Some help needed for Indian Star

[orangegizmo]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and need some help as this is my 1st Indian Star. I rescued it as someone just dumped him at the lift landing inside a basket stating his name, Giddy (I wonder is it because he always appear sleepy), and his diet of long beans and lettuce.

1. From the looks of it, he seems to be suffering from MBD (from what I read) as his hind legs doesn't seems to support itself and just dragging along tiles surface.

2. I reckon he is around 10 years old, he is 7 inches long and 4.5 inches wide. His shell also have a few pyramids.

3. I gotten him a proper enclosure with 1 UVA and 1 UVB lighting. I also added a water dish for him to soak and drink whenever he likes but today I noticed that he has been soaking almost the whole day in the water dish basking. Is that normal?

I'm now trying to make him as comfortable as possible to make up what he went through previously (i know nothing of it but I don't think it was a good environment).

Now that he has UVB, should I add calcium and D3 to his diet to help with the MBD? Also, should I get the sand mat from exo terra to help give him some traction while he tries using his back legs?

Pardon me for the questions as this is my 1st indian star, I know stars are not recommended for beginners but seems like he adopted me instead and I'm trying to improve his life.

This is how he looks like;

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

This is really very sad. Hopefully you can turn his life around and save him.

First of all, you need to dedicate a space to the tortoise. Use some sort of container, a plastic tub, a wooden box, a large aquarium. Add some substrate to the floor about 4 or 5 inches deep, and moisten it. Give him a hiding place, a feeding tile, a plant saucer full of water and maybe a few potted plants.

Buy a light like this:

or like this:

If you buy one like the first picture, you won't also have to have a heat fixture, because the mercury vapor bulb is heat and UVB all in one fixture.

The tortoise needs to be able to warm his inner core up to about 80 - 85F degrees or he can't digest his food. So he needs a light that provides heat.

Do a Google search for vegetables that are high in calcium, and feed the tortoise foods that provide calcium. He will get his vitamin d3 from the light.

We have a thread here comprised of folks who keep star tortoises. It's mostly people in India, and hopefully they can give you some pointers as to what kinds of food to look for, as I get the impression you are not in the States:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...r-owners-residing-in-india.68875/#post-648686

 

[orangegizmo]

Hi Yvonne,

Thank you very much for the tips! Yes, I'm from Singapore and Indian Stars are now illegal to keep. But seeing that he is suffering from MBD, I'm just afraid of the worse case scenario if I am to surrender to the authorities. So right now I just want to nurse him back to health to at least give him a chance should I surrender him to the AVA (our local Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore).

Food wise there are a few fresh greens which are available here and I'm planting Hibiscus and Dandelions for him as well.

I gotten ZooMed Eco Earth loose coco husk and realised that he has difficulties walking due to his back legs. So I'm wondering if I should get the Exo-Terra sand mat and pour some walnut sand over as substrate to aid him in traction?

Many Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

Sounds like a plan, except for the walnut sand. Sometimes the manufacturer uses black walnut shells and these are toxic. Plus the ground up walnut shells may cause impaction if he accidentally eats some.

 

[orangegizmo]

Alright thanks for the heads up!

 

[Tom]

Good for you for rescuing this poor guy.

Here is how I house stars:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

This thread will give you some tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I wrote this one for sulcatas too, but just skip all the text and scroll down to the list of good foods to offer:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/


They get good traction on the orchid bark substrate and it helps maintain a better environment for them.

 

[orangegizmo]

Thank you so much tom, unfortunately it's impossible to get orchid bark from where I am. So maybe I'll give Amazon a try.

 

[jimbojam]

Hi u could try zoo med florest floor. It's a cypress mulch substrate and i had been using it for my star. He too has weak legs but now he dosen't drag so much on them. May i know where you get the dandelion to plant? I cant find it and i don dare to get those on the streets coz not sure if its really dandelion and they have pesticides.

 

[orangegizmo]

Hi jam

Thanks for the info. I gotten it from my friend's place when he is clearing the weeds from his garden. It's impossible to get it here in SG. So I bought a pot of hibiscus instead.

 

[Bue84]

Hi orangegizmo

You can feed him chye sim vegetables and mazuri tortoise diet.
For tortoise accessories, you can get them from Petmart at serangoon north