Tortoise Red footed (diet, housing, strange behaviour)?

Question

Last week I adopted a red footed tortoise around 11 months to 1 year old.
It is 9cm x 7cm (4in x 3in). It doesn't have pyramiding.
I want it to grow normal and healthy without pyramiding.

Diet:
What kind of nutrition should it have?

It seems that like a lot lettuce almost everything that eat 85%.
fruits not to much 5%, flowers 10%. is that right?

Is there any rule of how much food should I give it. Like a cup of
salad for every inch every week...

how often should I feed it?

Maybe I haven't noticed but I read on every website that drinks a
lot of water but mine doesn't. I moist everyday the dirt.

Strange:
Sometimes when it goes to spleep it burried on the ground is that
normal?

Housing:
How big should the space for it be?
I always have to get it out of "its house" is that normal?
How much should a tortoise sleep

How much excercise?

Answer 1

Diet: http://www.petdoc.ws/TortDiet.html is THE BEST article on tortoise diet I have seen on-line. I wish I had written it. Note that it has a modification for Red-foots by increasing the amount of fruit.

The basic recommendation is:
- ~40% 'Fodder'- fresh or dry hay, grass, alfalfa, clover, 'yard plants', flowers, leaves, etc.
- ~40% Veggies- almost anything, including mushrooms, but not onion, peppers, etc.
- ~20% Fruits and Berries- again, almost anything except citrus
- Under 5% Proteins- mashed hard boiled or scrambled eggs and shells, pinkies, cooked chicken, etc.
- Calcium suppliment (like RepCal)
- Vitamin suppliment for reptiles (with B13) every other meal
- Quantity of food: The size of the head is a common guide, but for tortoises, I give a handful of 'fodder' (hay, grass, alfalfa, clover, yard plants, etc.) that I leave in until gone or the next day, and a handful of a 'salad' of mixed veggies, fruits, and proteins that I remove when it starts to smell or wilt. I adjust the handful size based on how much leftover I have in general.
- At about 1 year old, I'd feed it every other day.
- AVOID: light green head lettuce (nutritionally empty), hamburger or other fatty meats, too much stuff from the cabbage family (kale, brocolli, etc.) in a week, any dangerous to eat plant.
- The MOST IMPORTANT rule of feeding tortoises is 'Variety'. Mix things up and you should be OK. They sometimes get picky, but if you offer variety it should find something it likes!

Many tortoises, including Red-foots, like to sleep partially protected, either buried, dug in, in a cave or hole of some sort, etc. They sleep A LOT! They live a long time partially because they don't do much.

Housing should be at least 100 square inches per inch of turtle shell. A 6" Red-foot would need 600 square inches, or about 12"x50". It should be able to get freely in and out of any house, pool, or shelter space.

If it is hiding in a shelter, consider that something may be wrong elsewhere- it may be too bright (Red-foots like basking, but often avoid strong sun otherwise), too warm, too cold, or too noisy (vibrations) in the rest of the cage.

Tortoises are not big on exercise, but they do enjoy exploration and variety. Offering a variety of places to climb on, hide in, etc. is good. You can also hide food bits around in the cage for more enrichment.

Answer 2

Diet - you should feel HEALTHY greens like collards, mustard and dandelion greens (just plain old lettuce is not healthy). Fruits (they LOVE fruit) and cactus pads (prickly pear), avoid bananas tho....fruits like strawberries, any berries pretty much, apples, pears, etc. They also need protein every once in a while, so soak some dog or cat food about once a month in warm water and feed him that. He will LOVE you for it. As far as how much, just use your discretion and try not to feed TOO much because TRUST ME, he will eat WHATEVER you put in front of him....tortoises are little lawn mower piggys! If he is only 4", no way is he a year old, he is just a baby! So feed him a good handful or two.....unless you have the dimensions wrong.....but if he is a year old, he should be more like 8 to 10" long. Feed him daily to every other day. He should ALWAYS have fresh water. As far as him burying himself, that is COMPLETELY normal (and so cute too, I love it when mine do that!). The housing space should be as large as you can have it, they need space. They sleep/relax a lot and yes its normal that you have to get him out of his house, he is a lazy ol' tortoise. Usually tho if he smells the food, the will come running for it, give him a chance to come out, they are slow creatures......oh and don't worry about exercise.....also, if you keep him inside, be sure he has a heat lamp and TRY to put him outside when its warm because natural sunlight is important. Never take him outside tho if its under 80 degrees, because they are made for WARM weather.

I hope I answered all your questions. Please keep moistening his dirt, that is good for him! Have fun and good luck!

Answer 3

Have a look at these pages:

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/redfootcare.htm

http://www.honoluluzoo.org/red-footed_tortoise.htm

The best place to find information on tortoises is probly looking online for pages with information about them.

About the sleeping, I have a yelow eared slider turtle. I have her in a big pool in the summer and in the winter I take him out because he hibernates 6 months or so. Normally between November and May. It's normal if he hibernates don't worry about him or wake him up. Mine doesn't eat between that period and when she wakes up I make sure she has enough food throughout the summer.