Hello! I am so glad to find this forum. :)

[Speedyandy]

Hi TortoiseForum, I am Andy, and my little buddy Speedy is an Indian star tortosie. He's been with us for over fourteen years now. This is just sharing a little about him. He is an active little fellow but throws a lot of tantrums at times. Sharing a few pictures of him.

Questions that I have for the forum and other Tort keepers.

1. How do I start gaining his trust so that he isn't scared or shy when people are around him?
2. Is picking him up too much to place him near his food or enclosure or water something that's bad?
3. How do I take care of his shell's health?
4. He has been on the wrong diet of beans, okra, and cabbage for the longest time and only recently I got to know it's bad for torts and started feeding him hibiscus leaves, flowers, and Cacti but he seems to be tough about it, I understand it is the years of wrong feeding but how could I change that?
5. I read a lot of places that people say applying virgin coconut oil once a month on torts shell, is that really good?

Thank you in advance!
Stay safe

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi and welcome! I've moved your thread over to the Star section, and hopefully more star keepers will see it and be able to help you.

 

[Speedyandy]

Hi and welcome! I've moved your thread over to the Star section, and hopefully more star keepers will see it and be able to help you.

Thank you!

 

[Tes]

Hi! I see that so far, no one has answered you. Although I'm not super experienced myself (only have mine for a little while now) hopefully I can help you out a bit!

First of, do you have some more information regarding his enclosure/lighting?

1. How do I start gaining his trust so that he isn't scared or shy when people are around him?
From what I've heard, Indian stars are very shy compared to other tortoise species. If he's still shy around you after you've had him for 14 years, I would think that might be his character. Mine became less shy by being handled by me more often, such as picking him up for his soak. But most of the times, I let him be. Since I know that it's better for his stresslevels to not be handled to much.

2. Is picking him up too much to place him near his food or enclosure or water something that's bad?
I would say that if your tort is hungry, he will go there himself. But I'm missing some context to be able to answer this question better.

3. How do I take care of his shell's health?
Regular soaking! I soak mine every day, but mine is still a baby. For an adult I think, once or twice per week is recommended. Further, his enclosure needs to be quite humid (at least 80%, with a humid hide where it's 95% - 100%).

4. He has been on the wrong diet of beans, okra, and cabbage for the longest time and only recently I got to know it's bad for torts and started feeding him hibiscus leaves, flowers, and Cacti but he seems to be tough about it, I understand it is the years of wrong feeding but how could I change that?
Be very very very patient. If a tort doesn't like something, it will takes months to get him to like it. On this forum you can find quite some advise on that topic. It's mainly about slowely changing his eating habbits. So first mix 90% of the 'old food' with 10% of the 'new food', whereby the tortoise won't be able to be picky. So chop it up nicely, so that he can't pick out the food he likes only. Over time, change the ratio slowely in order for your tortoise to get used to the 'new food'. Good luck!

5. I read a lot of places that people say applying virgin coconut oil once a month on torts shell, is that really good?
I don't know about coconut oil, I've never used it, so no experience with it whether its right or wrong.

To get more information, this caresheet is full of useful information for your tortoise! I would absolutely recommend reading it. Good luck!

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181504/