Indian Star Tortoises eating snails and millipedes

[franz_see]

Hi All,

Prior to owning my indian stars, I did a bit of research - diet, husbandry, etc. On the diet side, it seems like your typical desert/grassland tortoise - mainly grass.

However, I noticed two of my indian stars have started to have a liking towards snails and millipedes. If they can catch them, they will try and eat them. I personally just let them be on the snails (since it's rich in vitamin b-complex and one of my torts have vitamin b deficiency). And for the millipedes, well I cant find much about it except one study saying african millipedes are high in protein.

But Im curious. Is that a normal indian star behavior? Btw, these two stars are less than a year old.

Here's a clip of them. Looks straight out of the walking dead (with this snail, i assisted them by cracking it open. But assisted or not, it wont actually stop them from trying to eat them )

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1098197280191393

 

[wellington]

Nice torts. They do seem to be enjoying it. The only having a harder time then the other. I thought he was going to bite his foot.
Maybe @Tom has an idea for you.

 

[Tom]

Most tortoises are opportunistic feeders in the wild. We know that they eat some amount of insects and carrion, but just how much of either over the course of an entire year is hard to measure.

Small amounts once in a while should not hurt your tortoises. If they start eating a lot every day, then you might start seeing problems down the road. Good hydration is critical with higher than normal protein intake, so keep up your soaking routine.

 

[franz_see]

Thanks @Tom . I'm curious though whether this is normal behaviour. I know tortoises in general will feed on small insects or carrion every now & then (either by accident or by intent). Also, from what I've read, some species (like redfoots) are known to actively seek out insects more frequent than other species. However, what I'm curious is whether this is normal behaviour for Indian Stars. I've not read about it but maybe it's not just been talked about much.

So I guess I'm curious if other star owners notices this as well - I mean do your star tortoises actively seek out snails and insects?

To give you guys an idea of the frequency of this for my indian stars - they will attempt to bite on a snail or a millipede everytime one gets close enough.They probably get to catch a snail or millipede at least once a week (I really dont know how frequent. This is just me guessing).

Thanks as well for the tip on soaking with regards to their higher-than-normal protein diet. I will definitely continue their soaking and observe how this change in their diet affects them Just an FYI though : My stars are in a high-heat high-humidity closed chamber enclosure. And they have started pyramiding still. I am not sure if it's normal for this species (as mentioned by some articles) or if it's because of their new found love of insects (or maybe it's normal for this species because they really do tend to eat insects in the wild?)

 

[Tom]

Some tortoises are going to pyramid a little no matter what you do. There are many stories, including my own, of 10 hatchlings all started together in one large enclosure, eating the same foods and getting exactly the same routine and one or two will pyramid a little while the other 8 or 9 are perfect. I still can't explain this phenomenon, but I suspect stress is a factor. Living as a pair is stressful, even for species like stars that are generally peaceful.

The pyramiding could also be due to the start in life they had before you got them. Many people start them too dry. Do you know how yours were started?

I've seen very little info on the diet of wild stars, and what I have seen mentions heavy consumption of beans and bean plants in farmers fields. I've not seen mention of insects or carrion, but that just means it wasn't mentioned in the small amount of writing I've seen on the subject. Doesn't mean its not happening. I've not seen anything written on carrion consumption for sulcatas either, but Tomas tells me that animals crawl into their burrows to die regularly and the sulcatas eat them after they die. He just mentioned it matter-of-factly, as if its just common knowledge and everyone knows that. I'll bet its similar for star tortoises, but that is just me speculating.

 

[franz_see]

Thanks @Tom . Very useful info again

Yes. My stars started off dry. The breeder that I got them from is still new in the tortoise business but they are starting to learn. When I got my stars from them, they had a dry hay as substrate, and water mainly came from the food they were getting. In fact, in their very first soak with me, they both submerged their heads and took in huge gulps of water They probably spent about 10 seconds submerged Also, in a months time, they doubled their weight (and this is prior to them eating insects). So i guess they were really dehydrated prior to me getting them.

It's all good though. Im making friends with the shop guys and im starting to slowly orient them on the husbandry

But yes, back to the topic though, that's my findings as well. Little is said over what stars eat (in the wild or in captivity). And although 'beans' are technically not good as a frequent food for stars, they seem to do fine with it nonetheless.

Thanks for sharing your notes with me as well! I'll continue observing my stars and see if this is just unique to those two stars of mine or if they're common behaviour. I have two other stars that are smaller as well. So far, they have not shown any interests with insects - dead or alive

 

[franz_see]

Anybody else has indian star totoises that seem to be addicted to snails?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1107476849263436

 

[GRohr]

I have never seen any of my stars eating any insects but I have also never really noticed any large bugs in their outside enclosure. Here in New Mexico we don't get many snails but we do get cockroaches but boy can they move, my box turtles can barely catch them. I agree with Tom though, from the research papers that I have read on Indian stars they mention that they speculate they eat some meat in the wild but everything i have read on diets here and on the internet say never to feed any meat to a Indian star. I do give mine the original mazuri which has a bit higher protein than the LS once a week which has a bit higher protein amount but I have never given them direct protein by eggs or high grade dog food like that i give my red foots.

 

[franz_see]

I have never seen any of my stars eating any insects but I have also never really noticed any large bugs in their outside enclosure. Here in New Mexico we don't get many snails but we do get cockroaches but boy can they move, my box turtles can barely catch them. I agree with Tom though, from the research papers that I have read on Indian stars they mention that they speculate they eat some meat in the wild but everything i have read on diets here and on the internet say never to feed any meat to a Indian star. I do give mine the original mazuri which has a bit higher protein than the LS once a week which has a bit higher protein amount but I have never given them direct protein by eggs or high grade dog food like that i give my red foots.

Thanks! Do you still have links or the titles to those papers? I would love to read them as well

Yes. I am starting to think that this is not normal Indian Star behavior. Although most likely they do eat insects and carrion in the wild, I wouldn't expect them to be this excited for snails

Luckily, their success rate is really slow in terms of hunting snails. They actually have higher chance with millipedes than snails.

Moving forward, I'll probably just use these snails as treats.

Thanks

 

[Nik]

Pyramiding in indian tort is normal ?

 

[GRohr]

http://startortoises.net/pyramiding.html

Read that, it will help explain some for you.