Newbie Star Turtle Owner frrom Malaysia!

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Angel_malaysia

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Hello everybody!

I've just got my very first pair of tortoises - a pretty pair of stars :) they are around 3-4inches and I have no idea of the age, gender etc but I love them to bits.

I am a little worried about whether or not I'm taking care of them properly ... I noticed that my tortoises seem to be sleeping alot (eyes closed) but when their eyes are closed them still move their neck around!

I read somewhere that closed eyes could be a sign of illness .. Could someone let me know about this?

Thank you so much!

Angel
 

wellington

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Hello and Welcome:). Closed eyes could be a sign of too dry or the use of a coil bulb. I don't know,the humidity requirements for stars so I will leave that for those who do. If you are using a coil bulb, replace it with a fluorescent or mercury vapor bulb.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Angel, and welcome to the Forum!

I don't know how to care for Star tortoises, however, from what I've read here on the Forum, they are similar to leopard tortoises. So if you go to the Leopard tortoise section here on the Forum, and read the "important threads" at the top of the section, you may gain some insight.

If your tortoises are babies, then babies sleep a lot. But if they are a bit older than babies, the closed eyes may be telling you something is wrong. Do you soak the tortoises every day? And, like Barb has asked, what kind of UVB light are you using?
 

Angel_malaysia

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Hi Yvonne and Wellington,

Thank you for the replies!

My tortoises are babies.. I do soak them everyday and as we are in tropical climate.. I have not been using a UVB light but I have been giving them 2-3 hours natural unfiltered sunlight everyday.. They are kept in a warm room that has sunlight coming through the windows..

They seem to have developed a sleeping pattern that starts from 10pm every night and they become active again in the morning around 7:30 (well that is if they really continued sleeping) but there were days that I woke up earlier and they were still in the same position as the night before..

I've got a mulberry and hibiscus tree in my garden so they are happily munching on fresh leaves everyday.. They don't like turtle food :(
 

wellington

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Do you get them outside for unfiltered sunlight? The sunlight coming through the window is filtered by both the glass and screen. UVB is diminished by both glass and tightly woven screen. They will need more then the very little to none they would receive through a window.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Hello Angel welcome to the TFO
Turtle s eat meat torts don't so the torts may smell the protein that's not good for torts they need high fiber
 

Angel_malaysia

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Wellington:

Yes I do bring them outside to the lawn for unfiltered sunlight in the morning when it's not terribly hot .. The rest of the day they get some Rays that come through the windows.. Malaysia is summer all year round!
 

Cowboy_Ken

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Angel, what is the hot temp inside their enclosure? And how are you reading it? A digital thermometer or one of those pet shop types that stick to the inside of the glass that are a dial?
 

Angel_malaysia

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Hi cowboy,

Thank you for the reply.. Ummm I'm not too sure about the temperature and humidity level, where I live the daily temperature is between 32-34 degrees Celsius in the day and about 28 at night. The average humidity level in my state is about 65%.

I keep them in a longish cardboard box with newspaper and shaved wood, they have a sleeping box and water dish. I have not given them any lighting, but where their box is the sunlight comes through directly (I open the windows) for a few hours a day..

I've had cousins keeping them and thy didn't use any lightings and it worked for them... So I'm still deliberating on whether I should change what I am doing or not :(
 

BlueOcean

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Hi Angel ,welcome to the forum im also from malaysia too...which part you're from??

im from KL .

I also have baby star torts , i recently bought it not long ago . Nice having some locals in the forum .
 

Tita

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Angel_malaysia said:
Hi cowboy,

Thank you for the reply.. Ummm I'm not too sure about the temperature and humidity level, where I live the daily temperature is between 32-34 degrees Celsius in the day and about 28 at night. The average humidity level in my state is about 65%.

I keep them in a longish cardboard box with newspaper and shaved wood, they have a sleeping box and water dish. I have not given them any lighting, but where their box is the sunlight comes through directly (I open the windows) for a few hours a day..

I've had cousins keeping them and thy didn't use any lightings and it worked for them... So I'm still deliberating on whether I should change what I am doing or not :(

Hi Angel,

Welcome to the forum. I'm a newbie tortoise owner from Malaysia too but mine are Redfoots.

What I would suggest is you get the thermometer and hygrometer coz although we are in a tropical climate but I found that the day temp was too high for my torts and humidity was low. Based on my exp, we can monitor better for our tort's sake with the right tools. For redfoots in my case, they need higher humidity levels and I use manual misting and now adding water to the sides of their enclosure.

I took my RFs to the vet a week after I got them and I was told that one of the telltale signs is if their eyes were half closed most of the time or almost closing. Best you get them checked out at the vet. The one I went to was Yeoh Veterinary & Surgery in Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya. vet.jpg There's also a Dr. Jenny I heard is also good with tortoises - she's in Brickfields if I'm not mistaken. Hope you're somewhere in town as well.

Until then, do share some pix of your stars :)

Cheers
Tita
 
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alan88k

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Hello Angel,

Apa Khabar? It looks like you're really need to study abit more about a better method to take care your little baby star. So far as I concern, the little baby is likely to show a expression that he wanted to poo or pee when he has eye closed sometimes. (Well, that's what my baby does before poo) As you know it's not everytime they have smooth poo or pee. (Showed a little constipation)
For me, I don't really think your baby has a serious problem yet. Be sure you have it stays in appropriate humid n warm enclosure. (for instance you need to adjust to min. 26c n max. 35c, humidity level of at least 80%) You can get a humidity n temperature gauge to check. (It's cheap around RM 30)
Don't forget to do research in their proper diet too! high fiber source would help in constipation problem.
Soak him in warm water from time to time so he gets adequate hydration!
Relaaaaaks! im sure u can do it just fine.

Salam,
Alan K.
Kota Kinabalu.
Sulcata.
 

Angel_malaysia

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alan88k said:
Hello Angel,

Apa Khabar? It looks like you're really need to study abit more about a better method to take care your little baby star. So far as I concern, the little baby is likely to show a expression that he wanted to poo or pee when he has eye closed sometimes. (Well, that's what my baby does before poo) As you know it's not everytime they have smooth poo or pee. (Showed a little constipation)
For me, I don't really think your baby has a serious problem yet. Be sure you have it stays in appropriate humid n warm enclosure. (for instance you need to adjust to min. 26c n max. 35c, humidity level of at least 80%) You can get a humidity n temperature gauge to check. (It's cheap around RM 30)
Don't forget to do research in their proper diet too! high fiber source would help in constipation problem.
Soak him in warm water from time to time so he gets adequate hydration!
Relaaaaaks! im sure u can do it just fine.

Salam,
Alan K.
Kota Kinabalu.
Sulcata.


Hi Alan,

My torts sleep alot in the daytime which I think (from reading the forum) is quite normal.. They don't have constipation problem - they do their poop n pee when I soak them every morning :) I still can't tell if they are both hims or hers or a him or her I guess I'll have to be patient and wait for them to grow!

They only seem to like one sort of vege at the moment - potato leaf stems, but they munch on hibiscus and mulberry leaves as they are plentiful in my garden. I bought a packet of organic kailan from the supermarket but they took two nibbles and decided they didn't like it. Haha :)

You're right, I will monitor the temperatures, I have a digital device that is both a thermometer And a hydrometer :)


BlueOcean said:
Hi Angel ,welcome to the forum im also from malaysia too...which part you're from??

im from KL .

I also have baby star torts , i recently bought it not long ago . Nice having some locals in the forum .

I'm from Negeri Sembilan!! Woohoo! Nice to know there are fellow star tort owners in my part of the world! did you get the licenses for your torts from the wildlife department?


Tita said:
Hi Angel,

Welcome to the forum. I'm a newbie tortoise owner from Malaysia too but mine are Redfoots.

What I would suggest is you get the thermometer and hygrometer coz although we are in a tropical climate but I found that the day temp was too high for my torts and humidity was low. Based on my exp, we can monitor better for our tort's sake with the right tools. For redfoots in my case, they need higher humidity levels and I use manual misting and now adding water to the sides of their enclosure.

I took my RFs to the vet a week after I got them and I was told that one of the telltale signs is if their eyes were half closed most of the time or almost closing. Best you get them checked out at the vet. The one I went to was Yeoh Veterinary & Surgery in Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya. There's also a Dr. Jenny I heard is also good with tortoises - she's in Brickfields if I'm not mistaken. Hope you're somewhere in town as well.

Until then, do share some pix of your stars :)

Cheers
Tita

Great!! Thank you so much for the info Tita, I was wondering where I should take my torts if they fell ill, now that I know! I am from Negeri Sembilan - seremban to be exact. But taking them to KL would not be a problem at all... I manage that with my dogs and I do believe they make much more trouble in a car ride than torts ever can!

Thank you for the tips, I will monitor the temperatures carefully :)
 

Tita

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Angel_malaysia said:
alan88k said:
Hello Angel,

Apa Khabar? It looks like you're really need to study abit more about a better method to take care your little baby star. So far as I concern, the little baby is likely to show a expression that he wanted to poo or pee when he has eye closed sometimes. (Well, that's what my baby does before poo) As you know it's not everytime they have smooth poo or pee. (Showed a little constipation)
For me, I don't really think your baby has a serious problem yet. Be sure you have it stays in appropriate humid n warm enclosure. (for instance you need to adjust to min. 26c n max. 35c, humidity level of at least 80%) You can get a humidity n temperature gauge to check. (It's cheap around RM 30)
Don't forget to do research in their proper diet too! high fiber source would help in constipation problem.
Soak him in warm water from time to time so he gets adequate hydration!
Relaaaaaks! im sure u can do it just fine.

Salam,
Alan K.
Kota Kinabalu.
Sulcata.


Hi Alan,

My torts sleep alot in the daytime which I think (from reading the forum) is quite normal.. They don't have constipation problem - they do their poop n pee when I soak them every morning :) I still can't tell if they are both hims or hers or a him or her I guess I'll have to be patient and wait for them to grow!

They only seem to like one sort of vege at the moment - potato leaf stems, but they munch on hibiscus and mulberry leaves as they are plentiful in my garden. I bought a packet of organic kailan from the supermarket but they took two nibbles and decided they didn't like it. Haha :)

You're right, I will monitor the temperatures, I have a digital device that is both a thermometer And a hydrometer :)


BlueOcean said:
Hi Angel ,welcome to the forum im also from malaysia too...which part you're from??

im from KL .

I also have baby star torts , i recently bought it not long ago . Nice having some locals in the forum .

I'm from Negeri Sembilan!! Woohoo! Nice to know there are fellow star tort owners in my part of the world! did you get the licenses for your torts from the wildlife department?


Tita said:
Hi Angel,

Welcome to the forum. I'm a newbie tortoise owner from Malaysia too but mine are Redfoots.

What I would suggest is you get the thermometer and hygrometer coz although we are in a tropical climate but I found that the day temp was too high for my torts and humidity was low. Based on my exp, we can monitor better for our tort's sake with the right tools. For redfoots in my case, they need higher humidity levels and I use manual misting and now adding water to the sides of their enclosure.

I took my RFs to the vet a week after I got them and I was told that one of the telltale signs is if their eyes were half closed most of the time or almost closing. Best you get them checked out at the vet. The one I went to was Yeoh Veterinary & Surgery in Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya. There's also a Dr. Jenny I heard is also good with tortoises - she's in Brickfields if I'm not mistaken. Hope you're somewhere in town as well.

Until then, do share some pix of your stars :)

Cheers
Tita

Great!! Thank you so much for the info Tita, I was wondering where I should take my torts if they fell ill, now that I know! I am from Negeri Sembilan - seremban to be exact. But taking them to KL would not be a problem at all... I manage that with my dogs and I do believe they make much more trouble in a car ride than torts ever can!

Thank you for the tips, I will monitor the temperatures carefully :)




Hi Angel,

How are your star tortoises getting on? Hope they are well & both temp and humidity doing ok.

N9 is really progressing and I hear that Seremban will be declared a city very soon. Good to know you're close enough to drop by the vet in KL if u need to.

Noticed your comment on the license, hubs registered online and was called to drop by personally to the WildLife Department a week ago. There, he was told that the licenses are on hold due to latest policy. Still a wait-and-see period before they grant further licenses. Hope it gets sorted soon!

Did you manage to get yours?

Tita
 

Angel_malaysia

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Tita said:
Hi Angel,

How are your star tortoises getting on? Hope they are well & both temp and humidity doing ok.

N9 is really progressing and I hear that Seremban will be declared a city very soon. Good to know you're close enough to drop by the vet in KL if u need to.

Noticed your comment on the license, hubs registered online and was called to drop by personally to the WildLife Department a week ago. There, he was told that the licenses are on hold due to latest policy. Still a wait-and-see period before they grant further licenses. Hope it gets sorted soon!

Did you manage to get yours?

Tita

Hi Tita

Thanks for your response, I'm monitoring the temps carefully now and nothing changed much -the small one is still sleeping lots !

Yes I got my licenses on the spot when I went directly to the Wildlife Department, I got mine about two weeks ago - and they cost RM50 per tort!!

Did you get licensed torts from the pet shop? (I'm assuming that's where you got them), because when I was hunting for star torts I was aware of the license issue, and since what we have bought are usually hatchlings, the parents would already have licenses if they were imported legally..

When I went to the wildlife department it took them about an hour to trace the source of my torts and they had to check the license number (which was given to me by the pet shop, and they also gave me a temporary license) and once they've checked and found the original import permit file number they issued me the license for my hatchlings straight away.

Hope this helps!
Angel
 

Tita

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Hi Angel,

Hubs went straight to the Wildlife Department but was told we couldn't get our license yet due to some wildlife act update or somethinf. Was told they will contact us and we have to go there again. I hope there's no hiccup though coz the whole family has fallen in love with our redfoots!

Probably need to give them a buzz since it's almost a month!

Hope all is well with your torts :)

Tita
 
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