tort & know quite a bit now but i would like to talk to people who actully own a redfoot even better a large one like mine,but all info will be all taken on bored.

any info on redfoots i will be greatful for as you can never know enough.x

thankyou so much for taking your time to read this post please please let me know & if you could show me pics via here or email that will be fab.x

thankyou so much  xxxxxxxxxxx

Hi there,

This is a big topic and I’ll admit that I don’t keep this species so I’ll have to stick to some basics plundered from a friend of mine who keeps and breed’s Redfoot’s.

Some people keep their Red’s indoors full time using things as diverse as large wardrobes turned on the back to create enclosures. I think your idea of providing outdoor accommodation is good but something to always consider is temperature. They are far more used to a stable temperature than a Med tortoise. They can experience a temperature drop overnight but most agree only to 20-24 degrees C.

Some people say the adults basks, others not. So if you go down the greenhouse route I fell you will need to provide some UVB lighting and some overnight heating. If its not warm enough outside for them to venture out, greenhouse glass filters out UVB light. They will get some of the vitamin D3 requirement through their food and supplements but nothing beats sunshine. With a greenhouse it’ll be worth investing in an automatic device that will open the windows at a set temperature, that way they won’t get too hot either. The other thing to consider with a greenhouse is the amount of light. As I understand it, Redfoots prefer shade. You could heavily plant out the greenhouse, making a canopy for the tortoises to live under; this would also help with keeping the humidity levels up.

When you say they should be kept damp, I think Humid is more accurate. The substrate my friend uses (which I also use for my humidity loving box turtles) is a combination of potting compost, garden mulch, coco fibre and sphagnum moss. This holds moisture very well and rising temperatures causes it to dry slowly releasing humidity into the air at the level the tortoises are at. A humid microclimate if you like.

Can I recommend this book on the species too?

http://www.amazon.com/Tortoises-Chelonoidis-Carbonaria-Denticulata-Chilensis/dp/3899736036

thankyou so much dave for your taking your time to advice me & help me :) i have had a change of mind of the greenhouse & was thinking of the outdoors encloser as a shed heated & lighted (uvb) also themosate (how ever it spelt lol) or a summer house, i also thought of a large wardrobe or somthing on this dispriction funny enough,i have done so much reserch & asked loads of people,its not as hard as it seems to be honest now i know the facts it okay i can find somthing to suit him,funny enough i bought this book off amazon last night it should be with me any day,

i was also thinking of making my own viv type encloser for him but not really a viv only to keep the humid air in there for him,as if i used a open tort table like my other torts im sure the humid will just go into the air not stay in,so i had this brain wave can you please tell me what you think???

having a shed but insulated it out through out,but also put a wardrobe in there on its back as you said but put a big large sheet of perspect plastic glass over top with a hinge so i can open it & he can walk out  with a very large bowl of water & maybe even a small reptile waterfall,heat bulb also uvb hanging with substance of soil mixed with bark & some moss to keep & hold moisture for him,but i was going to have a cool end & hot end,in the cool end i was going to add a very large box (hide) for him to go in when his hot or tired. coming off the shed or summerhouse (im not sure what one yet) have a very large run in the garden so he can have a good day roaming about catching some sun,with hides & tunnels etc to keep him busy.

what do you think???

does this sound okay???

do you think i should add more stuff,what would you do???

just thought i ask,thankyou so much for taking your time to read this hope to hear off you soon dave,take care.x

Hello again,

I like the idea of a perspex sheet for keeping in humidity but I would allow some open space for air circulation, done cover it completely or have ventilation holes drilled either in the perspex or in the side of the enclosure. My box turtles when outside have about half their enclosure covered with perspex on hot days, it works really well at keeping it muggy in there, which they like.

I think a shed is a great idea too for this species. The box you mention for cooling off could have a dual purpose. Its much easier to heat a smaller space than a whole shed overnight, if the box is big enough you could mount a ceramic tubular greenhouse heater in the roof and run it off of the thermostat.  This is something I've done with Hermanns tortoises, they soon figure out where its warm at night. 

This is the inside of one of my Hermanns nighttime (and hibernation) boxes.

[IMG]http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr148/davekirk72/abc023.jpg[/IMG]

You can see the tubular heater in the lid. Thats attached to a Lucky Reptile Thermocontrol II thermostat which has a day and night setting so I can also wwarm them up in th morning. The silver lining is Airtec Double Insulation which comes in a roll, its quite expensive but very good.

Oops, still getting the hang of photo's,should appear below.

thanks dave you have been great,set up looks really good,its a little hard to see clearly but i can still see it what substance did you use in your table there thanks

Hello,

If you click on the picture it'll show a little bigger. This one is part of a bigger enclosure. It sits on the substrate with an entrance at the near end.  The hides in there are pieces of cork bark as my Hermanns like to sleep under something whilst at the same time digging in a little.