Me and my newbie Indian Star Tortoises

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love_my_tortoise

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Hello from India Everyone :D

My name is Shrikant and i hail from Mumbai, India :) I am new to the forum and to tortoise husbandry all together. I have recently acquired two Indian Star Tortoises :tort:. I have been told one is a male (who is a bit smaller in size) and the other a female. The guy i got it from didn't exactly know how old they are, so i can't comment on the age. They are 6cm or 2.3 inches in length, so I'm assuming may be they are approximately 6 months old.

By the grace of God both are very active :D, I have just made a temporary boundary in my living room using cardboard in a 5ft by 5ft space and i keep them there. I have read a lot on what to feed them, lighting, bedding and health supplements they need. However I haven't really been able to get any here in India, at-least not in Mumbai :((where i live) I have tried all local pet stores online and offline, I have even tried to order from Amazon Global items like Repti-Cal to Powersun, but with no luck. I did find one online re-seller in India after a lot of research for most Zoo-med products, but he is charging at least 4 times the amount for which the product retails in the US, for example Repti-cal 12oz is for 10$ = 550INR approximately on Amazon and he is selling at 45$.

If anyone can help me get in touch with any online retailer who can ships these products to India or can help me get in touch with someone from India who sells the stuff i would need for my little babies, I would be eternally thankful to you guys.

I apologize for writing such a lengthy first post, but i also need to ask one more favor from you guys. As of now i feed my little critters hibiscus flower, rose petals, coriander, carrots and lady fingers without the seeds. As the weed which they need is not easy to come by here and most other green veggies have different local names here. So if anyone knows any other food item i can give them for some fiber needs which i can procure locally or provide their Indian names, I would really appreciate that as well.

I have attached the pictures, BTW they are named Batman (as he loves to roam and hide) and Catwoman (as she has a tenacious personality).

And I'm really excited and proud to be a part of this community, thank you guys.
:tort::tort:
 

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Yvonne G

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Hi Shrikant, and welcome to the Forum!

Does your grocery or produce store sell bagged lettuces? We have a product called "Spring Mix" that is a mixture of several different types of young lettuces. This is a pretty good mixture to feed tortoises. You can also look for endive and escarole.

I found this during a search for translations:




•4Red leaf lettuce -kasmi

•5Green Leaf lettuce - Kasmi

•6Romaine lettuce -kasmi

•7Endive - kasni

•9Spinach - Palak

•10Cabbage - Patta gobi or Kobi

•11Chinese Cabbage - Laal patta gobi


•18Mustard Greens (bitter) - Sarson ki bhaji or sarson ka saag

escarole - frisee

I hope this helps. Escarole and endive are good tortoise foods.
 

love_my_tortoise

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5 Year Member
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Feb 20, 2013
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emysemys said:
Hi Shrikant, and welcome to the Forum!

Does your grocery or produce store sell bagged lettuces? We have a product called "Spring Mix" that is a mixture of several different types of young lettuces. This is a pretty good mixture to feed tortoises. You can also look for endive and escarole.

I found this during a search for translations:




•4Red leaf lettuce -kasmi

•5Green Leaf lettuce - Kasmi

•6Romaine lettuce -kasmi

•7Endive - kasni

•9Spinach - Palak

•10Cabbage - Patta gobi or Kobi

•11Chinese Cabbage - Laal patta gobi


•18Mustard Greens (bitter) - Sarson ki bhaji or sarson ka saag

escarole - frisee

I hope this helps. Escarole and endive are good tortoise foods.

Yvonne thank you for the prompt reply, really appreciate you taking the time and replying to my query :)

And thanks again for sharing the above food items and their names, I do have a question though.. I read online that Spinach and Cabbage is really bad for them and Normal Lettuce is like junk food. I have heard Romaine Lettuce is good, but we don't get that in most supermarkets here :(

Any idea on any pet store or supplier that ships stuff internationally?

Thanks again!
 
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