I' know they aren't round... Red footed Tortoises

[brewmaster15]

they make up for it in personality.. :D:D:D:D

I have some new additions to the family.. These are a group of captive breed South American Red foot tortoises....

Their current home is a 75 gal tank...but they'll out grow it in a year and then have a section of the yard in the summer and a room in the basement in the winter.

My kids have named them of course...
my Daughter's are friendbear,rainbow and sam
my sons are turtley, turtley, turley (:D)

-al

[brewmaster15]

They are very easy to please food wise...

here they are eating rose of sharon flowers..

hope you enjoyed seeing them,
al

[Condor]

LOL those are awesome! How big do they get?

Adrian

[brewmaster15]

Hi Adrian,

They get to be 12-16" and can live for many decades..

-al

[oodi]

Those are beautiful Al... way too cool!!

Judi
:)

[AmberC]

Pretty cool! Thanks for sharing :D

Amber

[Greg Richardson]

Where did you get them? I have no idea where you get the time. LOL!
I notice you feeding them flowers.
Once in yard then you need to put them in a fenced area with no flowers so you aren't sleeping on the couch?

We've seen a few big ones trout fishing few years back. No idea what kind they were. But we haven't seen any in a few years.

[AADiscus]

Those are way cool Al. You will have your own zoo before too long. lol

[kaceyo]

Hey Al,
This reminded me of when I was a kid in L.A. and a neighbor had a tortoise. I used to pic (I think they were) Hibiscus flowers for it to eat. Pretty cool little group of critters you got there. Are you planning on breeding them?

Kacey

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Thanks, yes they are a neat little group.:) I have always been into reptiles, and have recently taken a few steps back to them.. Mainly ratsnakes and tortoises...at this point.

These are future breeders...it'll take a good 5-6 years before they are old enough, and I'll need a few more unrelated specimens.

Greg , These are from a breeder thats been working with this species for a long time....

This species is a south American Tortoise that are often wild caught for the pet trade..I wanted nothing to do with that...but these tortoises are bred more and more in captivity and thats the key to saving the wild species.... Whats nice about them is they don't hibernate...most tortoises sold in pet shops need to hibernate to really be healthy... these guys don't... and their care is relatively easy.... grasses, vegetables, fruit in moderation....they are basically grazers.

kacey,
I'd believe hibiscus as Rose of sharon are members of the same family and they love these flowers.

-al

[Jason]

coool! I want to get some!
I've had turtles my whole life except for the last couple years, time to get some again I think.

[April]

wow brew..guess your not going anywhere for awhile..you have to live long enough to caretake those guys..
nice tortoises.

[Chrisb]

Wow Al those are too cool:D

Chris

[mmorris]

I've always loved tortoises, and these are beautiful. Are the dabs of green and red paint to enable your son and daughter to tell whose is whose? Will they be in the playroom part of the basement or the fishroom part? Playroom, I hope. I'm guessing they'll need a bit of space. Martha

[Darren's Discus]

Al,
very cool is this some kind of secret project ? could we see in the future the first discus with a hard shell ?What will you call this new strain,Distioses or maybe Torcus ?


cheers

[mmorris]

Al,
very cool is this some kind of secret project ? could we see in the future the first discus with a hard shell ?What will you call this new strain,Distioses or maybe Torcus ?


cheers

LOL It might revolutionize the concept of pecking order. Plus we would have a new symptom to contend with: `My discus won't come out of his shell! What should I do?' :D
Martha

[brewmaster15]

LOl,

You guys are too funny... :)

April,


wow brew..guess your not going anywhere for awhile..you have to live long enough to caretake those guys..
nice tortoises. I'm hoping to live a heck of alot longer than that April.:D I'm shooting for at least a nice round number like 100 years.. but will take as much time here as given.;) Then Ryan can inherit the forum:D:D:D:D:D


-al

[brewmaster15]

Thought I would post a few images here of my red footed Tortoises. I had gotten 6 back in the summer of 2007 as captive bred hatchlings.. It'll be 7 years since I got them this summer. I have 5 now here still, The 6th, a runt, I gave to one of my brothers. The largest of the group is about 12'' long now.. They are still growing but I need to find a male in the next few years..yes.. they are all females!

They spend the winter indoors here, but once the temps warm up , they go outside for a few months. I built them an outdoor pen thats about 20 feet X 30 feet. I'll be framing off part ogf my garage this summer to do the same inside for them..they are too big now for tanks and still growing!

-al



http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82706&d=1403005637

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[Second Hand Pat]

These guys must love being outside Al and definitely too big for tanks. Sort of a shame they are all females. Is gender determined by temp maintained while they are still in the egg?

[brewmaster15]

Pat with some turtles yes.. But I have a feeling the breeder that I bought them from just had a disproportionate number of females this hatch and sent them my way. A male of breeding age is going to set me back a few hundred dollars, but I have 5 females to breed it with so not to concerned there.

That last set of pics was with my cell phone.. I have to say, the Droid Razor X2 has a terrible camera! Heres a set I took with my pentax DSLR K20D. Its an older digital but still a great camera.

-al

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82709&d=1403008052

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[brewmaster15]

two more...

She's eating one her favorite foods here...fresh Grape vine leaves...

-al

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82715&d=1403008439

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82714&d=1403008429

[pcsb23]

These are great, I remember seeing these when I was over in 2009. They were quite small then and iirc in an acrylic tank. Definitely time to get a male I'd say :)

[April]

Pretty cool!

[brewmaster15]

Pretty cool! April,
do you still have yours?
-al

[Chicago Discus]

These are really neat wish I had time to have some. I just have two red ear sliders.....Very cool Al.......Josie

[pauline]

Those are so cool. It's especially nice that you've created such a natural habitat for them.

[brewmaster15]

Thank you!
These are a really great tortoise to keep...they are easy to maintain and very gentle creatures. The pen is planted with plants they like to eat from.. Theres daylily, rose of sharon, and grape vines.

-al

[MKD]

They look great and healthy Al. I don't know about your tortoises and how tall is your fence but my 3 toes turtle keep climbing out 12" block fence. at first i did not know they are able to climb over. Then 1 day i caught them use other's back and climbed over :). It's crazy so i let them run all over my backyard.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Tony,
So far these guys haven't shown any inclination to climb, they are really heavy and slow movers so they should not be able to climb.. ythe walls were about 18 " then some mulch so probably close to 15 " and its such a large pen that they pretty much all spread out in it... but I have been watching and built it so I could easily add more height if needed.

I like the 3 toed alot..I had some a few years ago as well as grew up with native eastern box turtles here... These red footed tortoises are native to South America.

-al

[dagray]

Very cool Al. I too love reptiles and used to keep iguanas. As a kid I would go outside and flip boards over and try to catch garter snakes, gopher snakes, frogs, salamanders, and red bellied newts.

red eared sliders are now on the invasive specie list here in Oregon as people would buy them and later dump them in the local ponds, and we all know the rest of that story with the Sliders taking over.

I used to work where I could catch some good sized bull snakes (four to six feet in length) and have transported six or so home to let loose over the years and now I see a baby (one foot plus or minus in length) about every year coming from under the house. Bull snakes are great for eating spiders, scorpions, rattle snakes, mice and other vermin.

[Discusdude7]

Very cool Al. I know that you have to soak some tortoises often, how often do you have to soak these ones?

[brewmaster15]

Very cool Al. I know that you have to soak some tortoises often, how often do you have to soak these ones?

They do like to soak , when inside I usually let them have a bath every couple of days...not long...just 20-30 mins in warm water. While outside, not as often, as I usually spray them lightly and their pen a bit with the garden house to bump up the moisture and cool them off if the days real hot....simulate a rainy day in the tropics I guess.:) They seem to like it.

[brewmaster15]

Very cool Al. I too love reptiles and used to keep iguanas. As a kid I would go outside and flip boards over and try to catch garter snakes, gopher snakes, frogs, salamanders, and red bellied newts.

red eared sliders are now on the invasive specie list here in Oregon as people would buy them and later dump them in the local ponds, and we all know the rest of that story with the Sliders taking over.

I used to work where I could catch some good sized bull snakes (four to six feet in length) and have transported six or so home to let loose over the years and now I see a baby (one foot plus or minus in length) about every year coming from under the house. Bull snakes are great for eating spiders, scorpions, rattle snakes, mice and other vermin.



Red ear sliders are a problem in a lot of places now Dave, I see them on Craigslist here in CT all the time. They are a nice turtle to keep as a pet,I've had them myself. Unfortunately with reptiles in general, theres a major problem with unwanted pets. The problem is people get them, and then tire of them. Reptiles are often longer lived than most cats and Dogs. Tortoises can live 40 -50 plus years.. I joke with my family, that these red footed tortoises will be in my will.

I would enjoy having a bull snake here...I keep and breed alot of Rat snake species... Currently I have a pair of albino ratsnakes, pair of Blackratsnake X Texas ratsnakes, and some offspring of them that my kids raised from eggs. We also have a Garter Snake thats in a Vivarium in the kids treehouse.

-al

[OC Discus]

That's cool Al. I imagined Connecticut to be all urban. You seem like a good ole country boy like many of us in the south. Is the black worm business your full-time work? Is it a home based business? I haven't ordered any yet. Are any of the worms enriched with vitamins and maybe some spirulina?

[brewmaster15]

That's cool Al. I imagined Connecticut to be all urban. You seem like a good ole country boy like many of us in the south. Is the black worm business your full-time work? Is it a home based business? I haven't ordered any yet. Are any of the worms enriched with vitamins and maybe some spirulina?

CT is pretty developed but there are patches here and there of country. I would move if I could to somewhere less developed. I would love to have a huge farm somewhere. Freeze Dried Blackworms are my home based business, its not the only thing I do,but its my main focus these days. My freeze dried blackworms come in several varieties...give me call and I'd be happy to tell you more and help you figure out whats best for your needs.

Thanks,
Al

[OC Discus]

Thanks!

[thaifh.com]

Nice!!!

[brewmaster15]

Well it took 10 years of patience but my hatchlings from 2007 are finally starting to lay eggs. You guys think it takes patience to grow out discus to breeding age...thats nothing! 10 years here for these guys. NOW THE FUN STARTS!

Im really hoping these hatch. They are just starting to lay..but finding the first egg last week was cool.Since then ...2 more for a total of 3. :)

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al

[fishbubbles]

I used to breed bobwhite quail when I was younger. 5 birds quickly became 50 and then 200 and then......... I think you get the point. Watching animals hatch and having a direct role in it is very thrilling.

[Discus-n00b]

Congrats Al, this should be fun to watch! How small are they when they first hatch? And do they start out with hard shells or does it take time for it to harden? I don't know anything about tortoises!

[brewmaster15]

Matt they hatch out at about 2 inches...
112940

Their shell will be kind of leathery...not soft but not fully hardened.
al

[brewmaster15]

112941

when we got them in 2007 they were only a few weeks old... The container they are eating out of here is a Chinese food take out container..

[brewmaster15]

The biggest is now about 14 inches Long.

112942

[Jenene]

That is amazing Al. A true labor of love and I must say from personal experience those guys live like royalty. Being shuttled in and out every day and their living spaces are amazing...

Yes..you need a big farm. What a crazy mix you would keep! You should really write a book Al... stop laughing...it would be really good! Just squeeze it into your schedule...the one with all the extra leisure time in it. :p

[Second Hand Pat]

What a labor of love. So glad these guys are finally doing something for you Al.

My gopher tortoises are increasing. There is a sub-adult male living halfway up the driveway and a four inch baby living under the well house.
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Been a few years now since I updated on these guys..Its hard to believe that I have had them now 13 years ( hatchlings in 2007). If you think Discus are tough to breed, try waiting on Tortoises that can live more than 50 years. Breeding has been sporadic, I only had one male in the group so a few years ago got a second young male, He is only about 5 now I think, but I am hopeful that he will start breeding soon.. When I first got him the other male responded with alot of head bobbing and breeding attempts with the girls...then it tapered off.

This year I updated their outside pen which is 20X30 Feet. We used to take them in every night and bring them outside the next day when they were smaller. Now that they are really large we made an enclosure in the pen that they go into at night on their own. We just need to lock the door when they are in to keep the critters out, then we open the door in the am and they come "charging out" at a tortoise pace for breakfast. The enclosure has a heat lamp for chilly nights. I am thinking that we should be able to keep these guys outside until Sept .. They are much happier with the summer cottage than being inside in the cooler months here. I also built a small wooden bin next to the enclosure and filled it with compost and leaves, hopefully they will use that to lay eggs,

Time will tell.


For now, its just really cool having these guys..

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Al

[peewee1]

Most interesting, Al. But I have three questions. Why is the turtle house so tall for such short dwellers? How do they manage to open and close that door? And how do they use that small white toilet located on the right of the first picture?

[brewmaster15]

Most interesting, Al. But I have three questions. Why is the turtle house so tall for such short dwellers? How do they manage to open and close that door? And how do they use that small white toilet located on the right of the first picture?

Lol..

Why is the turtle house so tall for such short dwellers?
Because I am not small...and I need to be able to reach in and clean it,:)


How do they manage to open and close that door? They can't, We do a head count every night and close them in, securing the door. They are really good about going in for the night as soon as it starts getting dark they head for shelter. Then in the am we let them out by opening the door and they come marching out.


And how do they use that small white toilet located on the right of the first picture? ahh.. Thats actually not a toilet, but to keep them from using their water dish as a toilet.Thats an old cat water dish that we fill up with drinking water. They can reach in to drink. They also have some water dishes but 9/10 times if they can sit in it, it becomes a toilet.

al

[brewmaster15]

Came down to the tortoise pen and found eggs.. probably wont hatch but its a step in the right direction. Time to incubate and pray.
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Al