i was wondering how difficult stars are to keep? and i have seen 2 different shell patterns shri lankin and indian i believe i may be wrong one has thinner yellow lines i was wondering can they be kept inside in the southeastern area,are they problematic and how big do they get?

I have been keeping and breeding SriLankan Stars since 2000, I have also kept Indian Stars since 1995. They are in fact quite different. Visually they can be quite variable, both Indians and SriLankans. In general the SriLankans will have thicker Radials than Indians, but not always. The primary difference is really size. I have seen 10 year old male Indians that were barely 4" and female that were 6 1/2" to 7 1/2". The same age Srilankan would be close to double that. SriLankans also seem to graze WAY more than Indians and also do not dislike the rain, where as Indians seem to hate it. This has been my experience with them in South Florida. SriLankans will also tolerate more cold weather than Indians will no ill effects. I understand that this is true of Burmese stars and will be able to let you know about that over the next few years. I only had to bring in my stars 2 nights this year! I do not worry about cold for Srilankans untill it will be in the mid to hight 40's and low to mid 50's on the Indians. If you intend to keep the animal or animals indoors yearround then a Indian might be the best choice for you. However if you want to have them in and out and can supply an aera large enough Srilankans may be the way to go. I have forund them to be more outgoing. My Burmese are also more outgoing. I hope that you find some of this helpfull. Douglas Beard / Flora & Fauna