red foot tortoise

[ohh_kristina]

I am a snake person, but I have been wanting to venture out and get a tortoise. I am thinking a red foot tortoise will do. Can anyone recommend a good care sheet? I found a few, but they were vague - I like in depth care sheets, so that I can provide as well as possible. Also, how fast do they grow? I know they start off quite small..how big do they get in a year? two years?
Thanks for your time!

[Linds]

They grow very slow... the bulk of their growth is within the first 15- 20 years, then its slows down even more. My two year old still fits in my hand quite nicely :) I've had him since about 3 months of age, but never bothered to really keep any growth records. There aren't a whole lot of great caresheets on redfoots out there, tortoisetrust.org is your best bet for accurate info. Best to find other keepers and go from there, that's what I found worked best.

They are really great tortoises... they actually recognize their keepers as their caregivers and are not shy at all. Mine will greet me every time I talk to him, open his cage, or walk in the room :)

If you have any questions, just ask ;)

[ohh_kristina]

thanks Linds! It was actually the pictures of your red foot that convinced me to think about getting one!

[red bootz]

Linds is right. I have a pair of four year olds and the bigger of the two is still under 9 inches SCL (last time I checked). But, ultimately they are capable of reaching more than 16" shell alone (the average is about 14) so future care is something to consider. You might wanna try the world chelonian trust site as well, www.chelonia.org...

I think mine greet me too. They ALWAYS come out to say hi when I get back from work. Maybe they're just hungry...

[albinoman]

Try these links


http://www.**************/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHredfoot.htm

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/feeding_redfoots.html

http://www.geocities.com/~pawsplus/beasley.html

http://members.tripod.com/~Draybar/redfootcare.html