Star tortoise never basking?

[Desmondz]

I have a 6 month old indian star tortoise, since I got her she has been a bit sneezy/runny nose but I've had her for 2 weeks now and she doesnt seem to be improving. She's on a tortoise table and I've never seen her bask, she is always hiding in the dark box part. She eats well and atm I have her on some tortoise pellets and Romanian lettuce and also a bag of dried grass that has dandelions and hibiscus flowers in too. I think I should add in other foods but don't really have access to anything unless it's from a shop as I am in the city with no garden for weeds etc but I read that Romanian lettuce could be their base diet if nothing else available. I put calcium supplement on her food every few days

I have a 160 watt heat bulb that is also a uvb combination one. The thermometer is under it and it's usually 100F, but there's about 5 inches to the floor under that where the tortoise is so it will be slightly cooler there. There's also a heat mat inside the box bit which is on the roof. I bathe her every 2 days in warm water so she can toilet in it but I haven't seen her drink

Do you think the heat bulb is too hot for her and that's why she's not basking? How am I meant to get rid of her cold if she won't bask to warm up? At night I turn the heat lamp off at about 10pm and leave the heat mat on only and the house heating is on also, it's about 25 Celsius in her tortoise table and slightly more in the box bit where the mat is. I turn the heat lamp on again at 8am. Just worried about her persistent cold type symptoms and the fact I never saw her bask

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Ciri]

The runny nose is a sign that she is sick. The warmth is important and will help her immune system, but she needs to be seen by reptile specialist veterinarian for treatment. There is a list of such veterinarians on this website. also, it's important to have water for her at all times, and make sure that she soaks daily. Unfortunately, these respiratory infections are not like the kind of cold we get, but are much more serious, and can be deadly.

Romaine lettuce is not healthy food for a tortoise. see this link for detailed information about their diet needs:

http://startortoises.net/diet.html

 

[Tom]

An open table is the worse case scenario for housing a star. They do best in a closed chamber simulating the monsoon season.

I've just returned from the TTPG conference and had several conversations about stars with a few other members. They like it hot. They fare best when temps are hot all the time. Neal told me that his are active and walking around when its 115 (46 C) degrees there in Phoenix. Mine still bask even when ambient is 93-94 (34 C).

25 C at night is too cold, especially if you are fighting sickness already. I suggest a large closed chamber like this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

Set ambient to no lower than 30-32 day and night until the symptoms clear up. Basking spot around 37 C should be good. With the higher heat, I'd soak daily.

 

[Desmondz]

Thank you for the replies. I had never heard of that type of housing before, this is my first reptile and everything I had read suggested either tortoise tables or guinea pig cages to keep one in. The breeder I got her from said to just keep her warm and implied the cold symptoms would go away after that, it was suggested she had caught this illness whilst being transported to me.

Do you think I should keep the basking light on at night for her? How am I meant to make it warmer in there without it? Already have a large heat pad and another won't fit. Do you have any idea why she doesn't bask? Maybe because she doesn't feel well - but how am I meant to warm her up if she doesn't go near the heat?

I can take her to a reptile vet but I am in the UK where there doesn't look to be many good ones without driving a few hours. She is so tiny, about 2 inches shell length. I am just very worried about her now but she is still eating fine. I will try to find some better food for her if the Romanian lettuce is bad - but from a UK breeders information sheet that was marked as a staple diet for when nothing else was available, is this wrong? I can only really get stuff for her at supermarkets and they don't seem to have anything that is on the link provided

Sorry for being a noob and asking all these questions. I am just really paranoid she might die!!

 

[Ciri]

It's smart you are asking all these questions. If I were in your situation, I would work on strengthening her immune system. Since the reptile veterinarian doesn't seem to be an option, I would use organic Astragalus root, cooked into a tea. You can just add it to her water. It's important to get it organic as I have heard some Chinese herbs have pesticides or herbicides on them. If you can't find pieces of root, you could get it in capsule form from the health food store. Then you can just open a capsule and put it on her food, or in her water.

It's a very good sign that she is eating. It's important not to feed romaine, as it's not nutritious for them, and can cause diarrhea. What about some of the other things on the diet list, on the link I sent you, on the Indian star tortoise website? I know some you may have to grow, so it will take some time, but others like dandelion greens are more readily available. Temporarily, you could try more nutritious greens like kale, and collard greens. Those are usually available in most grocery stores.

 

[Desmondz]

Thanks for replying again I will look into getting those capsules, would have no idea where to start looking for the actual root itself!

On the list everything is either things I have never heard of or things that I don't think I can buy here. I will start growing some stuff of my own for sure, until then I will get some kale tomorrow and when I walk my dogs I will be on a hunt for dandelions and other weeds which I can wash and feed to her. Unfortunately because of the dogs my garden is like a huge muddy swamp and barely even has any grass left growing in it (they love to dig!) or else finding weeds etc for her would be a lot easier.

The breeder as far as I know fed her exclusively on dandelion and other weeds and grasses from his garden. I feel really bad now i realise I've been feeding her rubbish! Would just be much more convenient if I could buy all of her food from the shop - some people said that the grocery shops sell dandelion leaves etc but I can't find anything like that on the websites of my local shops, looks like growing it is the way forward then

 

[Tom]

They need it dark at night. You keep ambient and night temps up with a ceramic heating element or two set on a thermostat.

You can't keep her warm in an open topped enclosure. That is the problem. The air in your room is not good for your tortoise. THat is the reason for using a closed chamber. You heat. light and humidify the chamber and then it doesn't matter what goes on in the rest of the room.

I typed this up for sulcatas and leopards but I house my stars exactly the same. In fact my stars now live in the enclosure that is depicted in the thread I linked above that had leopards in it.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

This might help a bit too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[Desmondz]

Thanks Tom. What is the difference between a closed chamber and a vivarium? I read your other thread but it looks like you made it yourself sort of - don't think I could do that! I have small glass tanks as some other people posted on your thread, but they have no lid and I'm not sure how I would get the light in there. Would I be able to buy a vivarium and alter it somehow to make it into the closed chamber? Sorry I am not very creative and don't understand a lot of the tortoisey equipment words that were used.

I think I would also need a new bulb if I changed from the tortoise table, it is 160 watts so would roast her if they were enclosed? Sorry again for being so dumb - but is there something vivarium-ish that I could go out and buy straight away so she is out of the table?

The advice that I got from the actual breeder is the total opposite of what I'm reading here so now I am really confused and worried! all of their hatchlings were raised in a tortoise table and the breeder is known for being good in this country so not sure why they'd tell me to do that if it is wrong, which it seems that it is. Everything I've done and bought for my tortoise is wrong poor little thing