12/29/09 - Please see our "statement"
on the "RF Caresheet" page.

This page is an ongoing "edit"!

"Refresh" first...

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He ( above ) and his 'cousin' ( right below ) started out like this..
[ Jan. & Feb. '05 hatchlings ]

[ be sure to 'clic' once to open.. and again to enlarge pic ]

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Shown below is the male from above..
which carries the extreme carapace marbling blood-line!
{ see here at 18 months.. clic again to see new view! }

And now at 3 years old.. that beautiful 'marbled' plastron!
Clic again.. a great view of "Male" anal scutes/tail!
He should 'contribute' in 2-3 years..

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I'm excited about this '05 female..
some of the nicest "marbling" I've seen.. [ clic again ]..

In a few years I look forward to offering..
PURE Brazilian 'marbled' "Cherryheads".

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This year we expect the first male to be 'mature'..
so we will be offering PURE Brazilian's in '09!

See how he looked at just 7".. three years ago..
now over 9" SCL [ straight carapace length ] - must not be "dwarf"!!!
[ double-clic to see his plastron ]..

<<< >>>

See his mate.. she has nested and produced in the past from other males..
she is well over 11" SCL and growing.

Current pics of him and his 'proven' mate.. coming soon!

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Early this year.. inside obviously..

His voice has changed.. so we're pretty sure he's getting the job done!
Remember he's over 9" SCL.. no "dwarf" here!

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To help I.D. your new 'Cherryhead'.
You just got a new 'cherryhead'..
and you want to be sure he IS a 'cherryhead'!

The plastron is the "best" way to I.D. them.
Yearlings shown here.. next to a "Northern" redfoot on the right-

And the nose "knows"..

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A sneek preview of 3 new additions.. about 4" SCL..
more pics soon!

They have very nice "Cherry" heads!

<<< >>>

One of the girls (?) didn't hesitate to enjoy the high-protein
( rehydrated ) DRY cat food I provide as their protein source..

She reportedly was kept in a "low-humidity" environment and had never
really had the balanced diet required by "Omnivorous" redfoots !
The 'slight' irregular carapace should be fine.
The other 2 didn't take long to join in.. and also enjoyed the 'animal' protein.

<<< >>>

Inside pics are tricky at best.. they love Hibiscus leaves and blooms!

This 'guy' is showing nice MARBLING..
and with plenty of humidity the "pyramiding" will stay in check -

A really nice "Cherry" head on this one.. moved at the last second -

This is one of the nicest "all around" colored Brazilian's I've seen in awhile!
Do I see marbling starting to show?

 

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The following is from an email..
from a very reliable breeder of Brazilian's..

[ Our mutual friend's ] animals are long termers from the 1985 Pet Farm shipment. But they are not Paraguayan as cherryheads are simply NOT found there. Or if they are, it is only in a tiny portion of the country. But the German researchers that I know who LIVE IN PARAGUAY, and who have studied the redfoots for years, assure me that they are NOT found there at all.
All of the confusion regarding so called "Paraguayan" cherryheads is from the fact that Brazilian animals were shipped from Paraguay back then----although they certainly were not collected from there.
Brazil was closed to exportation so the simple way around that was to truck hundreds of (actually, the one shipment consisted of nearly 5000 animals) tortoises into Paraguay and then send them to the USA from there. I know this for a fact as I have two friends who managed the reptile department at Pet Farm at the time. They were the ones who told me of this.
But since they were called 'Paraguayan' redfoots by Pet Farm back then (remember, Brazil was closed so Pet Farm calling them Brazilian Redfoots was tantamount to admitting they were illegally obtained) the name has stuck. But all of these animals being called true Paraguayan cherryheads is nonsense.. they are not from Paraguay.

One of his females raised from a 4" youngster..
shown here nesting for the first time at over 12" -

Not to say that they don't exist..
however it's not likely that the notorious Paraguayan "Dwarf" Cherryhead
is very common in the pet trade today! With the exception of one other breeder that I know of..
I've only seen one or two females that laid eggs at less than 10" SCL.
So beware of the 'typical' claim of "Dwarf" Cherryhead.. most grow to over 12"!

Also no 'official' *sub-species designation has been established..
so a so-called "Cherryhead" is just another redfood with a few color
and subtle physical differences.. from Brazil - still a "regular" redfoot tortoise.

*This is a very "controversial" subject in the carbonaria 'community'!
Some believe the "Brazilian" is { at least } a 'sub-species' - others believe
they are a unique species among themselves with "color" variations
based on geographic locations thru-out their range!

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If you ever have any questions about these redfoots from Brazil..
simply contact me at.. turtletary@frontier.com
931.788.2828 - central - 9a~7p
After 7p.. email me and I'll call back ASAP