Preparing to get a Burmese Star! Please help me with more care information

fernando7kose · Oct 17, 2022

Hi TFO!
I'm preparing an enclosure for this Burmese Star :

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After reading countless threads & care sheets, I'm still not sure about some care information.Please help me out with it 😃

1. Does this star tortoise look healthy? He is around 4" now

2. From what I read, it's still too early to tell the sex. Any guess?

3. In this size (4"), how long would you recommend this tort to stay outside? Does one hour of access to sunshine per inch of tortoise apply to star tortoise as well?
I read that Burmese Star handles low temp & humidity better than Sulcata/Indian Star. My outdoor enclosure temp is around 75-80 F at night, 85-100 F at daytime. Lowest humidity is 40%, it gets to 70% during night time. I also have automated sprinklers that can go on according to the schedule.
I will also prepare shades, humid hides, multiple water sources and a night box with the 80:80 rule.

4. How about soaking? How often should I soak him? I'm also planning to give him access to a shallow terracotta saucers in his enclosure.

5. How about when it's raining? The lowest temp that I've recorded during rain is 75 F, is it too cold? My garden

6. The outdoor enclosure size is around 6x6 feet, it's still a work in progress. I'm planning to surround it with 11" wooden fence (On the right side of the picture)
Any input on the enclosure? It's inspired by @Markw84 's enclosure, hopefully it would turn out as beautiful as his!

There would be :
Bromelia Imperialis & Aloe (For shades)
Small Elephant Grass
Dandelions
Hibiscus
Grape
Rose
Petunia
Geranium
Mint
Rosemary

WhatsApp Image 2022-10-17 at 3.52.30 PM.jpeg

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Special thanks to @Tom & @Markw84 for the care sheets 😁.

Tom · Oct 17, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Hi TFO!
I'm preparing an enclosure for this Burmese Star :

After reading countless threads & care sheets, I'm still not sure about some care information.Please help me out with it 😃

1. Does this star tortoise look healthy? He is around 4" now

2. From what I read, it's still too early to tell the sex. Any guess?

3. In this size (4"), how long would you recommend this tort to stay outside? Does one hour of access to sunshine per inch of tortoise apply to star tortoise as well?
I read that Burmese Star handles low temp & humidity better than Sulcata/Indian Star. My outdoor enclosure temp is around 75-80 F at night, 85-100 F at daytime. Lowest humidity is 40%, it gets to 70% during night time. I also have automated sprinklers that can go on according to the schedule.
I will also prepare shades, humid hides, multiple water sources and a night box with the 80:80 rule.

4. How about soaking? How often should I soak him? I'm also planning to give him access to a shallow terracotta saucers in his enclosure.

5. How about when it's raining? The lowest temp that I've recorded during rain is 75 F, is it too cold? My garden

6. The outdoor enclosure size is around 6x6 feet, it's still a work in progress. I'm planning to surround it with 11" wooden fence (On the right side of the picture)
Any input on the enclosure? It's inspired by @Markw84 's enclosure, hopefully it would turn out as beautiful as his!

There would be :
Bromelia Imperialis & Aloe (For shades)
Small Elephant Grass
Dandelions
Hibiscus
Grape
Rose
Petunia
Geranium
Mint
Rosemary

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Special thanks to @Tom & @Markw84 for the care sheets 😁.

Nice looking tortoise!

1. I don't see any problems in the pics.
2. Still a bit early. Could go either way, but I'm leaning female due to anal scute shape.
3. If you have a large closed chamber inside, I would use it as much as you can for as long as you can. At this size, you could go outside full time with the parameters you mentioned, but indoors does them good. When the tort gets a little it bigger, the things you mentioned make it sound like it will be an ideal environment.
4. You can't soak too much, but you can soak too little. Every day for an hour will do no harm, but that really isn't "necessary" at this size. I'd soak every other day or so. More if you want to and have the time.
5. When it is raining, the tortoise should have a dry heated box to retreat to. I like to have a basking lamp inside the heated night box for days when temps are too cool and its overcast. This would likely not be needed most of the time in your climate, but on that rare occasion, it would be nice to have.
6. 6x6 feet is too small, but yours looks much bigger than that. It looks more like 6x6 meters in the picture, and that will be fine. Does it ever get direct sunshine?

I don't know about Bromelia, but all the others sound like they will be fine. Trim off the grape clusters and don't let the tortoise eat grapes.

fernando7kose · Oct 17, 2022

Tom said:
Nice looking tortoise!

1. I don't see any problems in the pics.
2. Still a bit early. Could go either way, but I'm leaning female due to anal scute shape.
3. If you have a large closed chamber inside, I would use it as much as you can for as long as you can. At this size, you could go outside full time with the parameters you mentioned, but indoors does them good. When the tort gets a little it bigger, the things you mentioned make it sound like it will be an ideal environment.
4. You can't soak too much, but you can soak too little. Every day for an hour will do no harm, but that really isn't "necessary" at this size. I'd soak every other day or so. More if you want to and have the time.
5. When it is raining, the tortoise should have a dry heated box to retreat to. I like to have a basking lamp inside the heated night box for days when temps are too cool and its overcast. This would likely not be needed most of the time in your climate, but on that rare occasion, it would be nice to have.
6. 6x6 feet is too small, but yours looks much bigger than that. It looks more like 6x6 meters in the picture, and that will be fine. Does it ever get direct sunshine?

I don't know about Bromelia, but all the others sound like they will be fine. Trim off the grape clusters and don't let the tortoise eat grapes.

Thank you as always, Tom!
My bad, I meant to type 6x6 meters. Yes it does get direct sunshine all day, starting from 8AM.

I'm also planning to make an indoor enclosure for him/her to be housed during the night until he gets around 6" or when it rains nonstop.

Rainy season in Indonesia means that we would have heavy rain up to 5 days a week all day.
Should I provide some kind of roof in some part of the outdoor enclosure?
Or should I just house him indoor during this kind of week?

Tom · Oct 17, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Rainy season in Indonesia means that we would have heavy rain up to 5 days a week all day.
Should I provide some kind of roof in some part of the outdoor enclosure?
Or should I just house him indoor during this kind of week?

I would prefer to have it inside during that sort of heavy rain, but with a good night box, you might be able to make it work outside too.

fernando7kose · Oct 19, 2022

Tom said:
I would prefer to have it inside during that sort of heavy rain, but with a good night box, you might be able to make it work outside too.

Thank you Tom!
I will make sure to make the indoor enclosure right.

I just bought orchid bark to be used for his indoor enclosure & night box, but I noticed the one that I bought online is not as clean as the ones in this forum.
Does this look okay? Has anyone ever used orchid bark that looks like this?

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Mrs.Jennifer · Oct 19, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Thank you Tom!
I will make sure to make the indoor enclosure right.

I just bought orchid bark to be used for his indoor enclosure & night box, but I noticed the one that I bought online is not as clean as the ones in this forum.
Does this look okay? Has anyone ever used orchid bark that looks like this?

View attachment 350972 View attachment 350974

It looks like you might have bought orchid mix. What you are looking for is fir bark that is used for growing orchids. Like this:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zoo-med-premium-repti-bark-132780

Tom · Oct 19, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Thank you Tom!
I will make sure to make the indoor enclosure right.

I just bought orchid bark to be used for his indoor enclosure & night box, but I noticed the one that I bought online is not as clean as the ones in this forum.
Does this look okay? Has anyone ever used orchid bark that looks like this?

View attachment 350972 View attachment 350974

That is not the right stuff, and that is not fine grade.

If you can find it there, it is packaged as "Repti-Bark" in pet stores.

fernando7kose · Oct 19, 2022

Mrs.Jennifer said:
It looks like you might have bought orchid mix. What you are looking for is fir bark that is used for growing orchids. Like this:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zoo-med-premium-repti-bark-132780

Tom said:
That is not the right stuff, and that is not fine grade.

If you can find it there, it is packaged as "Repti-Bark" in pet stores.

Thank you!
Just want to make sure, does fine grade orchid/fir bark means that it has been sterilized & without all the dust & dirt?

I've found someone that sells cleaner looking bark, but I'm not sure if it has been sterilized or not. Would you recommend using this? Or should I just get the ZooMed one?

Tom · Oct 19, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Thank you!
Just want to make sure, does fine grade orchid/fir bark means that it has been sterilized & without all the dust & dirt?

I've found someone that sells cleaner looking bark, but I'm not sure if it has been sterilized or not. Would you recommend using this? Or should I just get the ZooMed one?
View attachment 350988 View attachment 350989

FIne grade is denoting the size of the particles, not cleanliness or sterilization. Fine grade is roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

fernando7kose · Oct 19, 2022

Tom said:
FIne grade is denoting the size of the particles, not cleanliness or sterilization. Fine grade is roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Thank you!
So would it be okay if I use the one that is not sterilized?
Do any of these ones look like fine grade?

Tom · Oct 19, 2022

The "small" looks close enough. It does not need to be sterilized.

fernando7kose · Oct 23, 2022

Tom said:
The "small" looks close enough. It does not need to be sterilized.

Thank you Tom!
I have purchased the small ones, hopefully it will be as clean as pictured.

Here is the updated outdoor enclosure, I would say it's 90% done.
I'm driving out of town this weekend to get the tortoise!

The plastic container is going to be his night box / humid hide. The size of the box is 80x40x40cm, the humidity & temperature inside the box can stay around 80% & 80 F. Would this be fine?

I have also provided burrow for shade during sunny days. The humidity stays around 70% inside the burrow.

During night time, I'm still planning to bring him inside. The indoor enclosure is still under progress, I will provide all the necessities! I have bought spider plants & pothos.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated 😃!

Tom · Oct 24, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Thank you Tom!
I have purchased the small ones, hopefully it will be as clean as pictured.

Here is the updated outdoor enclosure, I would say it's 90% done.
I'm driving out of town this weekend to get the tortoise!

The plastic container is going to be his night box / humid hide. The size of the box is 80x40x40cm, the humidity & temperature inside the box can stay around 80% & 80 F. Would this be fine?

I have also provided burrow for shade during sunny days. The humidity stays around 70% inside the burrow.

During night time, I'm still planning to bring him inside. The indoor enclosure is still under progress, I will provide all the necessities! I have bought spider plants & pothos.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated 😃!

View attachment 351067 View attachment 351068 View attachment 351069

I've never tried a burrow for this species, since they do not burrow.

What I see lacking is shade. You need some bushes, some structures to get under, and maybe an umbrella that is mounted in some sturdy way.

fernando7kose · Oct 24, 2022

Tom said:
I've never tried a burrow for this species, since they do not burrow.

What I see lacking is shade. You need some bushes, some structures to get under, and maybe an umbrella that is mounted in some sturdy way.

I originally wanted to get a Sulcata 😃 .Hopefully it would be useful as a humid hide for the star tortoise.
Okay will do! Do you have any suggestion on what kind of bushes/plants?

g4mobile · Oct 28, 2022

fernando7kose said:
I originally wanted to get a Sulcata 😃 .Hopefully it would be useful as a humid hide for the star tortoise.
Okay will do! Do you have any suggestion on what kind of bushes/plants?

My Burmese Star loves hiding in our Chinese Dwarf Bamboo. Hibiscus is great, especially the Jamaican Roselle Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa). I have several Boston Ferns, which make great hiding/shade spots. Mulberry is great to plant and a good food source.

fernando7kose · Oct 31, 2022

g4mobile said:
My Burmese Star loves hiding in our Chinese Dwarf Bamboo. Hibiscus is great, especially the Jamaican Roselle Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa). I have several Boston Ferns, which make great hiding/shade spots. Mulberry is great to plant and a good food source.

Thank you for the suggestion! I just bought some Boston Fern & Pandan to be used for shade.

My Burmese Star is finally here! Here are some pictures of him enjoying the outdoor enclosure 😃.

I'm planning to convert this storage room into his indoor enclosure. It's around 2x2 meters (6.5 x 6.5 ft).
I think I finally got the right type of orchid bark, but I still need to buy a lot more to fill up the enclosure to around 3" tall. Would this be enough?
This room's humidity is around 60% without any substrate, I think once I put enough substrate in it should easily reach above 80% (It's now around 75%). I don't think I would need to cover the enclosure, would it be okay?
Please let me know if you have any suggestions 😃.

Tom · Oct 31, 2022

The sides on that last water bowl picture are much too tall. That is dangerous and you are likely to find him upside down if you keep using that one. The other water bowl looks okay.

fernando7kose · Oct 31, 2022

Tom said:
The sides on that last water bowl picture are much too tall. That is dangerous and you are likely to find him upside down if you keep using that one. The other water bowl looks okay.

Will make sure to replace it. Maybe I'll use it when he gets bigger, thank you!

fernando7kose · Oct 31, 2022

Hi all, I noticed that he has runny nose.
I read from this forum that stress from adapting to new place can cause this to happen.
My indoor & outdoor temp always stays above 80.
Humidity indoor is 70-80%, outdoor is 40-50%.

Should I be worried? I'm planning to keep him indoor for now

Tom · Nov 1, 2022

fernando7kose said:
Hi all, I noticed that he has runny nose.
I read from this forum that stress from adapting to new place can cause this to happen.
My indoor & outdoor temp always stays above 80.
Humidity indoor is 70-80%, outdoor is 40-50%.

Should I be worried? I'm planning to keep him indoor for now
View attachment 351417

No lower than 80 is fine for night time, but they also need to be able to warm up to 95-100 during the day. Outside they can bask in the sun, as long as the enclosure is not in full shade most of that day. Indoors, they need a basking lamp, even in your climate.

Preparing to get a Burmese Star! Please help me with more care information

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