Indian Star's care and food.

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romesh

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hi...
i line in India and yday i got a 6" Indian star tortoise...
i need some help regarding his food...
he is eating tomatoes but hasnt pooped or peed yet..
he is sleeping for a long tym...
plz plz help
thank you very much in advance
[/color]

right now its monsoon in India so i am a bit worried...
 

River14

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River14 said:
romesh said:
hi...
i line in India and yday i got a 6" Indian star tortoise...
i need some help regarding his food...
he is eating tomatoes but hasnt pooped or peed yet..
he is sleeping for a long tym...
plz plz help
thank you very much in advance
[/color]

right now its monsoon in India so i am a bit worried...




Romesh I have the same problem its monsoon, this means rain like no one has ever seen it and hard for weeks on end. In the wild the tortoises wouldnt recieve much sun for a few months and would be a bit wet but warm all the time. Big no no in captivity except for warm. The fact is they live in an extremely seasonal climate, but what they do in those seasons is a bit of mystery. The dry months are easier to feed, but they obviously are also used to monsoon months too full of lush protein rich grass greens of all kinds. Months of plenty and dark followed by months of very little and clear sunny skies.

Your tortoises are probably shy as these Stars dislike too much distrubance so if you have only had them a few days or a week or so and they are healthy dont worry they will start feeding early in the morning and in the early evening eventualy. You can run a nice slightly warm bath and bath them for 15 minutes this makes them poo, and might get them going again as they might be dehydrated. Water bellow the nostrils hey! If they are inside you must do this bath thing twice a week they love and just sit and close their eyes, its very sweet. They must also get as much sun as is available and I know its not much during monsoons?

Dont give him or the others tomato its not so good for them at all, (though one wonders in the wet season) anyway quickly moving forward hibiscus flowers and leaf, hay, mulberry leaves etc are better for them maybe until they are up and running, if you have access to pricklypear the pads are excelent, just rub them in the sand untill all the prickles are gone first. How old are your tortoises? Think variety is is the key vibre and low protein....you know when you chew something and you are left with a mouth full of dry stuff you spit out cause you cant swallow it thats the stuf they love.

Good luck, gosh I know I need it. Every day is like an experiment. Im so eager for info myself. Mine are little hatchlings so I cannot possibly leave them out in the monsoon not only would the monitor lizards eat them and hawks eagles whatever, but they would be washed away in seconds. Its interesting to note that only 1 or so % of hatchling even survive in the wild?? So I guess we aren't doing too bad all round ( : least our climte is ideal, though Im trying to work out why and how. At the moment Im running around with them in a little wooden box, when the sun briefly shines even if its 15 min a week I let them bath in it and eat the lawn same time, minute the rain starts again I rush them under cover and onto a bed of fine dry hay giving them a few fresh leaves and flowers to browse on and seasoned water. Mostly they are spending time under cover in the hay and nibling a bit plus pecking at hibiscus leaves and flowers and what not. Because the rain just keeps pouring. I honestly wonder what they do in monsoons, do the adults just plod long in the driving rain for a few months of darkness munching the greenery???

 

romesh

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its 1.5 yrs old, 6" big
i give him hibiscus and mixed salad except for lettuce...
he is roaming freely eating fine...
will wait for him to poop...
giving him a warm water bath everyday.. but he dislikes it cause i think he has never got it before...
he also gets sun like one hour daily..
and also i have kept a cuttle bone so he nibbles on it once in a while...
we surely try our best..

thanks alot...



if anyone from Pune, India where can we get the reptile water conditioner and different kind of grass..
so i can sow the grass near where he is..
 

madhura

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Romesh, I hope i m wrong but did u say dat he is 1 and a half yrs old and 6" big !!! my torts r around 5" n i m estimating their age of 3-5 yrs old
 

romesh

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Madhura i got my tort from this guy who dint knw anything... he said leave him on the floor n give tomato n cucumber only...
i measured him he is 6"... i guess he might be 1.5 yrs old.. if he is older its good..:)
 

Yvonne G

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

This was posted on the wrong thread, but I couldn't figure out how to merge it with this one:

"Romesh ur tort can definately not be 1.5 yrs old n if he is 6" i am guessing him to be around 5-7 yrs."

by madhura
 

Laura

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

Romesh, I see in another thread about enclosures, that your start lives in your bedroom and roams around the floor wiht lots of hiding places like your closet.
this is Not ideal.. you need to set up a special place for your star where it can feel safe, not get lost, be warm, eat proper food and not what it might find on the floor.. you risk it getting sick and worse.
start reading the star section and see what you can do to improve.
 

romesh

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

@laura- thanks alot for ur guidance laura.. i will surely make necessary changes..

@emysemys- i hope its good he is tat old...
 

River14

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

Romesh do they live in your bedroom? Yes Laura is right if they do. Its not humid enough and you rish deformity. If you cant let them outside where its probably now 80-90% humidity then you are going to have recreate that in your room. lol

My star hachlings are growing well (always outside exposed or under cover) on a diet of fresh grazing ie lawn, then when the rain starts up every day they go straight onto timothy hay with added marigold and other dried flowers on a table top under cover, other wise they would be washed away. Because of the humidity the hay immediately softens slightly along side the flowers and they love that? Plus i give them an ochre or two cause they love, not sure how good it is for them but they eat it in a few minutes little heads bobbing. They always have fresh water and as our temps are 27-34%c......80-91%F they bath when ever they want, this is important plenty of water big enough for them all to sit in happily without drowning they love that.

What are your living circumstnce exactly because there is always a way how ever you live. Do you have a garden or do you live in a flat or ........free roaming torties in a flat with aircon is no good to be honest you may be able to improve that a lot just by leaving your bedroom window open and closing your door (hahahaha yea sure in monsoon) but there are other ways.

For me this a learning curve too romesh, I love the way the stars just drop their flippers and little legs and close ther eyes whenever they get sun bath its so cute. Yesterdy they over did it bit and when I looked I jut saw a row of litte outstreched back legs legs peeping out of the deep shade. They need both shade at their discretion and sun when ever available of course otherwise they can poach in the sun. OKey this is just my opinion so far. I have tried to listen to the tortoises and offer them every thing and tested the response. I Just watch what they do and recreate those conditions bet as possible, and leave the rest nature.

I see them as little black rhinos who seem to have the same requirements, both browsers!
 

romesh

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

i have a house... and a garden but i also have dogs so cant let them outside...
my bedroom is big enough, i keep my door closed n windows open...
in one corner he gets sun like an hour or so everyday..
i have put an incandescent lamp so he goes there with his legs stretched out n sits...
i have also put water where he goes occasionally..
and also if i leave him outside n cops catch me i am screwed...
i also spray water on one of his enclosures for humidity...
 

River14

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RE: [split] Indian Star's care and food.

If the cops catch you you are screwed......... heavens this is fascinating, why? Are stars protected in your area?

If you have a garden then make em a small portable run that the dogs cant get into, if possible. You can move it around the garden. Yours are already large compared to mine so they can actually stay outside all year given enough shelter. Maybe something like a nice dark water tight bunker they can crawl in and out of, make sure its on a slight incline always in case of flooding.

Your bedroom is fine if it is the same ambient temp and humidity as out doors, no aircon or fans. I personally love sleeping like this, just need a mosquito screen, or net over my bed. Even window panes and frames are optional. But in monsoons you need to cover otherwise it gets a bit wet indoors.

My dogs are not interested in the tortoises, they sniff them which makes them fall over onto their backs then they look at the little things for awhile and walk off. I know dog proofing is very difficult and if yours have a high prey drive you might have to look at some radical options as far as out door housing.

As far as police proofing well Im not sure. Are the (is the) tortoise/s captive bred, and is dealing in wild or captive bred Stars legal in Maharashtra, and I suppose how did you come to get these Stars. Im not allowed to keep Burmese pythons captive bred or not as they are protected here, so I dont. But luckily one or two a year come through the garden so I can marvel.

Its one enormous province you live in with many fine national parks, where bout are you?

I've only been to Mumbai loved it, and cant wait to go into the interior.
 

geekinpink

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What do you guys do with monsoons? Do you use uvb bulb? We had typhoon here for over a week so no sunlight! It got me very worried :(

@river14 - where are you from? - Stars are not allowed in most asian countries, I assume your also in asia? It's not allowed here as well but it's not as strict, they usually just catch people selling them on pet shops.

My dogs are not interested with my torts too, in fact I have one chihuahua with them (the torts are in an enclosure). I keep the dog there because there are a lot of stray cats here and they are interested in my torts, the dog keeps them away :p some say the cats are just interested in the heat of the light but I can't be too sure.

@romesh - what is your bedroom floor made of? I ask because I remember I was leaving my torts to roam freely on a terrace in my house and when the guy that sold it to me visited them, he saw it and scolded me for it... my terrace has tiled floors and it's not good for them to walk on. Their limbs he said will not develop properly.
 

wrmitchell22

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We have monsoons here also, but it is still sunny for at least a part of the day most days. If you can get a Mercury Vapor Bulb (not sure if available where you are) that would help a lot for uv and heat for basking. also if you can get an enclosure of some kind. A rubbermaid container or box that you could control temps and humidity that would be a lot better.
 

River14

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Sky2Mina I live in Hong Kong.

As far as monsoons are concerned its a bit hectic with my hatchlings. Im not too concerned because this is what they would get in the wild too.

However he hehe he, I dont fuss and remain calm (bigger laugh). They wait for the moments of sunshine along with me. This can take a few weeks at a time. But when I see how they absolutely they love to bask in these rare moments of sun I feel so relieved. In fact if the sun shines all day they tend to be only active in the morning and early evening and avoid the hottest part of the afternoon. They do a bath in sunshine then the collapsing into the deep shade thing, little arms and legs splayed and fall fast asleep.

In the dry season they will get slightly cooler sun all day.

They stay outdoors all the time so they have developed a natural routine and I watch and learn providing them with all the alternatives I can. I dont use heat lamps light or anything as that might confuse them. Its always warm and humid anyway.

In the hard rain weeks I move them under cover and use a lot of hay, dry flowers (these things become sort of pliable in the humidity almost immediately) fresh hibiscus leaves plus the odd naughty like ochra. Its interesting though without brighter light they tend not to eat at all. So I move them into the brightest spot under cover in the morning and they immediately start munching. On the darkest monsoon days they just prefer to sleeps. This is OK because they make up for it on the dry days in between when I put them out to grass by grazing like mad. Honestly like little cows.

We will see how they fare. Im hoping well, so far so good.

Geekinpink Indian Stars are sold here. Im not sure why or how but openly sold in relatively large numbers and Hong Kong is very strict on illegal species trade. Many many smuggling attempts are caught of any number of illegal reptiles. So I suspect they are captive bred in numbers using wild adults? Where Im not sure yet.

Good point on the flooring they dont like smooth slippery surfaces at all and it must be bad for their development. News paper at least would help if the floor is smooth, or better some cheap hesian matting. Though poo would be a bit of a problem hmmm. Maybe they might only poo in their walk in bath which should honestly be provided at all times. Im a bit worried bout enough sunlight in this situation and diet. Can you get mixed hay it will soften in the humidity almost immediately and wont mould if changed regularly. Maybe make like a low wooden walled square filled with it and a suitable replaceable floor covering underneath so they can jump in, or stay in preferably near a sunny window? It has to be large enough for proper exercise rather vital.

Hehehe I dont know Im sure you can make them right at home somehow.
 

romesh

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its illegal to keep Indian native turtles or tortoises in India anywhere
so i cant kepp them outside in any case...
i got him from a dealer from a pet store...

my room temps are good no fan no aircon...
he seems happy..

as far as my floor is concerned its of tiles but i put a jute thick rag so he can walk on it...
no option left except for room...
what kind of substrate can i substitute for tiles ??
 

River14

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romesh said:
its illegal to keep Indian native turtles or tortoises in India anywhere
so i cant kepp them outside in any case...
i got him from a dealer from a pet store...

my room temps are good no fan no aircon...
he seems happy..

as far as my floor is concerned its of tiles but i put a jute thick rag so he can walk on it...
no option left except for room...
what kind of substrate can i substitute for tiles ??

Anything, but I would cordon off an area using builders planks a nice big square, line it with thick news paper if you can get or a rubber mat then fill it with hay if you can find. Press down the hay solid and keep one corner fluffy. Hay is just dried grass.........any livestock feed shop will have it out of town. vacuum packed is best so it keeps dry untill you use it.

Other things like hard wood chips are good. I wouldnt use anything fine like wood saw shavings as it might get a lung infection and the wood could also be treated with chemicls.

Hmm I will try and think, as its directly on your floor it is a bit different ( :.

Make sure it has a nice large walk in bath that covers its legs when its not standing at least in depth. Have chinchillas become popular pets in your town cause their mixed hay is perfect.

Im wondering if you shoudlnt go and ask the pet shop if these are legal or whats the story.

If its illegal to keep them in the whole of India then Im affraid you must turn them in to the nearest wild life authority ) ; no question about it? Isnit that so ( :

Just say you didn't know.:cool: and for extra measure report the pet shop :shy:
 

romesh

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@river14- i have no problem returning it to the authorities but if i give them the tort they will just go sell it somewhere for a much higher price..
i dont trust em...
about substrate i will find hay... is the hay given to cows horses n bull of for the tort ??
 
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