I picked up River today!

[Dagashi]

I just can't believe how cute they are! I was a bit worried when I first got Becky regarding how young she was. But she is doing so well! She recently had a growth spurt of 8 grams in 10 days! She loves to eat! About the paper towels, this is what Larry G. explained to me and is on his culture sheet. I wet it down with water in the morning and he fells that it provides them with good footing. I guess that it is cleaner for them when they are such young hatchlings. Regarding the mazuri... I only give Becky maybe one moist cube a week as a treat. Most of her diet is green leafy organic stuff with her vits everyday. The red marks on both hatchlings is to id them. The one on Becky (larger female) in to id who the mother was and I believe her sex. With River I guess the same. The fighting for the one corner started right away. Today I saw River (the little male) try to give Becky a nip on her nose and then try to get her arm... I am not sure if this is something that I should be concerned about???

Mine does the same. When we do catch them we talk to them sternly. We hope this does them some good. Although we realise that they wouldn't understand what we're trying to say.. or what we're doing.

They're just protecting their space, after all they are individual creatures and are not used to sharing.

I find that you will just need to provide them with sufficient hideouts/enclosures as babies love to hide. If you have enough hideouts they will find a spot they love most. If not they will try to find a corner and hide as best as they can then they won't have to fight it out with each other.

I read somewhere that star hatchlings hide most of the time as their instincts tell them to keep safe from harm. This seems to be pretty true as our stars find all opportunity to hide. if we don't keep an eye on them when we put them in the yard.. we'd have a hard time locating them as they tend to hide in crevices between pots or under shoes.. or even under a leaf! (which completely hides them).

Perhaps this will prevent them from fighting. Also make sure that you provide enough food for them so that they won't fight over that!

 

[CLMoss]

I just can't believe how cute they are! I was a bit worried when I first got Becky regarding how young she was. But she is doing so well! She recently had a growth spurt of 8 grams in 10 days! She loves to eat! About the paper towels, this is what Larry G. explained to me and is on his culture sheet. I wet it down with water in the morning and he fells that it provides them with good footing. I guess that it is cleaner for them when they are such young hatchlings. Regarding the mazuri... I only give Becky maybe one moist cube a week as a treat. Most of her diet is green leafy organic stuff with her vits everyday. The red marks on both hatchlings is to id them. The one on Becky (larger female) in to id who the mother was and I believe her sex. With River I guess the same. The fighting for the one corner started right away. Today I saw River (the little male) try to give Becky a nip on her nose and then try to get her arm... I am not sure if this is something that I should be concerned about???

Mine does the same. When we do catch them we talk to them sternly. We hope this does them some good. Although we realise that they wouldn't understand what we're trying to say.. or what we're doing.

They're just protecting their space, after all they are individual creatures and are not used to sharing.

I find that you will just need to provide them with sufficient hideouts/enclosures as babies love to hide. If you have enough hideouts they will find a spot they love most. If not they will try to find a corner and hide as best as they can then they won't have to fight it out with each other.

I read somewhere that star hatchlings hide most of the time as their instincts tell them to keep safe from harm. This seems to be pretty true as our stars find all opportunity to hide. if we don't keep an eye on them when we put them in the yard.. we'd have a hard time locating them as they tend to hide in crevices between pots or under shoes.. or even under a leaf! (which completely hides them).

Perhaps this will prevent them from fighting. Also make sure that you provide enough food for them so that they won't fight over that!

Wow, thank you for such good information! I have been keeping a close eye on their behavior and I believe that the fighting (nipping) has ended for now. Maybe they just needed to establish boundaries. Sometimes they do go into the two hide areas in the tank, but only for a shot time. They spend most of the time at that corner, just a few inches away from their basking area (I never see them directly under it, they just walk past it).

I provide them with lots of food, maybe too much. After a soak, I give them a variety of greens and from time to time a treat like sweet potatoes or a cube (mazuri). Later in the afternoon they look for a snack and I will give them a little more greens or some sprouts that I am growing for them. I may be feeding them too much... Becky had a growth spurt that seemed alarming to me, 8 grams in 10 days. I can feel the ridges around her scutes that were never there before.

Thanks, Claudia

 

[Dagashi]

Hehe we're both learning!

And yes.. I find that i love over feeding my torts too! I tempt them with food as much as I can. I always leave fresh greens in the enclosure or a branch of hibiscus or bougainvillea flowers. That gives a bit of color to the enclosure and some food.

Sometimes when I'm home late, and I miss them... I'll put some mazuri in their dish and fan the smells towards where they are hiding... They'll smell it soon enough, even if theyre sleeping and walk over to have a bite! So instead of eating breakfast, lunch and an early dinner they get supper too!

We're currently obsessed with misting and keeping their enclosure humid. ( even if we live in Malaysia and our humidity reaches 100%. )We're still a bit obsessed. We fret over any possibility of pyramiding.

You'll soon have tons of fun designing their enclosure.

 

[Vishnu2]

How are your star babies doing? I just got one myself, She or he is about 3 months old.. I worry about LuLu so much. I wake up during the night to check up on her.. Nice to see others have babies too! Would like to hear an update on how yours are doing. Thanks!

 

[CLMoss]

Hi Vishnu, My baby Star's are doing really well! Growing fast! I will have to take some updated photos of them. Their patterns are changing so beautifully.

Tell me more about your little Star. Do you have a photo?

Thanks for asking about my little ones. Claudia

 

[mightymizz]

They look great! Any new pictures for us?

 

[CLMoss]

I will take some photos today.

 

[Vishnu2]

Hi Vishnu, My baby Star's are doing really well! Growing fast! I will have to take some updated photos of them. Their patterns are changing so beautifully.

Tell me more about your little Star. Do you have a photo?

Thanks for asking about my little ones. Claudia
[/quote]



Here's mine, hopefully you can view him. I actually think she is a he after seeing your pictures and how fast your female grew over your male. I think mine is a male. I know, I know 50/50.

---

Hi Vishnu, My baby Star's are doing really well! Growing fast! I will have to take some updated photos of them. Their patterns are changing so beautifully.

Tell me more about your little Star. Do you have a photo?

Thanks for asking about my little ones. Claudia

Here's mine, hopefully you can view him. I actually think she is a he after seeing your pictures and how fast your female grew over your male. I think mine is a male. I know, I know 50/50.




[/quote]

Oh, here is my favorite picture. I do want to add, he has a different bowl that he can actually get into, his big log is not a peat moss pit.

---

Thanks for letting me share my pictures on your post.. I love my little one. Do you check on yours through out the night?

 

[Vishnu2]

Claudia,
My little guy was a trade. To make a long story short. A breeder in Colorado wanted a chahoua and I happened to want a Star so I made the deal. He stated he had the perfect one for me. So, I was excited, went to pick her/him up and was shocked to see that she was 1 and half inches. It was kinda unspoken I didn't want one that small. Not wanting to break the deal and falling in love at first sight with the little eyes I took her/him. I also, thankfully read the thread on here about how to tell if the star you're looking to buy is healthy or not. She seemed healthy to me so the deal was done. I feel like I have a newborn baby. Everyone in my family adores her/him. I have 3 children, 2 of them being under the age of 4, so taking care of her is tough but totally worth it. I know some people would argue or debate that they can't love us or don't know who we are but I think she knows me. I talk to her, soak her 2x a day, take her outside, and chop her veggies.. She knows me. Maybe not loves me (yet) but she knows me. Oh, I might add the breeder stunk, Lol.. He didn't even know what he was breeding. I asked what kind of Star she/he was and he wasn't sure. I saw her siblings and her mom and she looked like a Star to me just not Burmese but I am no professional.

So, what are you feeding your Stars? I am having trouble finding her diet. She tried to graze on grass while outside but it's to tall for her and gets hit in the face.

Thanks, for listening to my rant.

 

[Sky2Mina]

Sorry to push up an older thread... but I just had to say how cute they were!!!
I love "Becky" as a tortoise name... so feminine and cute.
Hope she turns out to be a “lady” and not a “lad”

 

[CLMoss]

Thanks! I really love her name as well. About her being a female...she was incubated for female as River was incubated to be a male. But, you never know. They are just so cute! ~C

 

[ATXTortoises]

I want one! Someday.

 

[l0velesly]

Do you have updated pictures of them?

 

[CLMoss]

Do you have updated pictures of them?

I will have to take some new photos. Maybe tomorrow. Thanks, C