Burmese Star Hatchling Care Advice

AriadneHam

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to raising hatchling tortoises, as I've only had an already fully grown box turtle. I got my male Burmese star tortoise, captive bred, from reputable source and have had him for a little over a week.

Anyways, I'm a bit worried about my little guy as. All he wants to do is sleep/hide in his hide. He doesn't voluntarily eat(I have to hold food in front of him), and he doesn't bask, ever. I understand that he is only a month old and will want to find a hiding spot from predators, but he doesn't get any UVB light in a day. If I don't take him outside to the backyard for sunlight, he will stay inside his hide all day, no food. When he does eat, he will eat about 2 small spring mix leaves, max, before going back to the hide. I don't know if this is just because he is still adjusting to the new environment or because he is still a baby, or if the brightness of the florescent is blinding him.

My biggest concern is that he is not getting enough calcium or nutrients through food or exposure to UVB to be able to produce vitamin D on his own. I don't want him to suffer from malnutrition or set him on a dark path for when he's older.

Here is his current tank set up.
He is in a 24" long tank. With two hides. The terra cotta has damp sphagnum moss at 80% humidity, 82F. The other side of the tank has his log hide at 53% humidity, 85F. The basking stone in the center of the tank is set at 39% humidity, 92F.

The lighting is a 40w basking bulb light on top through a mesh top and a florescent ZOOmed 5.0 UVB 15w, 18" tube inside the enclosure.

I am using reptibark as a substrate and am covering the sides of the tank so he can't see out. As for food, I have tried feeding him Timothy grass, black medic, succulents(donkey tail), dandelion greens and flowers, zoomed grassland tortoise pellets, red and green leaf lettuce, radicchio,and mushrooms( all of the veggies organic, no pesticides). None of which he seems particularly interested in. He will take one bite or a new thing and then walk away. Any advice on how to break a picky eater habit?

So far I can get the little guy to eat a bite every other day. His poop schedule is to let out a big one every three days, it is firm and long, but not dry. I have not yet seen him pee or produce white urates yet. I soak him for 15 minutes daily, then try to get him to eat. If he's not hungry I either take him outside for an hour( it's 85F) and then try again. Usually he will eat a bit more after exercising, but mostly goes back to the hide.

Sorry for the super drawn out question, but does anyone have any advice for me, or is this normal behavior for my tortoise? Feel free to ask any questions on set up or anything else, I want my little guy to grow up healthy.

Here are pictures of the setup and little Hannibal. Please let me know if he looks sick( eyes, nose, scutes). Or if I'm just worrying over nothing. Thank you all for reading and for your time and consideration.

image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
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G-stars

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Everything seems fine. Give him another week or two. Mine did the same for a week or two. Just keep offering fresh foods. Try opuntia cactus chopped up and some mazuri. Those are my guys favorites.
 

Markw84

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I agree with Gus - most things you are doing looks great. You guy looks like he's had a great start with good smooth growth already coming in. So looks like he was previously well taken care of. A few suggestions...

The bark looks a bit large for a hatchling and drier than I keep mine. I use a fine grade orchid bark (fir bark) and with hatchlings I sometimes mix with Coco coir to give a smoother surface for them to walk on. I keep humidity at 80% Min in the enclosure.

The water dish has steep sides. Many here recommend and use the terracotta plant saucers sunk down so the rim is even with the substrate.

A 15W 5.0 bulb puts out pretty low amounts of UVB Has to be about 8 - 10" from the tortoise height to get him the needed UVB. But with him outside at least a few hours a week, that would not matter as he would get enough UVB from that amount of time in sunlight. Just a note for winter or times he cannot go outside for weeks at a time.

All my tortoises and especially my Burmese, LOVE Mazuri regular diet as well as Rep Cal Tortoise Diet. Soak some, mash it up, and sprinkle it over some good greens and see what he does. Try to find some of the better weeds from the yard (Don't know where in the world you live) and chop up pretty fine at first so it mixes with the Mazuri. I found a lot of my tortoises didn't take to timothy grass or any hay until they got bigger. I don't feed "grassland" tortoises mushrooms.

I do soak daily and for 30 - 40 minutes. Long enough for them to get some good exercise trying to get out of the tub. I really think the exercise is a necessary part of good health and growth for the young guys, and bath-time is their "treadmill time". Be sure the water stays above 80F. In the winter I can change water 3 times in a soaking session.

Good luck with that great looking Burmese. Keep us updated.
 

AriadneHam

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Thank you so much for your help. I'm glad to hear that this is normal behavior for a hatchling.

I'll definitely try mazuri or rep cal along with the weeds. I live in California so I'm lucky I can put him outside for a couple hours.

I worry about him soaking for too long because as soon as he has had his drink, the tortoise wants out of his tub. Does this stress him out? His tub is not clear and he can't see over it but still tried to climb the wall. I usually wait 15-20 minutes because he will usually take a poo in the water.

I actually got the tortoise from Chris. So I know he's been in good care before me. Is the reptibark too big? I would worry about impact ion if I put anything smaller in. Also sometimes my tortoise eats the sphagnum moss, should I take it out?

Thanks
 

Tom

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I completely agree with Mark and Gus here. Everything they said. My hatchlings were also very "slow starters". I was terrified that I was going to lose them all. They were not very active and hardly grew at all for the first several months. I was bugging the breeders about once a week asking when they were going to grow. Now, 3 years later, they are all voracious pigs and one female is already 2800 grams. I raise my stars identically to how I raise my sulcatas and leopards. Like this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
This one is good too, but much less emphasis on grass for a star:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

@KenS
@skottip

You guys got anything to add?
 

Tom

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I worry about him soaking for too long because as soon as he has had his drink, the tortoise wants out of his tub. Does this stress him out? His tub is not clear and he can't see over it but still tried to climb the wall. I usually wait 15-20 minutes because he will usually take a poo in the water.

As Mark said, all that activity in the tub is like tortoise treadmill time. Its fine and good for them.

I actually got the tortoise from Chris. So I know he's been in good care before me. Is the reptibark too big? I would worry about impact ion if I put anything smaller in. Also sometimes my tortoise eats the sphagnum moss, should I take it out?

Chris is a friend of mine and he knows how to start babies right. You are in good hands there. I don't think the bark is too big. That is what I used for mine when I got them.

All of my babies of all species try to eat the moss, so I don't use it.
 

AriadneHam

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Great! Will do. The only reason I didn't something like that, was because I wasn't sure if it was clean or treated correctly for pet use.

Also I heard that some people put bugs in the enclosure to keep it clean( break down leftover food scraps mixed into substrate), sounds odd to me, your thoughts?
 

spud's_mum

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I just got a little Indian star hatchling and I have the exact same thing.

He hides most of the day and if he comes out he will walk a little bit and fall asleep on the spot. He hasn't eaten (had him 4 days). He has only nibbled a few bits.
 

Tom

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For future purchases - Home Depot has the fine grade orchid bark. 8 qt bag is $5

My HD doesn't carry it. I have to go to a local garden center. They have a brand labelled "Micro-Bark" that is clean, uniform and prefect size. About $10 for a big 2.0 cubic foot bag.
 

AriadneHam

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I just got a little Indian star hatchling and I have the exact same thing.

He hides most of the day and if he comes out he will walk a little bit and fall asleep on the spot. He hasn't eaten (had him 4 days). He has only nibbled a few bits.


That's funny how he falls asleep on the spot. Yeah, I heard that Indian stars are a bit more temperamental with human socialization and with climate changes. But how old is he?
 

AriadneHam

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Also I just found my little guy's favorite treat. Blueberries. Gave him one the other day and he gobbled it up, then looked at me for more. Sorry bud, only only on special occasions.

Anyone else notice particular foods or treats their star tortoises likes?
 

spud's_mum

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That's funny how he falls asleep on the spot. Yeah, I heard that Indian stars are a bit more temperamental with human socialization and with climate changes. But how old is he?
Not sure how old he is. He still hasn't eaten. I'm really starting to worry :(
 

AriadneHam

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Is he eating on his own in his enclosure or are you hand feeding him. Try holding him and when he calms down hold out some leafy greens for him to smell. If he doesn't bite, break or tear the leaf so he can smell better. If he still doesn't go for it, try soaking him in 95F water for 15-20 minutes to stimulate his metabolism. Then try hand seeing again. Have you talked with the breeder about what foods he has been eating up until now. Also look into the age of the tortoise itself, I know the first few weeks of a hatchlings life they aren't very hungry.

Keep us updated, and def feel free to ask more questions.
 

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