5 month old Red foot not eating

Question
Hi there, I wonder if someone can help me, I bought 2 red foor Tortoise for my son, we picked them up on Friday and theyve not been very active, one of them hasnt eaten, Im really worried :(

Answer
Hi Sandra,

Can you give me more information, so I can help?  I need to know:

1)  How old/big the tortoises are and where you got them
2)  What kind of enclosure and how big?
3)  What kind of basking/UVB bulb you're using, and what the basking and cool area temperatures are (measured on the substrate)
4)  Substrate?
5)  Foods you've offered

Generally speaking, because they're tropical tortoises, redfoots like a lot of moisture in their enclosure, with some areas that are actually boggy/muddy.  If the RFs you have are hatchlings or small juveniles (3-6 months old), it's best to keep them on sphagnum moss (not peat moss--here we call it long-fiber sphagnum moss) which can be kept very moist.  Then when they're older, a mix of coir/playsand/moss works fine, but the moisture is very important.

Take a look at their eyes; if they're too dry, they tend to have small bubbles in the corners of their eyes, or watery-looking eyes.  If you see that, try soaking them every other day for about a week and increase moisture in the enclosure.  The basking temperature should be around 90 degrees.

Redfoots are omnivores, so the base diet should be greens, with fruit, veggies, and some animal protein.  To tempt them to eat, you can try mushrooms, squash, really ripe fruit like pears or melon (avoid banana and citrus), or mango and persimmon.  Not sure what you have there, but in my experience ripe mango or persimmon are favorites.  You don't want to feed animal protein too often (once a week is plenty), but if you can get redworms (the smaller worms), try those.  Sometimes wiggling will get their attention.  

Try not to worry too much yet.  If you got them from a private breeder, they're likely very healthy and just adjusting.  Some young redfoots tend to hide a lot (instinct), or are most active earlier in the morning and then hide, so it may be that you just haven't seen their active time.  If you post back with additional information, I can help you pinpoint if there are any other changes you might need to make.  Thanks!