Star tortoise in trouble. Need your immediate help!

Justin27491

New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2014
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2
Location (City and/or State)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Hey guys,
I have 2 star tortoises, a male and a female both are a little over 3 years. The male tortoises seems to be sick to me. His movements have become very slow. Although he still retracts his limbs inside when i startle him(just to see if he's ok) his food intake has gone very low for the past 2-3 days. and he suddenly seems to be very sick. he was fine a few days back. One more thing is his eyes swell up every now and then and his mouth is a bit open at times. I have kept him in a cardboard box with a newspaper on it. please tell me what to do. there are no tortoise vets in the area
 

abclements

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Jul 7, 2012
Messages
764
Hi Justin,

I know very little about stars, but here are sone questions you should answer. That way those that do know can help.

What is your set up like? What substrate do you use, how big, what kind of lights are you using, how many hides...

Temps (basking, hot side, cool side and night)?

What is the humidity in your enclosure?

What do you feed them?

Low activity, low drive to eat, and open mouth breathing sound like the beginning to a respiratory infection, (a tort version of a cold). If you bump the temperature up a little bit, that would really help.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
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Hi Justin, and welcome to our Forum!

It sounds like the tortoise is suffering from a respiratory infection and needs to be given some antibiotics. In the meantime, put the tortoise into a smaller, hospital cage...something you can heat up to about 85F degrees, and keep the tortoise warm and hydrated. Soaking in warm water daily or twice daily for about 15 minutes each time would be helpful. Don't let the tortoise get cool/cold.
 

shanu303

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Hello Justin, Welcome to TFO :) you have come in right time on right place(forum)..... people in India seldom do any research regarding their pets and the tortoises are least taken care off but it is good to see you coming and joining the forum.... i understand your problem regarding the vets.... they just aren't there...

first of all you need to separate the sick tortoise from the healthy one..
can you please give us some detail about the diet of your torts....
and i presume you haven't been giving your torts warm water soaks...(even i didn't know until i joined this forum)
as Yvonne said, you need to give your torts lukewarm water soaks.... the water should not be too hot, just slightly above normal...but i think since it is summer in India ambient temperature is 40 degree Celsius on average so normal water will do...
but make sure you soak your tortoises only in the afternoon when its warm and toasty...
and the water level for the soak/bath should be just bellow the mouth/lower jaw of the tortoise...
a good warm soak for 15-20 minutes everyday and also do spray their shells in the afternoon as it is getting very hot in our country....

now lets go on to the DIET of your torts...
here is what is supposed to be fed :
=> Hibiscus Leaf and Flower
=> Carrot greens(Gaajar ke patte)
=> Radish greens (Mulli ke patte)
=> Zucchini (Torai, the one which looks like cucumber)
=> Cucumber (kheera)
=> Grass
=> Jasminum Sambac <feed moderately> (Mogre ke ful aur patte )
=> Mustard sprouts ( grow the "Rai" which we use is cooking, and the feed the small grown sprouts)
=> Wheat grass ("Gehu ki ghass" you can simply grow the wheat and then feed )
AND DO NOT FEED TOMATO if you are feeding... not good for health, i did this mistake but then onwards changed the diet

i know indian star torts are very picky in eating so what i did was i fed only cucumber for first week or so...
then i started blending the cucumber with other green veggies and leaves to make a slurry...
or you can just blend cucumber an then brush off the paste on other food items so your tort thinks they are cucumber...
and slowly decrease the amount of cucumber as your tort gets used to the taste of other stuff...

Now lets go on to the Enclosure :
first of all are you living in an apartment or an independent house??
and do you have access to a garden or something??

i presume you don't have an enclosure since you keep them in cardboard boxes... let me tell you that cardboard box is the worst thing... it gets soaked with the torts urine and other liquids and is the breeding ground for infection... switch to plastic container ASAP.. better if you can provide an outdoor enclosure....
and UV lights and other tech support is simply unavailable in India so the best source of UVB is the SUN which is ABUNDANT in our country so i suggest you expose your torts to sunlight for good 3-4 hours but also provide shades and hiding spots for them to cool down...
and since it is summer in India right now i suggest to Not to put your torts out in the sun between 2-4pm as it gets scorching hot and very dry...
Get them out in the morning and evening and the early afternoon...




 

Justin27491

New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2014
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2
Location (City and/or State)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Just a plastic container will do? should i layer it with newspaper to keep him warm and cozy? and I am giving him almost daily sunlight for half an hour or so between 7 to 8 am. his diet has gone down terrible since the last week. is it normal?
 

shanu303

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Dec 4, 2012
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diet going down is sign of sickness especially in summers.... they may stop eating in winters when metabolism is low due to cold but not in summers.... you need to get a large plastic container depending on the size of your torts... keep them separate in 2 containers.... and get garden soil as the substrate instead of paper... the soil should be free of pesticides and fertilisers.... and the substrate in the container should be at least 3-4 inches deep..... and it is good that you are letting your Stars get sunlight but just increase the duration of exposure from 1/2 hour to at least 2 hours....
and can you please post pics of your stars so that we can better asses the problem ....
 
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