The RedFoot Tortoise

Helping educate current and potential owners of Redfoot tortoises on their husbandry, so they can have a healthy, active tortoise and the tortoise can express its normal behavior and live a long, healthy life.

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Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods – The Big 7

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Let me first say, when it comes to top Redfoot Tortoise foods, yours should be getting a 60% fruit, 35% greens, and 5% animal protein diet. Conventional wisdom for their diet seems to be 90% greens and 10% fruit.

Like most convention wisdom, it’s wrong and based on what I call “shopping mall science”, but that’s a discussion for another day.

That being said, all 7 have excellent Calcium to Phosphorus ratios and no to low oxalates (oxalic acid).

So without further ado, here are . . . . .

The Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number one.

1) Papaya

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods - PapayaIt’s inherent to Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, and Bolivia, all areas with native Redfoot Tortoise populations. This is a food item they would encounter in their natural environment.

Very high in beta carotene, the precursor to Vitamin A, a critical vitamin for Tortoises with its important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction.

Papaya has significant levels of both carotenoids and polyphenols which are important for your Redfoot tortoise’s health.

They have a 2:1 Calcium to Phosphorus ratio, the ideal for any tortoise food.

Lastly, no oxalates at all. 🙂

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number two.

2) Mango

Mangoes, Another of the Top Redfoot Tortoise FoodsThe Mango serves as a back-up for the Papaya, since this fruit is native to South Asia and not South America.

If papayas are not available in your area, you can substitute with mangoes, which in many parts of the country are cheaper than papayas.

Again, these are high in beta-carotene, lutein, and polyphenols; like quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechins and tannins.

Another one with no oxalates.

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number three.

3) Figs

Top Redfoot Tortoise food number 3Another excellent Redfoot food due to its excellent (3:1) Calcium to Phosphorus ratio.

Figs are also high in Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium, and Vitamin K.

Make sure you feed them only fresh figs, not dried.

Fresh figs have lower sugar content and retain all of the vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

No oxalates.

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number four.

4) Pineapple

Top Redfoot Tortoise food #4Not a fruit native to Central America or South America (although they were introduced by the Dutch in the 1600’s and grow in Surinam on the northeast coast of South America), but one with an excellent calcium to phosphorus ratio, 2:1.

Costa Rica in Central America is the world’s largest producer of Pineapple, so maybe they are a native plant for Redfoot’s.

Also high in Manganese and Vitamin C.

Another one with no oxalates.

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number five.

5) Turnip Greens

Top Redfoot Tortoise Food Number 5
Turnip Greens

The single best green (in my opinion) you can feed any tortoise.

Excellent calcium to phosphorus ratio, 3:1, low oxalate content, high fiber, high in beta carotene, Folate, Vitamin C, and Vitamin K. Also, high in manganese.

Easy to find in all parts of the country in almost any grocery store and as such can be the foundational green of any tortoises diet.

Are also very easy grow in most parts of the country and you can eat the turnip and save the greens for your Redfoot!

 

 

 

 

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number six.

6) Dandelion Greens

Top Redfoot Tortoise food number 6Boy, is there a weed anywhere in the United States more common than the dandelion?

They are everywhere and almost year round in some parts of the country.

Here in Texas they start showing up in late January.

Anyway, another great green (and flower!) for any tortoise you can get free right from your yard!

Excellent calcium to phosphorus ratio, 2:1 and high in Vitamins A and C, with a good fiber content.

One caveat, don’t make it the only green you feed your tortoise because they can cause kidney and renal related issues on occasion.

Another one with no oxalates.

Top Redfoot Tortoise Foods number seven.

7) Hibiscus leaves and flowers

Top Redfoot Tortoise food #7A flowering plant native to subtropical and tropical areas of the world – so a somewhat native food item for Redfoot Tortoises.

Both the leaves and flowers are excellent food items for any tortoise species because of their high levels of calcium, Vitamin C and Iron.

My Redfoots, Russian’s and Greek’s all devour the leaves and flowers, so I’m confident yours will too.

A good level of fiber in the leaves is a plus as well.

No oxalates.

There you have it, the top Redfoot Tortoise foods. Make these seven the foundational components of your Redfoot’s diet and you’ll be well on your way to a healthy, active tortoise to enjoy for many decades.

For videos on my Redfoot’s (adults and hatchlings) regarding diet, pens, and general Redfoot “stuff” check out my YouTube Channel – Redfoot Tortoise Guy

Re-purpose An Old Pen To a new Indoor Redfoot Tortoise Enclosure

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New Indoor Redfoot Tortoise Enclosure

Now that we’ve moved to the Dallas metroplex from Minneapolis, we need to create an indoor pen for our sub-adult Redfoot tortoises.

I’m using a 3 foot by 8 foot wood pen I had been using for one of my male Russians, who’s now in with another male and costing nicely, for my small sub-adult Redfoot herd.

First, my wife and I used an old dark brown tarp and fit and cut it to size for the inside of the pen. This will keep moisture levels higher at tortoise level, which is important for Redfoot’s since they’re tropical forest animals. We’ve used duct tape to adhere it to the top of the pen.

For the substrate I’ve used my combo of choice, a 50/50 mix pf topsoil and expanded, damp coconut fiber. This we top with 1-2 inches of finely milled cypress mulch.

The beauty of this substrate is it retains moisture very well, but with the cypress mulch topping keeps the tortoises from getting any level of shell rot on their plastron’s if the topsoil/coconut fiber gets too wet from my adding water to it.

I use a 3-4 inch depth of substrate because over time it compacts down to 2=3 inches even with my added weekly water.

Next we add plastic plants to one third of the pen to give them places to hide and simulate the forest floor where at this age they spend 100% of their time. To the next third we add the heat emitter and light to provide constant heat and dim light to simulate the light inside a tropical forest.

A 100 watt heat emitter keeps the pen at a 70-85 degree temperature gradient across the pen. The light I’m using is a 13 watt UVB bulb. It’s the only bulb I had at home and I wanted as low a wattage as possible because I don’t want a bulb to produce heat.

UVB bulbs aren’t required for Redfoot’s as long as you feed them a small amount of animal protein (low fat cat food for example) mixed with a liberal amount of pure calcium carbonate every 10 days or so.

I’m using Plexiglas we brought with us to Texas to cover the pen top in order to hold in the heat and moisture. It’s not the best looking setup, but it works for now. 🙂

We mist down the pen every other day to ensure the humidity stays at 60-80%.

So there you have it, a way to re-purpose a pen used for an arid species to one for a forest species.

A Cheap, Easy Outdoor Redfoot Tortoise Pen

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A Cheap, Easy Outdoor Redfoot Tortoise Pen

If setting up a short-term outdoor pen for your Redfoot Tortoises is a problem, here’s another quick idea for you.

It’s a plastic baby pool anyone over the age of 40 will remember from childhood. Anyway, it’s nice a round and easy to fill with my substrate, the 50/50 topsoil, coconut fiber mix, and covered with an inch or two of cypress mulch.

There’s some moss, a hide, and plastic plant so your Redfoot’s can dig in and hide when they get too warm or to feel safe.

I have it temporarily covered with our old puppy fence, but a mosquito or bird netting will work much better and a small role of either one is cheap. You want to make sure no predator can get in while your Redfoot tortoises are outside.

This isn’t meant to be one they can live in outside 24/7 it isn’t secure enough, but more of a 4-6 hour time outside.

You can put this setup together for $35-40 total cost, so if you’re looking for a quick and easy outdoor pen for your Redfoot Tortoises, here’s another idea to consider.