Indian Star Tortoise & Red Foot Tortoise

[William Yeo]

Is it possible to have them in the same enclosure?
I was told by some yes and by some no. I tried searching and i couldn't find a firm answer.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

NO
Firm enough?
Different needs. Different foods. different pathogens, etc.

 

[William Yeo]

Thanks for your answer!
Are the indian star easy to rare?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I know quite a bit about Redfoot.
I've kept them for over 20 years and have learned even more, here.
However, I know very little about the care of Indian Stars.
They are much less common here in South Florida USA

 

[William Yeo]

Can i buy to ready packed organic salad (without sauce) and mix it with Mazuri to feed the stars?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Avoid "iceberg" lettuce and spinach and most other baby leafy salad items in those packs would work in a pinch. But it would get expensive and there may be free food (weeds) growing nearby that would be even better.
Where are you?

 

[Markw84]

William:

Read the care sheet titled " how to raise a healthy leopard or sulcata" that is posted at the top of the section for sulcata tortoises I would follow those guidelines for everything for a star tortoise. The only exception is stars will prefer less grasses. Everything you need is there

 

[William Yeo]

Would like to check with u guys...
If i were to place those stars inside an enclosure, and the enclosure is placed in my room.
I always on aircon in the night. Will it affect the tortoise?

 

[Markw84]

Air Conditioning dries the air. Your Star needs it humid to do best and avoid pyramiding as much as is possible. Is your enclosure covered? Nothing wrong with it being in your room as long as you can maintain a min of 80F and keep around 80% relative humidity inside the enclosure.

As Zeropilot asks - where are you in the world? Can we see a picture of your enclosure?

 

[William Yeo]

Avoid "iceberg" lettuce and spinach and most other baby leafy salad items in those packs would work in a pinch. But it would get expensive and there may be free food (weeds) growing nearby that would be even better.
Where are you?

Hi there,

I'm in Malaysia. I can just pluck those grass or weeds off the walkways?

 

[William Yeo]

Air Conditioning dries the air. Your Star needs it humid to do best and avoid pyramiding as much as is possible. Is your enclosure covered? Nothing wrong with it being in your room as long as you can maintain a min of 80F and keep around 80% relative humidity inside the enclosure.

As Zeropilot asks - where are you in the world? Can we see a picture of your enclosure?

I am in the midst of setting them up. I'm collecting my stars tml. 2 of it both abt 2.5".

I'm thinking of getting an open enclosure with partial close/covered like the zoo med 1s. Maybe i will and put it in my room for 1 day and see what temps and humidity are.

As my stars are really young. I know i have to soak them in warm water for 15mins a day. And i need to on those UVB & UBA for 12hrs a day.
As for food, i can give them hibiscus flowers, bell pepper, dandelion leaves and Mazuri.

What else did i miss out?

For bedding, can i use forest barks?

 

[Markw84]

William: Please read and study this =

How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0

Where I live, a tortoise table is not a good enclosure for young stars. You really need to keep the humidity up and control temps. All that is outlined in the great post I just linked for you above. I would not feed bell pepper. A great food list is also in that link.

 

[William Yeo]

I cannot get Dandelion here. Can i feed wild rocket?

 

[Tom]

I cannot get Dandelion here. Can i feed wild rocket?

These threads will explain how to house them and heat them. They will explain what to feed them and what not to do. Care for stars is very similar to care for sulcata and leopard babies.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

You can keep them in your room if you use a closed chamber and give them a heat source. Its all explained in those threads.

Tortoises should not be kept in pairs.

 

[William Yeo]

What is the reason that they should not be kept in pairs?
So i get a pair more to make it 4?

 

[William Yeo]

Would like to check... if i'm using Forest Bark as bedding, is it ok?
I have a pair now and i think i will be buying 1 more to make it 3, so the situation is better.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, forest bark is ok.

Whatever you keep them in, cover it. This will help keep the warm moist air inside and the cooler air from the AC out.

 

[Gillian M]

A warm welcome to the forum!

Please keep torts in separated enclosures so as to avoid bullying. And if it is dry back there please give your torts daily soaks in warm water. This will prevent pyramiding.

 

[William Yeo]

A warm welcome to the forum!

Please keep torts in separated enclosures so as to avoid bullying. And if it is dry back there please give your torts daily soaks in warm water. This will prevent pyramiding.

If it's 3.. do i need to keep them in separate enclosure?

 

[William Yeo]

Yes, forest bark is ok.

Whatever you keep them in, cover it. This will help keep the warm moist air inside and the cooler air from the AC out.

Thanks for your pointer. I kept them in the living room, there's no AC. The temp is constantly @ 32c and humidity is btw 60-70%.

Both my indian star are hatchling, abt 2.8".