Hello from India

[gb328]

Hey all, Im a new tortoise care giver - just got a young star tortoise from a friend and totally in love with him. I live in Mumbai , India, where most of the stuff that websites mention in food, diet or even enclosures and accessories for tortoises are not available and so I'm looking for a lot of help from you guys in helping me source alternatives and make this fun for my lil pet!

PS : the name is still being finalised, suggestions welcome

 

[Jacqui]

Welcome! A star, how beautiful! Could we see pictures of the little fellow, so we can sigh over how pretty he or she is? So does your friend raise Stars too? Nice having you here. What would you like us to call you?

 

[gb328]

Welcome! A star, how beautiful! Could we see pictures of the little fellow, so we can sigh over how pretty he or she is? So does your friend raise Stars too? Nice having you here. What would you like us to call you?

Thank you ! my name's gary. and pictures attached ! no my friend had got it from another one and she didnt have time to care for it so she gave him away to me !
right now Im struggling with what to feed him, eats nothing but cucumber ! and in india, we dont have stuff like dandelions , collards etc .. so looking for options !

 

[gb328]

also im having trouble getting used to the post new topic or reply function here ! there is no confirmation whether my reply has gone or not !

 

[Jacqui]

also im having trouble getting used to the post new topic or reply function here ! there is no confirmation whether my reply has gone or not !

You won't have that issue once you have your five posts in. Currently new members have to have their first five posts approved by a Mod before they will show. It helps keep out spam. Sorry for the problems it caused you, however.

 

[gb328]

aah, makes sense, no trouble if it helps to keep the community real .. cheers !

---

now i see that in my confusion, earlier i started 2 new topics for the same subject, now im trying but i cant delete one of them to avoid duplication for others.. anyway i can do that ?

 

[stephiiberrybean]

Hey Welcome.

What a beautiful tortoise.

Am sure there is lots of help you can get from everyone here.
Is there anyway you can order seeds online and grow your own grass/plants for the little guy?

 

[gb328]

hey thank you ! no, thats a tough one.. have tried common plants but the weather is not suitable here !

 

[stephiiberrybean]

hey thank you ! no, thats a tough one.. have tried common plants but the weather is not suitable here !

Hmm.. Yea.
It's a tough one.
Am sure we'll all be able to think of something.

I don't know much on star tortoises but i shall look into there diet and talk to my auntie (She's a plant lady ) see if she can come up with anything for you.

 

[gb328]

great looking forward ! cheers !

 

[stephiiberrybean]

I shall PM you when i've spoken to her.

For now if you can get this from somewhere, it will provide him with some form of fibre.
http://www.horsehage.co.uk/HH-Timothy.html
I believe a company called Graze on and Readigrass do a very similar thing.

It'd just be a way to provide him with fibre as there diet should mainly consist of grass and fibre.
(I knew being horsey would come in handy, eventually.)

 

[AnthonyC]

Hi & welcome to the forum!!

 

[yagyujubei]

Why would people suggest you order seeds? Stars are native to India, and their entire diet grows wild there. Do local markets have edible wild plants available in Mumbai?

 

[drgnfly2265]

Hello and welcome

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Gary:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

I'll look for your duplicate thread and delete for you.

In the meantime, I was thinking along the same lines as yagyujubei...just go out and find some clean (not sprayed with chemicals) weeds and see if your new tortoise will eat them.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[ascott]

Welcome to the forum

I think plant cultivation via seeds is something we have all done...so good suggestion given .....I bet you can locate native plants there ..but please be certain to use only collected plants that have not been sprayed with any bug spray, weed killers or fertilizer

I understand variety differs from here to there...in your market place do they sell darkleaf greens? What type? We have Star caregivers here that can not walk around in native star habitat that do wonderful in the food offerings ....

WE LOVE PICS

 

[Turtle Guru]

welcome to the forum

 

[Sky2Mina]

Welcome!
I live in Thailand, and I also have to 'improvise' when it comes to tortoise food. We don't have dandelions and "all the good stuff" But as you live in India, there should be lots of plants that are actually even better for the torty than 'western' foods... although I guess there's not so much nature where you live? (if you live in the city)
Grass is always a good thing to give your tortoise. But I live in the city, so my tortoise rarley gets it... still trying to find some seeds or something so I could grow them myself.

I think it's great you are trying to get the right information on how to care for your tortoise! We sometimes have stories about people not getting their tortoise into the sun and giving the wrong foods for years, until the animals get sick.

As far as I know, keeping star tortoise is illegal in india (isnt it?). Can you still get UVB-lamps or get him into the sun?

He's really cute! How big is he?

Mina