Housing and Environment

The short version

• Start a hatchling in a 4 × 2 ft (120 × 60 cm) covered enclosure (keeper experience, not proven) and work up to at least 8 × 4 ft (2.4 × 1.2 m) for an adult [1].
• Give a modest 90–95°F (32–35°C) basking spot and keep the rest of the pen 75–85°F (24–29°C) [1][4].
• Humidity should average 70–80%, with a humid hide [1][4].
• Use a T5 HO UVB tube aimed at a UV Index of 2–3 at the basking spot [1].
• Provide at least 4 in (10 cm) of moist soil mix with leaf litter on top [1].

A tropical forest tortoise

The red-footed tortoise comes from northern and central South America east of the Andes and the southern edge of Central America. It lives in humid forest, forest edge and wet savanna, and people spread it to several Caribbean islands in the 1600s as a food animal [1][5].

Two things set it apart from Russian, Greek and sulcata tortoises:

• It is a tropical forest tortoise. It wants 70–80% humidity, shade and damp substrate, not a dry desert tank [1][4].
• It does not hibernate [3]. It is active and eating all year, so it needs heat and light all year.

Enclosure size by age

Tortoises grow slowly but steadily. A red-foot with room to walk grows a smoother shell and stays fitter. Start small enough that a hatchling can easily find food, water and the warm spot, then upgrade as it grows.

Sources differ on minimums. One gives a single 24 sq ft (6 × 4 ft) minimum for any age [4]; another gives 32–72 sq ft for adults [1]. The hatchling and juvenile sizes above are keeper experience, not proven.

Use solid walls. A tortoise that can see through a wall will pace it all day. Indoor pens need a solid sight barrier at least 4–5 in (10–13 cm) high. Outdoor pen walls should be at least 2 ft (60 cm) tall and sunk 12 in (30 cm) into the ground [1]. Another guide accepts walls 16 in (40 cm) high set a few inches into the ground [2].

Outdoor pens

In a northern climate like upstate New York, adults can live outdoors roughly June through early September, when nights stay above 50°F (10°C). Give them an insulated hide box with an outdoor-rated heater on a thermostat set to 70–75°F (21–24°C) [1][2]. Bring them in when daytime highs fall below 65°F (18°C) [1].

Outdoor pens need shade (shade cloth or plants) and a shallow water dish or small pond [2]. Protect them from dogs, raccoons and crows with a covered or secure pen. You will still need a full indoor adult pen for the other eight or nine months of the year.

Temperatures and basking

Red-foots bask less, and at lower temperatures, than desert tortoises. They want a warm, humid space with a modest hot spot, not a 100°F (38°C) rock.

For daytime basking, use a halogen flood bulb or a radiant heat panel on a thermostat, at least 12 in (30 cm) above the shell [1]. For night heat, use a ceramic heat emitter, deep-heat projector or radiant panel on a thermostat. Skip colored night bulbs. Keep hatchlings a little warmer at night than adults [1].

Measure the basking surface with an infrared temperature gun and the air with a digital thermometer at tortoise height.

Light cycle: about 13 hours on in summer and 11 hours in winter [1]. Basking heat and lights go off at night.

UVB lighting

UVB is required indoors. It is how your tortoise makes vitamin D3 and uses the calcium in its food. Tortoises outdoors in unfiltered sun do not need a lamp [4].

• Use a linear T5 HO tube about half the length of the enclosure, on the warm side, so your tortoise can move out of it [1].
• Aim for a UV Index of 2.0–3.0 at the basking spot. Check with a UV index meter if you have one [1].
• Mounting distances [1]:
  • 6% (5.0) tube: 11–14 in (28–35 cm) through mesh, or 14–17 in (35–43 cm) with no mesh.
  • 12% (10.0) tube: 17–22 in (43–55 cm) through mesh, or 21–25 in (53–62 cm) with no mesh.
• Run it 11–13 hours a day [1][3]. Replace tubes at least as often as the maker says, or check them regularly with a UV meter, because UVB output fades before the visible light does [3].
• Compact coil UVB bulbs do not work well, and glass or plastic between lamp and tortoise blocks UVB completely.
• A bright 6500K LED daylight strip over most of the enclosure helps appetite and activity [1].

Humidity and hides

Aim for 70–80% average humidity, measured with a digital hygrometer at tortoise level, plus a humid hide [1][4]. One guide treats up to 90% as normal, with short spikes to 100% after misting [1].

Sources disagree here. A UK veterinary factsheet gives a lower 50–60%, plus an area of damp substrate or a humidity chamber [3]. US keeper guides use the higher range [1][4], and research in sulcata tortoises linked low humidity to pyramided shells [16]. We recommend the higher range, especially for hatchlings.

How to get there:

• Use deep, moist substrate. Stir and re-wet it weekly.
• Mist 2–3 times a day, or run a cool-mist humidifier or fogger on a timer. Disinfect reservoirs 2–4 times a month [1].
• Partly cover an open-top pen. A closed PVC enclosure holds humidity best.
• Add a humid hide: a plastic box or half-log over damp sphagnum moss or coco fiber on the cool side. Baby red-foots raised indoors should always have one [2][4]. Keepers believe a humid hide helps prevent pyramiding; this fits the sulcata research above but has not been tested in red-foots [16].
• Provide at least one more dry, dark hide on the warm side, plus plants or cork bark for cover.

Substrate

Indoors, use at least 4 in (10 cm) of a soil mix. One good recipe is 40% organic topsoil, 40% coco fiber and 20% play sand by weight, with 1 in (2.5 cm) of leaf litter on top [1]. Cypress mulch or orchid bark over coco fiber also works, according to keepers. Keep it damp enough to clump, but never soggy. Outdoors, aim for 12 in (30 cm) of diggable soil [1].

Avoid dry aspen, straw, pellets, reptile carpet, calcium sand, and cedar or pine shavings. Spot-clean daily and replace indoor substrate every 3–6 months [1].