in the pic the large one is motu and the smaller one is chotu right? then which one do you take care of ? the large one or the small one? I'm asking this because the previous picture you posted seems to be of chotu and not of motu.... and the larger one has really beautiful marking....
what about whatsapp?? Is there any group there
Hello and Welcome to TFO!
the credit for the valuable shares goes to people who have posted and shared such amount of info in this thread...
i think there is no better place than TFO for interactions regarding our pets.
Hi all,
you've got amazing stars with you 
@Robin1 welcome to TFO
first to clarify things... non of your star could possibly give eggs at this young age..... they are small and not mature enough so the giving eggs thing is impossible.... unless i am deceived by the pics and your stars are 8 inches long.... is it so?
before we get to the details of diet and everything..... you need to immediately change the substrate of the enclosure from sand to garden soil... sand can and will cause impaction and suffocation as the particles are very fine and can easily be ingested or inhaled....
# SUGGESTIONS OF YOUR FRIEND :
1) "soak them for half hour in 4 5 days." =>
20 minutes of soaking in lukewarm water is enough.... and everyday is preferable...
2) "sprinkle calcium powder( cutle bone) on their food on alternate day" =>
first of all sprinkle only when you can get your hands on cuttlefish bone... do not use medicinal calcium tablets..... and 2-3 days in a week is sufficient.... better you could leave the cuttlefish bone in their closure
3) "make them bath once a week" =>
soaking and bathing is one and the same so neglect this point.... just wet their shells while soaking
4)"never feed them any vegetable with seeds and non veg too( no non veg is it true)" =>
vegetables with/without seed isn't the criteria of their diet.... for e.g.. cucumber can be fed and it has seeds...tomato can be fed as treat and it has seeds
you should NOT FEED NON-VEG as they primarily are herbivores... but in nature they do eat carrion a little but we should not feed meat in captivity.
my Star occasionally bites upon slugs in his outdoor enclosure and i don't bother him much about it...
5)"after bath use single drop of coconut oil to shine there shell." =>
this is completely cosmetic point of view... the oil won't harm neither would it benefit your stars.... i never use any kind of oil or lotion etc as i like my star to be as natural as possible
6) "no need of any artificial light( bask them in morning 6-11 than 4 to 5) ." =>
it is true about no need of artificial light if you can provide natural sunlight to them for basking.... 4-5 hours will be sufficient for them in a day and remember to also provide shade so that they can at their will cool down if needed.... so your outdoor enclosure should have shade and lots of it..... i have a garden setup for my Star so he just finds shades under various bushes and plants.
7)"take them for a walk in the garden near to my home." =>
do not take them to the garden because the gardens are highly treated with pesticides and insecticides and chemical fertilisers to maintain such large areas with minimal cost.... and secondly because they are illegal to keep
# YOUR DOUBTS :
1) How to soak?
==> take a plastic container/tub in which they can move freely and are not constrained in any position.
fill it with lukewarm water( in winters) and normal water (in summers).
the water level should be just below the mouth of your tortoises... in more technical terms it should be till the junction of the carapace and plastron
let them in the container for 15-20 minutes.... tortoises have the tendency to defecate in the bath which is a good thing actually but if they defecate too early in the soaking then replace the water and re soak them.
2) What to feed : THE DIET
hibiscus flower and greens(can be used as staple diet)
cilantro(dhaniya)
fenugreek(methi) in winter
cucumber(kheera)
lawn grass( variety)
carrot greens(Gaajar ke patte)
Mulli ke patte/Radish greens
radish
Mogra ke phool/ Jasmin flowers and leaves (moderately)
zucchini
kale
collard greens
opuntia pads(cactus with the spines removed)
dandelion(if you can find)
and other greens which are rich in fibre and low protein
Avoid:
spinach
cabbage
cauliflower
beans
Treat: (give them rarely)
Tomato
carrots(although they don't like it that much)
3) How much and How many times to feed:
feed them 3 times a day in small quantities..... and in the beginning they won't even touch the above
mentioned menu.... don't worry... just chop and mix the above mentioned stuff with what they eat currently or what
they like..... slowly increase the amount of leaves and flowers and greens and reduce amount of what they like....
they'll get used to it... for example my Star would only eat cucumber in the beginning.... what i did is chop the hibiscus
flowers and leaves and other greens and mix with chopped cucumber.... made a salad and then i fed it to Star.... he got
used to it and now he eats most of the greens and leaves..... but still he hogs upon cucumber like a pig lol
in the beginning there might be some wastage as your stars won't eat all... but its ok... do trial and error and find out
the amount they eat.....
4) Enclosure :
substrate in the tub should be soil (preferably garden soil) which is free from Pesticides or any kind of chemical treatment.....Substrate
is extremely necessary....
the tub should be large i mean as big as you can afford but not below the minimum... well i'd say the minimum for 2 is 4feet by 4feet...
and i think such large tubs are expensive so what i suggest is you buy wooden planks which are 12 inches wide, 4 feet long and 1/2 inch
thick. buy four of them and make a box... then place that box in your balcony and fill it with soil 3-4 inches deep. you should also cover
the wooden box with some kind of wired mesh with holes large enough to let the sunlight through.... this is to protect your stars from
birds and other animals/pests....
also provide hiding spots.... you can use plastic gardening pots and cut them in half... this is to provide shade from direct sunlight as
tortoises are cold blooded and they require cool and hot areas to thermoregulate....
also place some real or fake plants in the enclosure(not necessary but good for torts).... in real ones you can have
spider plant, and hibiscus
Just place small plants only, in small pots.... other ornamentals will also do BUT No Money Plant... it's toxic
5) The White paste:
the white paste you are seeing is known as urates/uric acid.... it is completely normal as long as it is fluid and flowing... if they are hard and dry then their is too much calcium in the diet and/or your torts are dehydrated
6)Water Dish :
provide access to water 24/7
the dish should be shallow so they can easily go in and out
# Don'ts
1) avoid handling the stars as much as possible... especially in the beginning as they are not yet acclimated and can get
stressed easily.....
2) don't let them roam openly in you house as they are small and can get stepped upon or can get into extreme places and corners...
they are pretty good at hide&seek especially in Indian Homes (speaking by personal experience )
any further queries you are most welcome to ask
once started it cannot be eliminated only can be prevented from developing more.... one solution is to spray their shells with water 3-4 times a day or even more to maintain the moisture but a sure shot solution is to build a closed chamber where you can control humidity and other parameters... unfortunately closed chambers are very expensive to build in country like ours where the tools and equipment are hard to find... and you would require a large area indoors as your torts are not that small for small closed chamber....one more thing you can do is moisten the substrate i.e the soil in their enclosure to increase moisture.... but only when their is ample heat in the enclosure because cold+water= not good....
Here's a pic..
