In 1984, the Blue Ribbon Pet Farm in Miami received a shipment of 3500
unusually colored red-footeds from South America, along with a
large batch of chaco tortoises (Chelonoidis chilensis).
The
brilliant red colors were so remarkable that Scott Hearsey
listed them as ‘Cherry-head Red-foots’ on the next price list.
‘Cherry-head’ was just a way to describe the distinctive colors of the
batch. They had no way of knowing that these animals would
turn out to be such a phenomena!
 While
‘cherry-head’ is a commonly used name, we will call them Eastern or
Brazilian red-footeds in recognition of
both their primary range and the not-so-minor detail that not all of
them have bright red heads. See “Red-footed- Natural History“ for more information about other types of red-footeds. Note:
Most of the information on this page, other than description, probably
applies to the Southern or Gran Chaco red-footed tortoises as well.
Eastern red-footed tortoises are a bit of a mystery. No one seems to
know the exact range or preferred habitat, if it is a subspecies or a
different species or just a local variant, etc. Most Easterns are
distinctively red but some can also look a lot like a ‘normal’
Northern group red-footed with yellow markings. Some tortoise farms in the region call them ‘yellow red-footeds’ and ‘red red-footeds’, apparently to differentiate between the color morphs, or subspecies, or whatever they are.
Tortoises marked
as ‘cherry-heads’ often cost more
because dealers learned a long time ago that any unusual color
variation in a reptile makes it more desirable, and people will pay
more for that. This has also led to a
lot of other marketing hype, like calling them ‘dwarfs’, or
calling a
colorful Northern red-footed a ‘cherry-head’ and so on. Buyers beware!
Before you pay more for a tortoise claimed to be a ‘cherry-head’ or a
‘dwarf’, do your homework! While Easterns are generally smaller overall than Northerns, they are not ‘dwarf’ versions of Northerns- just a smaller race.
Easterns
are a good choice for the keeper since they seem to be a bit
smaller and hardier than the more common Northern group. The fact that
they are prettier as well is just a nice bonus!
Description and gender differences
The
things
that make an Eastern different from
a typical Northeastern red-footed include:
- A mostly
dark plastron, which often lacks a defined pattern.
- The carapace is
more likely to show mottling (white spaces developing between
scutes as they grow) than Northerns.
- An
enlarged, colorful, scale on the inside of the front ‘elbows’.
- The
nose
is usually brightly colored and slightly bulbous compared to a
Northern. This is the ‘Rudolph Sign’.
- The
scales on the head and legs are the same color- brick red to a cherry
red, oranges, some
yellows, even pinkish on occasion. There are often not as many colored
scales as on Northerns.
- Typical
sizes are 23cm/9in for males, 25cm/10in
for females compared to about 30cm/12in for Northeasterns, although
‘giant’ individuals over 35cm/14in are often found.
Different
groups of red-footeds have distinctive shell shapes. Brazilians are
often described as ‘egg-shaped’, compared to others which are ‘loaf’ or
‘bowl’ shaped, although there is a lot of variation in this group.
Comparing the plastrons- Northern on the left, Brazilian on the right (Allegra Fung)
Elbow spur and bulbous nose (Allegra Fung)
Elbow spur (Mark Adkins)
Northern, left, vs Brazilian, right (Allegra Fung)
Gender
differences can include:
- Adult
male Easterns do not show the ‘wasp waist’ shell constriction, and
often do not have as deep of a plastron indentation.
- Some adult
males show a flaring of the rear marginals.
- Large female
Easterns often develop a bit of a ‘bump’ on the last vertebral scute,
giving the shell a bit of a pointy look.
- They
appear to reach maturity earlier and at a smaller size than
Northeasterns- 15cm/6in and about 4-6 years old, compared to
20cm/8in and 6-8 years old.
- Females do not generally lay eggs
until about 24cm/9.5in.
- Male Easterns are generally smaller than
same-age females, unlike Northeasterns.
- For unknown reasons,
some
female Easterns in captivity develop male-like features- longer
tails, indented plastrons, and wide anal scute angles. These females
generally do not reproduce well.
Natural history
Imagine
if you will a scene out of any Western you’ve ever watched. Rocky
hillsides spotted with brush and cacti, lush valleys of greener
vegetation
and creeks, plains of dry grass and thorny scrub rustling in the breeze
in between the two, birds of prey floating high overhead… The greener
areas in this scenario would be a common type locality of the Southern
and Eastern red-footed. Because we do
not know their exact range, we do not know every biome and ecosystem
they come from, but scrub savannas are probably pretty typical.
Easterns
seem to come from the central-eastern part of Brazil- Bahia (near towns
like Lencois and Baiaxa Grande), and possibly Goias, Mato Grosso, etc.
The area’s climate is
more variable than Northern South America- the coast is moderated by ocean
currents, while the climate varies more inland. There are
drier highlands and green lowlands, swamps and near-desert scrubs. If
they are like other Southern red-footeds, then they seek out the greener
lowlands and valleys- not exactly as lush as the rain forest or thick
grassy wet savanna of the Northeastern red-footeds.
One of the
mainstay foods in the region are Opuntia-like cacti. Southern red-footeds freely eat
the fruits and pads, seemingly unhurt by the thorns
piercing their cheeks, and Easterns probably do as well. They probably
eat a lower percentage of fruit
overall than their forest-dwelling cousins since they experience a less
extreme growing and fruiting season.
Southern red-footeds have
been observed aestivating during hot,
dry weather and probably aestivate or maybe even brumate during cold spells as well. Again,
Easterns
probably act much the same as they are known in captivity to be more
comfortable in cooler weather than other types. While Northeastern red-footeds generally use
debris piles, fallen trees, etc. as hides, Southerns seem to show a
preference for burrows made by giant armadillos
(Priodontes maximus)
as they dig for insects. The decline in the giant armadillo is thought
to be one reason for the overall decline in red-footeds in some
areas.
Care considerations
Some observations
by many keepers include:
- ‘Downtimes’- Many keepers have observed that their Easterns slow down in the winter for several weeks.
They are less active and eat less even when kept at the usual
temps and humidity. There is not a strong consensus as to whether we should fight this with higher temps or something, leave them alone, or actually cool things off a bit to allow them to go into some form of dormancy. Most keepers just let them ride through this.
- Cacti are probably a preferred food in the wild, and they seem to like it in captivity.
- Adult
males are known to fight in many situations. Keep adult males
separated, or in a very large habitat with lots of obstacles so each can have a territory and not see the others.
- Some people want to know how to make the
colors brighter. While nothing is proven to work, foods rich in beta carotene
affect the colors of many other animals. It can be found in orange and
dark green plants- carrots, yellow squash, yams, collards, spinach and
kale. Natural sunlight also affects color- but not in a predictable way.
- They do not seem to drink as
much as other red-footeds, but water should always be available.
- They
tend to be active at cooler temps than other red-footeds as long as it
is sunny, but may hide during cloudy periods.
- While
other red-footeds generally begin to nest in late August/early September
and additional clutches roughly every month for 3-4 months, Brazilians
do not seem to start at as regular a time, or have as
regular intervals between clutches.
- They
are
more tolerant of temperature and humidity extremes, but young
tortoises should be kept warm and humid like other red-footeds.
Carl May- Brazilian ‘cherry-head’
Resources
- Guix, Juan Carlos, Daniel L. Fedullo and Flavio B. Molina. “Masculinization of captive females of Chelonoidis carbonaria (Testudinidae)” Rev. Esp. Herp. #15, 2001.
- May, Carl D. “The Care and Breeding or the Red-headed or ‘Cherryhead’ Red Foot Tortoise”, Radiata, 2004
- May, Carl D. personal communications
- Paull, Richard C. The Great Red-Foot Tortoise (Tortoises of the World, Vol. 4)
 . Green Nature Books, 1999.ISBN 188808927X.
- Tortoise Forum, personal communications
- Vargas-Ramirez, Mario and Jerome Maran, Uwe Fritz. “Red- and yellow-footed tortoises, Chelonoidis carbonaria and C. denticulata (Reptilia: Testudines: Testudinidae), in South American savannahs and forests: do their phylogeographies reflect distinct habitats?” Organisms, Diversity and Evolution, 2010.
- Vinke, Thomas and Sabine Vinke. “The Turtle and Tortoise Fauna of the Central Chaco of Paraguay” Radiata 10:3, 2001.
- Vinke, Thomas and Sabine Vinke. “An Unusual Survival Strategy of the Red-Footed Tortoise Geochelone carbonaria in the Chaco Boreal of Paraguay.” Radiata 12(3) 2003.
- Vinke, Thomas, Sabine Vinke, Holger Vetter and Susane Vetter. South American Tortoises, ‘Chelonoidis Carbonaria, C. Denticulata and C. Chilensis’ (Chelonian Library #3)
, Chelonian Library Vol. 3. Chimera Edition, 2008. ISBN 3899736036.
Revised 6-3-2012. (C) Mark Adkins
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