Tortstork - How we raise Indian star babies

shellfreak

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
653
I get a lot of questions about how i raise my Indian stars from day one. I’ll explain in bullet form. If anyone wants to reach out to me, please do so at [email protected]
-place on damp paper towel donut at first sight of pip
-I remove them from the incubator after a few milestones. 1. Their yolk sac is absorbed (it’s okay if their plastron isn’t 100% fused yet). 2. They eat. 3. They drink during a soak.
-place them in a closed chamber with wet paper towels as substrate. This allows me to monitor their poop.
-closed chamber also creates ambient temp of around 88°F and 90% humidity. Condensation builds on the walls.
-after about 2 weeks I switch the substrate to cypress mulch. This also helps with humidity, but more importantly allows them to burrow ever so slightly so they don’t feel stressed.
-if you’re interested in how i make a closed chamber feel free to review my Hatch a tortoise Care guide.
4B2B9C4B-C72A-4A8F-B49D-CB94FC57D026.jpeg
 

Tes

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
57
Location (City and/or State)
The Netherlands
Thank you for the information! Perhaps a slightly off-topic question; do you see your Indian stars burrow?
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
I get a lot of questions about how i raise my Indian stars from day one. I’ll explain in bullet form. If anyone wants to reach out to me, please do so at [email protected]
-place on damp paper towel donut at first sight of pip
-I remove them from the incubator after a few milestones. 1. Their yolk sac is absorbed (it’s okay if their plastron isn’t 100% fused yet). 2. They eat. 3. They drink during a soak.
-place them in a closed chamber with wet paper towels as substrate. This allows me to monitor their poop.
-closed chamber also creates ambient temp of around 88°F and 90% humidity. Condensation builds on the walls.
-after about 2 weeks I switch the substrate to cypress mulch. This also helps with humidity, but more importantly allows them to burrow ever so slightly so they don’t feel stressed.
-if you’re interested in how i make a closed chamber feel free to review my Hatch a tortoise Care guide.
View attachment 319845
Oh man those are pretty
 

Lrodmyre

Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 7, 2018
Messages
62
Location (City and/or State)
Lindstrom, MN
Thank you for the information! Perhaps a slightly off-topic question; do you see your Indian stars burrow?
My Indian Stars burrow all the time. They don't dig down far, but they do burrow, mostly at night when they are going to sleep.
 
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