[Help needed]A complicated little relationship with our star tortoise in India.

[todi]

Hi,
So in the box enclosure I've managed to make a hiding place for her. It's warm and moist. She likes to scrape some soil around her and "dig" into it a bit. But I've noticed that she doesn't want to come out of it ever! Not to eat, not to bask in the light. It's been two days. At nights we still bring her into our bedroom where it's again warm and not very humid. But it's better than being outside in the cold which is still below 20degC most of the time.
I understand that she may love the hiding place. I thought I'll scatter some grass and hibiscus leaves around, but she still didn't come out to eat. I've taken a work from home just to observe and every time I get up to look around, she's sitting there and just looking around and sometimes at me too. When we bring her out in the evenings, we feed her leaves and some coriander with some hay and wheatgrass etc. She eats it all up! But during the day time, she's just sitting in that hiding place. Before I built that hiding place, she used to roam around in the enclosure, spend a lot of time below the lamp. I felt happy that this will improve her digestion and keep her active. But right now, she just likes to sit in there.
Help

 

[Tom]

Hi,
So in the box enclosure I've managed to make a hiding place for her. It's warm and moist. She likes to scrape some soil around her and "dig" into it a bit. But I've noticed that she doesn't want to come out of it ever! Not to eat, not to bask in the light. It's been two days. At nights we still bring her into our bedroom where it's again warm and not very humid. But it's better than being outside in the cold which is still below 20degC most of the time.
I understand that she may love the hiding place. I thought I'll scatter some grass and hibiscus leaves around, but she still didn't come out to eat. I've taken a work from home just to observe and every time I get up to look around, she's sitting there and just looking around and sometimes at me too. When we bring her out in the evenings, we feed her leaves and some coriander with some hay and wheatgrass etc. She eats it all up! But during the day time, she's just sitting in that hiding place. Before I built that hiding place, she used to roam around in the enclosure, spend a lot of time below the lamp. I felt happy that this will improve her digestion and keep her active. But right now, she just likes to sit in there.
Help

Again... Open topped enclosures do not work for this species. Its too cool, too dry, too open, and not it properly in your enclosure.

Do it like this and you will see a difference:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TammyJ]

You have got the best possible advice so please try to follow it! Thanks.

 

[todi]

Thanks for the info Tom.
I have read the shared post multiple times and I thought it is mainly for torts who are small. I mean maybe hatchlings or young ones like 3-5 years old.
Our tort is atleast 7 -8 years old so I believe I should make an outdoor enclosure for her for the day part and a large closed chamber for the night part. And I must tell you that as much as I want it to happen, I cannot do it right now. I don't have the space nor the resources to actually build a large closed chamber for her. I have two options right now, first being to return her to my cousin permanently (because he's going to take her back for a week anyway) or keep her with me in the system which I'm improvising slowly. I'm not there yet, but I believe we are moving towards that direction albeit slowly.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the info Tom.
I have read the shared post multiple times and I thought it is mainly for torts who are small. I mean maybe hatchlings or young ones like 3-5 years old.
Our tort is atleast 7 -8 years old so I believe I should make an outdoor enclosure for her for the day part and a large closed chamber for the night part. And I must tell you that as much as I want it to happen, I cannot do it right now. I don't have the space nor the resources to actually build a large closed chamber for her. I have two options right now, first being to return her to my cousin permanently (because he's going to take her back for a week anyway) or keep her with me in the system which I'm improvising slowly. I'm not there yet, but I believe we are moving towards that direction albeit slowly.

Adult stars are so small that care for them is essentially the same as it is for babies. Adults have a larger margin of error, but still benefit from the monsoon conditions that help babies thrive. Do what you can to add heat and add the right lighting. Try to enclose it some way or other to hold in heat and humidity. Keep it indoors instead of outside on the terrace at least until the weather gets warmer.