Hello Folks,

I have to put in two cents' worth here in my own defense. First, some of my Burmese Star Tortoise Care Sheet information has been misquoted, but I do indeed feed some items which other people consider taboo. I have been doing so for over 40 years and have had relatively good success with my tortoises.

The main thing I wish to impress upon readers is that a varied diet is the key to keeping these animals healthy, and nothing should be fed as a constant routine lest it have ill effects.

I think that many of the statements I see made on this forum are based on hearsay rather than the writers' actual experience. Throughout my tortoise keeping life, I have never believed husbandry advice stated by anyone with less experience than I have myself. If I try something and it doesn't work, then I will make corrections. That mindset has resulted in several discoveries, especially in regard to egg incubation in some species which heretofore had proven extremely difficult to hatch.

Using the diets which you will see below, I have hatched roughly 150 Burmese Stars, and 350 G. elegans (of both types) in the past ten years from breeding groups of less than a dozen adults. The numbers of offspring include TWO generations of Sri Lankan Stars. I have also hatched two generations of Radiated Tortoises and am working on the third. Obviously, if one can hatch a tortoise and raise it to the point where it becomes a succeful breeder itself, something is working. Kale, cabbage, apples, and other fruits have not inhibited the breeding of these tortoises nor adversely affected their health or that of their offspring, because all things are varied and are used in moderation, not as a constant diet. Readers will also notice that no commercial tortoise diets are used.

Here is the text of the misquoted Care Sheet which I hope some readers will find useful:

"There is no tortoise in the world more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing than Geochelone platynota, the Burmese Star Tortoise. For this reason, I have dedicated myself to their captive propagation in the event that the final conservation efforts for this species in the wild should fail.

Burmese Star Tortoises are extremely hardy and are very easy keepers. In their natural habitat, temperatures range from 38° F in the winter to well over 100° F in the summer. In captivity, mine have been maintained indoors at 87° F from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, after which the temperature is allowed to drop into the mid 70°s F for the night. At about 7:00 AM, my thermostat senses the ambient temperature and raises it gradually to 87° F by 10:00 AM. When outside, the tortoises have been exposed to temperatures as low as 45° F with no adverse effects.

My tortoises are fed all manner of fruits and vegetables daily while indoors in the winter. The adult tortoises’ staple foods are escarole, kale, string beans, and apples. Babies are fed the same diet with the foods being finely chopped or grated for them. Additionally, for the babies, I often use commercially available premixed salads, such as Dole Field Greens, Classic Salad, Italian Blend, or European Blend, etc. The young tortoises also enjoy the addition of chopped or halved mushrooms to their diet. Food is sprinkled with both Ultra Fine Rep-Cal and Herptevite 3 to 4 times weekly. In the summer months the tortoises are left outside and fend for themselves, grazing on grasses, clover, and other greenery.

Lighting for my tortoises when indoors is provided by a dual bulb fluorescent fixture with one Verilux tube and one Reptisun 7% UVB tube for approximately 15 hours daily. The young Star Tortoises should be soaked every 2 or 3 days when kept indoors and weekly when outdoors. The adult Star Tortoises require less water and are soaked once or twice monthly. Substrate may vary according to regional availability. My personal choice is Eucalyptus mulch."

I wish all readers good luck with their tortoises.

Bill Zovickian

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