Interestingly enough, some believe the baby cherryhead tortoise for sale were intentionally bred to be small red-footed tortoises but in fact, they are actually native to Brazil.  Secondly, the smaller variation of red footed tortoise is an Eastern variant which sports a red head and was named the cherryhead tortoise for sale in the pet trade.

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.

Their natural habitat ranges from savannah to forest edges around the Amazon Basin. They are omnivorous with a diet based on a wide assortment of plants, mostly fruit when available, but also including grasses, flowers, fungi, carrion, and invertebrates. They do not brumate, but may aestivate in hot, dry weather.