Getting New Tortoise tomorrow

StarShell

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Dec 12, 2020
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Hello i'm getting a hatchling Indian star tortoise tomorrow from Tortoise supply, and I was wondering what I should do when it gets here. I actually don't know how to show you pictures but I currently have a Zoo med tortoise house(temporary) with a coco coir and top soil substrate, with a Zoo med Powersun UV Mercury Vapor UVB Lamp which on their website they said they used but now I see a lot of you don't recommend it but I set it up earlier and already opened it and it was expensive i'm going to use it, and I have Zoo med grassland tortoise diet, store bought romaine lettuce and collard greens because I don't have green thumb and I can never grow anything, but I did put cuttlebone in the enclosure and I have the calcium powder so maybe that'll work. I have a 2 terra cotta dishes for food and water, I also have a humid hide box with sphagnum moss in it to raise the humidity because I am having a bit of trouble keeping humidity up. I have a piece of slate under the basking lamp , I don't know why i have it even though I won't be feeding it on it, it's just there and I kind of like it it looks nice, but anyway I have half of the screen covered with a thin, unused baby blanket because I feel like something will go wrong if I use a closed chamber so sorry but I really don't feel comfortable using a closed chamber. If you have any advice please tell me sorry i'm not able to provide pictures but hopefully this is detailed enough, Thank you!
 

Tom

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Hello i'm getting a hatchling Indian star tortoise tomorrow from Tortoise supply, and I was wondering what I should do when it gets here. I actually don't know how to show you pictures but I currently have a Zoo med tortoise house(temporary) with a coco coir and top soil substrate, with a Zoo med Powersun UV Mercury Vapor UVB Lamp which on their website they said they used but now I see a lot of you don't recommend it but I set it up earlier and already opened it and it was expensive i'm going to use it, and I have Zoo med grassland tortoise diet, store bought romaine lettuce and collard greens because I don't have green thumb and I can never grow anything, but I did put cuttlebone in the enclosure and I have the calcium powder so maybe that'll work. I have a 2 terra cotta dishes for food and water, I also have a humid hide box with sphagnum moss in it to raise the humidity because I am having a bit of trouble keeping humidity up. I have a piece of slate under the basking lamp , I don't know why i have it even though I won't be feeding it on it, it's just there and I kind of like it it looks nice, but anyway I have half of the screen covered with a thin, unused baby blanket because I feel like something will go wrong if I use a closed chamber so sorry but I really don't feel comfortable using a closed chamber. If you have any advice please tell me sorry i'm not able to provide pictures but hopefully this is detailed enough, Thank you!
You cannot maintain the correct conditions for a baby star tortoise in an open topped enclosure. Those ZooMed tortoises houses are not a good enclosure for any species or any size tortoise. You need something else. Stars hatch in the wild during the warm wet monsoon season. The only way to duplicate this is with a closed chamber. Imagine trying to heat your house in winter with no ceiling or roof. It doesn't work. The baby blanket is porous and also won't work. I don't know what your reservations are about closed chambers, but I raise hundreds of babies in them every year. People all over the world use them with universally good results. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to use one. Can you explain?

Coco coir is safe, but its messy. Soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. There is no way to know what composted yard waste it is made of and it could be something toxic. Fine grade orchid bark works best.

The foods you have are fine for now and you can improve the diet as you learn.

No moss. They will eat it and its an impaction risk.

No MVBs. They cause pyramiding.

You have the slate under the basking lamp for basking, not eating.

You might want to see if Tyler can hold on to your new baby for a few more days until you have a suitable enclosure set up and are able to maintain the correct temps and humidity. No sense getting the baby and having it get sick while you are trying to figure out your heating and lighting. This all needs to be done and set BEFORE the baby is shipped.

Here is the current and correct care info:

Questions are welcome and congrats on the new baby!
 
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StarShell

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Dec 12, 2020
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Southern California
Thank you I'll take out the sphagnum moss and change the substrate run over to home depot and lowes to get some lights and I am going to take off the baby blanket and I don't know why I feel I shouldn't make a closed chamber but I'll try to do it but what do I use to make one? I will get rid of the Zoo med tortoise house but I need to make my own luckily I actually know how to do that but it may be a little wonky?
 

KarenSoCal

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There are a few ways for you to get a closed chamber. This is a post I wrote a while back. It will explain the possibilities.

 

Blackdog1714

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You can't go wrong with a grow tent check out @Chubbs the tegu and his baby star Jellie
 
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