Winter Care
November 21st, 2006 by redfoot
When it’s time to take my redfoot tortoises in for the season, I try to keep them as happy as possible. This year I changed their habitat systems a bit to keep them at a more comfortable temperature and humidity. For their humidity needs, I mist them a couple of times a week for about 30 minutes. They become quite active and make their happy grinding/chirping/clucking sounds.
Every few days, I feed them a variety of greens with papaya. I supplement their salad with with Dr. Donoghue ’s Forest Tortoise Complete available through Rock Solid Herpetoculture. I think that it has really done wonders for my tortoises.
I hope to post photos of their current indoor habitat soon. Please feel free to comment on the techniques you use to keep your tortoises happy and healthy over the winter season. Thanks for reading.
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I’m the owner of a Red Footed Tortoise, Simon. I have owned Simon now for about six or seven years. When I purchased Simon he fit in the palm of my hand and now he is about 12 inches long. It has been a challenge keeping Simon because of the lack of humidity in California.
I made a habitat for him in the back yard that contains a small pond shallow enough for him to move in and out of. The habitat contains various herbs and is set beneath an apple tree. In the fall he feasts on apples that fall from the tree and strawberries in the summer. His favorite food is Tortoise food by Rep-Cal fortified with fruit and vitamins. He even prefers this over fresh fruit and vegetables.
The weather has become very cold, so I place Simon in a shallow glass acquarium at night with a heat lamp, moss and bark. Simon has become so large that this enclosure is too small for him. I have been searching for a larger cage for him in the winter. I know that if his enclosure is too small it will stunt his growth, so I want something that will allow him to move about freely and keep him warm. If you have any suggestions or know where I can purchase a larger habitat, please advise.
The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, CA has wonderful cave-like enclosures with ramps for their tortoises. I would love get one or build one for my tortoise. Does anyone have any suggestions?