Potentially sick

[hatzego]

Hi,
I have an Indian Star Tortoise, about 6 months old. I had her on a tortoise table for about a week after first getting her, the after reading up on Star Tortoise care on the forum I changed her enclosure to a closed chamber. She’s been in the closed chamber enclosure for about 36 hours now. While her humidity wasn’t appropriate and her temps where just a little bit on the low side while she was in the tortoise table, she has remained active and has a healthy appetite. The thing that has me concerned now is her plastron. It has a little bit of a “give” to it when I pick her up. I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily soft, but it certainly doesn’t feel normal. I’m concerned that this might be a sign of her not being cared for properly by the breeder, and upon purchasing her I wasn’t aware of the questions I should have asked regarding that care. Hoping someone here could offer me some suggestions or peace of mind

 

[hatzego]

Hi,
I have an Indian Star Tortoise, about 6 months old. I had her on a tortoise table for about a week after first getting her, the after reading up on Star Tortoise care on the forum I changed her enclosure to a closed chamber. She’s been in the closed chamber enclosure for about 36 hours now. While her humidity wasn’t appropriate and her temps where just a little bit on the low side while she was in the tortoise table, she has remained active and has a healthy appetite. The thing that has me concerned now is her plastron. It has a little bit of a “give” to it when I pick her up. I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily soft, but it certainly doesn’t feel normal. I’m concerned that this might be a sign of her not being cared for properly by the breeder, and upon purchasing her I wasn’t aware of the questions I should have asked regarding that care. Hoping someone here could offer me some suggestions or peace of mind

Maybe @Tom or @Markw84?

 

[hatzego]

You can’t tell much from the picture, but in case it could be helpful I’ve attached it anyway.

 

[Tom]

Hi,
I have an Indian Star Tortoise, about 6 months old. I had her on a tortoise table for about a week after first getting her, the after reading up on Star Tortoise care on the forum I changed her enclosure to a closed chamber. She’s been in the closed chamber enclosure for about 36 hours now. While her humidity wasn’t appropriate and her temps where just a little bit on the low side while she was in the tortoise table, she has remained active and has a healthy appetite. The thing that has me concerned now is her plastron. It has a little bit of a “give” to it when I pick her up. I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily soft, but it certainly doesn’t feel normal. I’m concerned that this might be a sign of her not being cared for properly by the breeder, and upon purchasing her I wasn’t aware of the questions I should have asked regarding that care. Hoping someone here could offer me some suggestions or peace of mind

Glad you've figured it all out!

The plastron on a small tortoise should have some "give" to it. It should feel kind of like a plastic lid from a butter tub. It should not feel "squishy" of spongy.

Stars like it hot. Get your ambient into the low 90s during the day and keep ambient above 80 at night. They will still bask in a 100 degree basking area even with ambient in the 90s. A warmer ambient will keep the tortoise out from under the desiccating basking area and reduce pyramiding too. The higher temps will also help fight off any possible respiratory infections that might have been started by the lower temps before. Soak daily with the higher temps.

Read this for suggestions. I house stars identically to sulcatas, leopards and pancakes.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Stars don't need as much grass as a sulcata, but some grass is good. I'm putting this one here because there is a good food list if you scroll down a bit: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

More general tips here: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Read these three threads and then come back with all your questions.

 

[hatzego]

Glad you've figured it all out!

The plastron on a small tortoise should have some "give" to it. It should feel kind of like a plastic lid from a butter tub. It should not feel "squishy" of spongy.

Stars like it hot. Get your ambient into the low 90s during the day and keep ambient above 80 at night. They will still bask in a 100 degree basking area even with ambient in the 90s. A warmer ambient will keep the tortoise out from under the desiccating basking area and reduce pyramiding too. The higher temps will also help fight off any possible respiratory infections that might have been started by the lower temps before. Soak daily with the higher temps.

Read this for suggestions. I house stars identically to sulcatas, leopards and pancakes.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Stars don't need as much grass as a sulcata, but some grass is good. I'm putting this one here because there is a good food list if you scroll down a bit: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

More general tips here: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Read these three threads and then come back with all your questions.

Great, thank you much! I was certainly stressing. I’m at work currently and don’t have time to read through those threads quite yet, but I’ll be sure to ask any questions at some point this evening. Thanks again!