Everyone, meet Zoey!

[Jim Kowalik]

Hi All,

Just wanted to share a few pics of my new little Sri Lankan Star girl, Zoey. I've had her for about a month now and she's thriving incredibly. She's tons of energy and eats like a little horse. She actually reminds me a lot of a new puppy where they run around and play like crazy, then go narcoleptic and knock out for a while, then wake up, eat and do it all over again! Due to a lot of the advice and husbandry recommendations I've gotten from this site she is doing so amazing that I just wanted to share. She will be 7 months old in about a week. How does she look to you guys? She likes to show off her yoga poses when basking. Lol

 

[Yvonne G]

I've always been fond of that name. Don't know why I've never used it. Zoey's a beauty. You're so lucky.

 

[Jim Kowalik]

I've always been fond of that name. Don't know why I've never used it. Zoey's a beauty. You're so lucky.

Thank you! I have a little boy Leopard named Opie, so I thought it fair to let my wife name the little girl and she came up with Zoey and it just seemed to fit perfectly. Feel free to steal

 

[Tom]

She looks great Jim! Congrats. I hope you'll keep the updates coming so we can all watch her grow up!

 

[PA2019]

Great looking star! I have adults and am jealous when people post hatchling photos.

Does the temp and humidity gauge (I'm assuming that is what is in the first pic) have a wire running through the tank glass?

Do you know what the humidity level in the tank is? From the photos the substrate surface looks bone dry, and low humidity levels can lead to pyramiding, health issues etc...

 

[Jim Kowalik]

She looks great Jim! Congrats. I hope you'll keep the updates coming so we can all watch her grow up!

Absolutely, Tom. Thanks! Actually, your care sheet post is what I printed out and studied from top to bottom (including removing the heat pad) and I think that's why she is doing so well. I was one of those misinformed people that was given the advice of the pet store as no-to-low humidity. I am SO glad I didn't follow that logic. Using your advice I was able to craft her a pretty cool set up. About 3/4th's of her enclosure has an orchid bark substrate that's nice and saturated. I have a ball of moss and timothy hay in that corner (the cool side 80 - 88 degrees) she likes to hide in to cool down. The other 1/4 is a mixture of reptisoil which is her basking area (100-103 degrees). I was going to do all orchid bark, but she loves to dig when shes getting ready to go to sleep, so I didn't have the heart to take that away from her. Her basking lighting is on a timer for about 14 hours, then it clicks over to a ceramic heat emitter bulb at night which keeps the entire enclosure around 80.5-83 degrees. I have the same ball of moss and timothy hay for her to hide in as well which she loves.

The grand finale is a fog machine I use to keep her humidity between 60-80% at any give time (never lower than 60%). This thing is a LIFESAVER for regulating the humidity of her enclosure. She's always got clean alkaline water and munches on a good variety of foods. Her favorite seems to be a salad I make her of opuntia cactus, rose of sharon, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and kale with a dressing of a calcium supplement.

I want this baby to thrive for her whole life, so if I am missing anything, or you see anything here I can improve on, I am all about it and would love the feedback!

Thanks again!

 

[Jim Kowalik]

Great looking star! I have adults and am jealous when people post hatchling photos.

Does the temp and humidity gauge (I'm assuming that is what is in the first pic) have a wire running through the tank glass?

Do you know what the humidity level in the tank is? From the photos the substrate surface looks bone dry, and low humidity levels can lead to pyramiding, health issues etc...

Oh no no, never ever dry. Her humidity is never below 60%, but usually close to 80%. I keep a moist orchid bark as about 3/4 of her enclosures substrate, as well as, a fogger which is constantly pumping in fresh humidity.

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Jim Kowalik and welcome to the forum.

Zoey is gorgeous. GOD bless.

 

[Jim Kowalik]

Hi @Jim Kowalik and welcome to the forum.

Zoey is gorgeous. GOD bless.

Thank you so much, Gillian! I'm happy to be here!

 

[Jim Kowalik]

She looks great Jim! Congrats. I hope you'll keep the updates coming so we can all watch her grow up!

Hey Tom et al.,

Just wanted to share an update on Zoey winces she’s now over a year old! I can’t believe how the time flys. She is doing incredibly well and I feel so lucky. When I first got her she was almost 6 months old and weighed 38 grams. Now, after her first birthday she’s at a whopping 57 grams! Her favorite foods are Rose of Sharon, pumpkin (both in moderation as treats), Lilac and hibiscus. Sometimes I make her a little salad of zucchini, cucumber, mazuri, and a mixture of cat, couch, barley, fescue, fountain and oat grasses and she goes to town! I think her favorite thing in the world is her morning bath. I soak her every day first thing in the morning in some nice warm water and she routinely poops and pees like clockwork.

She’s taken a liking to my French bulldog who absolutely adores her. He will actually follow her around when she’s grazing outside and act as her big protector. It’s insanely adorable. Wouldn’t they have some interesting looking babies? Hahah totally kidding!!

Here are some recent pictures!

 

[Jim Kowalik]

She looks great Jim! Congrats. I hope you'll keep the updates coming so we can all watch her grow up!

I almost completely forgot to post her best friend! Here’s my 8 year old bully boy Ammo aka. Hambino