Hi! Meet Scooter!

[carfac]

Hey there!

Meet Scooter.... or at least his shell. Not sure exactly what he is, but he SURE has an attitude! He (or she) - if we are a little late feeding him just gets underneath his feeding plate and throws it around his enclosure! We feed hi something he doesn't like, he throws it in his pond. If he could talk.....

So we are new here, and just gonna try and learn how to keep our little guy happy and healthy. He seems to be really good- he has almost doubled in size since we got him (he was Big Mac sized, now hes about10" long).

I have noticed he is missing a lot of his toe nails, is that normal? He HATES cactus and LOVES blueberries. Mainly we feed him lettuces.

Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for having this great resource!

Dave, Lisa, Tori and Scooter

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Very pretty. Post pics of enclosure so we can better help you get things just right if they aren't.
No, missing toe nails is not normal.
@Tom
@Markw84

 

[Tom]

Hey there!

Meet Scooter.... or at least his shell. Not sure exactly what he is, but he SURE has an attitude! He (or she) - if we are a little late feeding him just gets underneath his feeding plate and throws it around his enclosure! We feed hi something he doesn't like, he throws it in his pond. If he could talk.....

So we are new here, and just gonna try and learn how to keep our little guy happy and healthy. He seems to be really good- he has almost doubled in size since we got him (he was Big Mac sized, now hes about10" long).

I have noticed he is missing a lot of his toe nails, is that normal? He HATES cactus and LOVES blueberries. Mainly we feed him lettuces.

Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for having this great resource!

Dave, Lisa, Tori and Scooter

He is likely a she. Can you post pics of the tail and anal scutes for us?

They should never be fed fruit. Lettuce isn't great either unless you are adding lots of good stuff to it. No tortoise likes new foods, like cactus pads, unless you take the time to introduce it slowly over a period of weeks or months.

Here is the care info, and the food thing is explained here too:

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

Questions are welcome.

 

[Lyn W]

I believe Scooter is an Indian Star in which case you need this caresheet to make sure you are following up to date care advice and giving him every thing he needs

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

 

[carfac]

Hey Thanks so much!
I have attached the requested images of his/her enclosure and her/his chest. At least I think thats what you want Tom! We DID read your post on raising temperate tortoises, but then realized ours is more likely tropical....

We do NOT feed straight lettuce.... we do some variety of leaffy greens including arugila, dandilion, stuff like that. We do put a white calcium power on top.... scooter likes that. With blueberries, its usually 1-2, hidden in the pile of stuff.
Scooter gets a bath at least every 2 days.... and goes outside for an hour at least once a day when its nice. We live in snow country, so in winter he gets a heat lamp and UVB lamp indoors.... we keep him at 80 plius, but recently he gets up to 100!

I will read the linked posts- THANK YOU!!!!!

 

[carfac]

You know, just watching him walk around, like in our yard. I just picture this being like a small dinosaur. He is very primeval looking!
We have had a few very unusual pets over the years.... we watch kangaroos for a friend sometimes. So we thought a Tortoise would be fun! He is.
We also have cats. They wont have a THING to do with him!

 

[Markw84]

Yes, as @Tom suspected, Scooter is indeed a female. Indian Stars do like heat and 100° is not too hot to be dangerous for them at all. I would not let it get much hotter in an enclosure though. A minimum of 80° at all times and temps into the 90°s during the day is no problem and actually preferred. They also need high humidity and you will find with the enclosure you have, that will be impossible to provide. The enclosure is also way too small. You really need something in the 6' - 8' range in length and 30" - 48" wide. Tortoises need room!

Please read through the care sheet linked above for Stars. Look through pictures of how Tom and I keep our Burmese Stars. Your Indian Star would benefit greatly from a similar setup.

Please read these posts below on how we raise Star Tortoises:

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

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

 

[carfac]

Thats a great start thanks! We will get a new enclosure in a few weeks..... we head out on vaca this week so as soon as we get back....

In the mean time, we got a plastic black container as Tom suggests, and we are putting that in thre enclosure so there is a super humid area....

Are you sure she is Indian? We have been told Sri Lankan before.... I just dont know!

 

[Markw84]

Thats a great start thanks! We will get a new enclosure in a few weeks..... we head out on vaca this week so as soon as we get back....

In the mean time, we got a plastic black container as Tom suggests, and we are putting that in thre enclosure so there is a super humid area....

Are you sure she is Indian? We have been told Sri Lankan before.... I just dont know!

Could be Sri Lankan. There is really no way to tell, though unless you accurately know the lineage of the parents. sri Lankans are not a species or even sub-species of Indian Stars. Genetically they are a population variation of Indian Stars. Yours has the look of what folks claim are Sri Lankans, but some Indian Stars from India proper do as well.