My shining Stars in their enclosure

[samstar]

Hi I would like to know your light is on for 8-10 hous everyday so is it during night time untill morning?

Well it really depends, somedays I get back home earlier from work and so I put them in my garden to graze under the sun for 30-45 minutes and so for those days I leave the light on for just a couple of hours. On days I dont take them out, I leave the light on for 6-8 hours as it gets really warm where I come from and the last thing I need is dehydration.
For example last Sunday morning, I let them graze under the sun for a good 1 hour and so on that day I didn't even bother turning on the lights, it was warm and sunny. The weather where I come from is warm/rainy throughout the year, temps between 25-35 degrees celcius with humidity between 70-90% 24/7.

 

[Gus]

Hi tks for the information given. :shy:

Hi I would like to know your light is on for 8-10 hous everyday so is it during night time untill morning?

Well it really depends, somedays I get back home earlier from work and so I put them in my garden to graze under the sun for 30-45 minutes and so for those days I leave the light on for just a couple of hours. On days I dont take them out, I leave the light on for 6-8 hours as it gets really warm where I come from and the last thing I need is dehydration.
For example last Sunday morning, I let them graze under the sun for a good 1 hour and so on that day I didn't even bother turning on the lights, it was warm and sunny. The weather where I come from is warm/rainy throughout the year, temps between 25-35 degrees celcius with humidity between 70-90% 24/7.

 

[TortieLuver]

Looks like you put a lot of work into their tortoise table! How long have you had them?

 

[samstar]

Looks like you put a lot of work into their tortoise table! How long have you had them?

about 5-6 months, thanks.

 

[George]

I was reading up in this forum http://startortoises.net/index.html
and it says somewhere that Stars dont dig, hibernate or burrow.

Hi Samstar - i also have two stars but i have them on forest bedding and mine love to burrow! they don't have hides as i found they were always cold so have used ferns to provide cover for them and sphagnum moss. I have added some pics for you to see the type of substrate i use.

 

[samstar]

I was reading up in this forum http://startortoises.net/index.html
and it says somewhere that Stars dont dig, hibernate or burrow.

Hi Samstar - i also have two stars but i have them on forest bedding and mine love to burrow! they don't have hides as i found they were always cold so have used ferns to provide cover for them and sphagnum moss. I have added some pics for you to see the type of substrate i use.

beautiful enclosure, how often do you change or clean the substrate?

 

[JourneyTort]

I was reading up in this forum http://startortoises.net/index.html
and it says somewhere that Stars dont dig, hibernate or burrow.

That is just not true, my two stars burrow everyday. If they are not up and about they are buried in their substrate.

 

[sammi]

Hi I would like to know your light is on for 8-10 hous everyday so is it during night time untill morning?

Well it really depends, somedays I get back home earlier from work and so I put them in my garden to graze under the sun for 30-45 minutes and so for those days I leave the light on for just a couple of hours. On days I dont take them out, I leave the light on for 6-8 hours as it gets really warm where I come from and the last thing I need is dehydration.
For example last Sunday morning, I let them graze under the sun for a good 1 hour and so on that day I didn't even bother turning on the lights, it was warm and sunny. The weather where I come from is warm/rainy throughout the year, temps between 25-35 degrees celcius with humidity between 70-90% 24/7.

I don't own or know anything about stars, but I'm going to assume they need their light source on as long as any other tortoise right? 12 hours a day if they are inside for most of it right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[samstar]

Hi I would like to know your light is on for 8-10 hous everyday so is it during night time untill morning?

Well it really depends, somedays I get back home earlier from work and so I put them in my garden to graze under the sun for 30-45 minutes and so for those days I leave the light on for just a couple of hours. On days I dont take them out, I leave the light on for 6-8 hours as it gets really warm where I come from and the last thing I need is dehydration.
For example last Sunday morning, I let them graze under the sun for a good 1 hour and so on that day I didn't even bother turning on the lights, it was warm and sunny. The weather where I come from is warm/rainy throughout the year, temps between 25-35 degrees celcius with humidity between 70-90% 24/7.

I don't own or know anything about stars, but I'm going to assume they need their light source on as long as any other tortoise right? 12 hours a day if they are inside for most of it right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Well yes if they are inside than 10-12 hours would be sufficent. Just make sure it has shelter to get away from the light and heat when they need to, have a hot and cold side, they can get dehydrated to. Have a good size shallow water dish.

 

[Kayti]

Are you saying you don't use substrate because it is easier to keep clean?
I replace my sphagnum every 2-3 weeks, and I think it's pretty clean. It never smells, anyway. There probably is a lot of bacteria and various organisms living in it by that time, but there will be bacteria in anything, even if it is not kept moist. Don't read on if you are squeamish- but house carpets actually have a host of organisms living in them (~200,000 bacteria particles per square inch.), breaking down our dead skin cells, etc. Some companies are actually marketing ridiculous products like vacuums with UV- as if we ever could get rid of all bacteria, or would want to- it's completely harmless to us, and actually beneficial in many ways.

I know stars typically have conical shaped shells anyway, but I was under the impression that they can still pyramid. Security and burrowing aside, how do you maintain proper humidity with no substrate?

 

[George]

I was reading up in this forum http://startortoises.net/index.html
and it says somewhere that Stars dont dig, hibernate or burrow.

Hi Samstar - i also have two stars but i have them on forest bedding and mine love to burrow! they don't have hides as i found they were always cold so have used ferns to provide cover for them and sphagnum moss. I have added some pics for you to see the type of substrate i use.

beautiful enclosure, how often do you change or clean the substrate?

Thank you for your lovely comment - I have been advised to change the substrate every 3 months but 'boy can they poo!' so sometimes it is can be just two months - LOL - I buy a 75 litre bag from eurorep and share the cost with a colleague from work, lasts for three changes each, so 8/9 months.

 

[samstar]

I clean my whole enclosure every 2 weeks only becuase they poop wholesale