My tort is not gaining weight...

[geekinpink]

My tort seems to not be gaining weight much, I got her last august 11, she weighed 170 grams at 3.5"

yesterday I weighted her and she is only 200 grams @3.5" - is this ok?

I have no idea how old she is, the pet shop said she's about 1.5 yrs old. Is that still a hatchling?

 

[Laura]

is she eating? kept warm enough?
LAST Aug? last month or one year ago?

 

[SILVERSTAR]

well when i bought mine at almost five months old he weighed 38 grams i dont know if thats normal either but i bought from a reputable breeder and i demanded to know birthdate and birthweight and all that stuff before i even bought it and i wrote it down becuz that stuffs important in findin out if your tortoise is progressing normally,i think its normal for them to hit slow groth patches and growth spurts at times but they really do like to be kept warm.

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just curious how much did a petstore sell you a star tortoise for?

 

[geekinpink]

-august (last month)

-The person I bought the tort from is reputable too(pet store owner) but he got this tort from another person and they don't know the exact hatch date He estimated it for 1.5 yo. He kept it with him for about 3 months before selling it to me. He also keeps tortoise at his house not displayed on his pet store..

she's a finicky eater..but if she likes the food, like hibiscus flower she eats a lot.
- I forgot to add that we had her feces tested and there's no sign of parasites.

I keep her enclosure at 80-90F during the day and lower during the night, she stays away from the heat though, she has 1 cooler hide, 1 medium and 1 right beneath the light, she usually stays on the medium. I'm guessing If the sun is out and she's on her outside enclosure I would not need to heat her right? The sun is warm enough? I live in the philippines so it's humid and hot most of the time. She never bask except when eating because I intentionally put her food below the UV bulb. -She does bask in the sun, just not very interested to bask with a light bulb.

@silverstar - bought her for about 93 US dollars - it's very expensive here! Sulcatas cost - 300+ US dollars.

 

[SILVERSTAR]

THATS HILARIOUS,I PAID $500 us dollars for my star tortoise AND HERE YOU CAN GET TORTOISES FOR AS LOW AS $69 ive seen and buy one get one free,haha they practically give em away,but i guess stars are cheap becuz where you live they are almost native huh? i had no idea you were from singapore i think i spelled that wrong,was it hard to find this website for you?? i was so happy to have found a site that have a special section jus for star tortoises its been so helpful to jus go thru and read about stars only,the last forum i was on was so hard to find specific info on stars....so yeah im grateful to be on here...

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i meant to say you can get sulcatas as low as $69

 

[Laura]

talk about Different worlds....!!
welcome!

 

[geekinpink]

I'm from Philippines not singapore Yea, star torts are native for our neighboring countries...I don't think we have any tortoise native here though, We do have turtles but they are endangered because native people eat them

Lol and here I thought, my star tort was very expensive!!! I wanted a suclata but it's too expensive for me maybe someday I just love that they are friendlier...when i was choosing a tort, the sulcatas will come to you and keeps walking, the star just hides in her shell...but i love the "stars" on their shell

I love this forum, it actually came up the first time I googled "what to feed a star tortoise" It also made me realize how irresponsible a lot of owners here, they feed the most un-nutritious things, one feeds his tort iceberg lettuce everyday! (it's the only kind of lettuce very common here) luckily i found this site before feeding them to my tort

 

[SILVERSTAR]

yeah its mainly water the iceberg lettuce and once they get it they only want that,yeah i noticed how much more active the sulcata babys were at an expo i went to they wouldnt stop,my star is a little more reserved,he kinda hangs back and checks everything out but thats kool,i got the patience for him that i think alotta people dont,i can see why they say stars arent for everyone,i mean i baby mine cuz i understand it,he dont like fast movement and i think he waits for me to put food in front of him,stars are not for sumone who wants an active tortoise that they can handle alot...i wonder if the captive bred specimens here in the states have appearances that differ from there native kin back in syngapore?? or the phillipines?

 

[agiletorts]

In South East Asian countries like Phillippines, Indonesia, etc. Indian Stars are much cheaper than sulcata. It really depends on supply and demand - supply of sulcata is still scarce in that region while Indian Stars are relatively plenty (almost all of them are wc though). Here in the US there are so many breeders of sulcatas so babies are very cheap; in some regions you could even get adult sucata for free as many people just don't have the space for them once they grow bigger.

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...i wonder if the captive bred specimens here in the states have appearances that differ from there native kin back in syngapore?? or the phillipines?

Stars in the US and Asia are pretty much the same appearance. Radiateds are a little different because my understanding is here in the US most of the radiated tortoise came from one source, while in SE Asia they are mostly fresh imports.

 

[SILVERSTAR]

Yeah i jus figured maybe breeders over here selected there tortoises for certain traits or colors and maybe after so many generations maybe they would slightly differ in appearance,i onpy though that becuz over here we kinda decide wut stars are bred as oppose to natively they choose there own mates, JUS A CURIOUS THOUGHT THATS ALL..........

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meant to say only...

 

[myrtle651]

I am also concerned about the weight of my star hatchling? I received Vega on 8-13 at 27 grams since then he is now 35 grams? He gained 4 grams in 10 days 8/13 to 8/23 Since then 8/23 -10/22 he gained 4 grams. He seems to eat well in water?

 

[SILVERSTAR]

im confused you have question marks behind regular sentences,sorry im jus curious,but it doesnt really sound much like you have a problem,it is gaining weigh and not losing and they do grow sorta slow especially when you see em everyday ya know wut i mean my dude?

 

[myrtle651]

im confused you have question marks behind regular sentences,sorry im jus curious,but it doesnt really sound much like you have a problem,it is gaining weigh and not losing and they do grow sorta slow especially when you see em everyday ya know wut i mean my dude?

I am confused with your answer?? Learn to use SPELL CHECK!!!!!!! DUDE

 

[SILVERSTAR]

LOL..... calm down kid,i was jus sayn it seems like your tortoise is gaining normally,i mean mine was kinda slow i though too but you gotta think 4 grams is alot compared to a 25 gram tortoise,jus my thought bud,honestly i wasnt trying to rub you the wrong way but i guess im jus a bit of a prickly pear cactus myself........

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Also ive heard its sumwut normal to hit a slow patch but on the other hand i see why you would be concerned if he only gained 4gram in two months,HAS BEHAVIOR OR DIET CHANGED?

 

[geekinpink]

@silverstar - I think I was just paranoid LOL... both my tort do gain weight but very little...at least they are gaining. The other one I replied on your thread...she does not eat much that's why i was concerned... i always see other people say their tort eats a lot etc. etc. and mine doesn't so it makes me paranoid! I thought as a juvenile she should be gaining more weight.

no increase in sizes for both though...

 

[SILVERSTAR]

I bet if you put sum pumkin guts with out seeds his appetite for those should be good at least,i tend to keep his cage kinda warm also,i try to really baby him since hes only six months,as soon as i move in jfeb i will have my computer back up so that i can finally post pictures....

 

[myrtle651]

I might look into doing that. I will go buy one and see how it goes. Will let you know.

 

[SILVERSTAR]

not the gooey dark orange stuff but like the firm chunky stuff in there youll see wut i mean,i also fed butternut squash,im actually gonna cut back on the pumpkin but it will get them eatn.