Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone.

I am not new to tortoise care, as i work at a pet shop. But for my personal collection I have decided to get indian star torts.

I have a few questions on diet if you do not mind.

First, I live in Florida, I have heard to feed hay(timothy). Where can one obtain this, and how is it fed, and how often? Can you use this as a substrate?

Also, In terms of getting food in general, can i just go to the supermarket?

Any other pros and cons to this species would be great, any tips aswell would be appreciated.

Thank you all for the time and help.

You should get Sri Lankan stars, as they will give you the most return/cost ratio on your investment. Considering that SRS are only a few hundred dollars more, you should seriously consider this. SRS are also rarer and in higher demand than indian stars.

Hey appreciate the advice, I am still researching stars so it will be a few months yet. When the time comes I will look into Sri's.

You know from time of hatching to the time they are able to breed how long this is?

It will take 5-6 years before the hatchlings reach maturity. I would suggest you to buy as many as you can afford, because the amount of payoff you get is measured by how many MATURE, active specimens you have in the invesment time.

I'm not sure what all the talk about return ratios and profit is--you simply left a message that you wanted to keep star tortoises. If you are looking for that sort of thing, profits and such, this may not be the right species. A hatchling female will not be at the height of producing for a decade, and there is plenty that can happen to this relatively fragile species in the interim.

If you're less concerned about profits and such, and have the time and energy for what is probably the most demanding popular tort to keep, then you'll enjoy them.

I've raised many pair from hatchlings, and if done at the right pace, females are mature in about 8 years, and males in about 5.

There is no real difference between Sri's and mainlands, and they are interbreedable. I have seen move than a couple Southern Indians that put the average Sri Lankan to shame.

They will not eat timothy hay as a staple, but it is a good substrate, so long as yuou keep it clean. As you know, you can find it in the small animal section of any pet store.

A quick online search will get you lots of testimony about star diets. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/elegans.html

Timothy hay is easily purchased in pet stores or farm feed supply stores. I have a Sri Lankan Star and I use the timothy hay for him. Not only is it a good substrate, but they eat it too. Just remember, to mind it when it gets wet because of mold.

I have a pair of Geochelone elegans. Check out the post below on Raising Indian Star Tortoises in Singapore and I outline the diet that I feed mine, as well as the daily husbandry routine that I use. I use mixed grass clippings in its "sunning enclosure" as a substrate and only keep in indoors at night time. Mine prefers fresh grass to dried grass or hay. All the store bought vegetables I feed are what are sold as "organic" in the US.

A note on Sri Lankan Star Tortoises vs. Indian Star Tortoises: They are the same species and there is not a subspecies. They are indistinguishable as far as DNA results go, as I have been told by someone familiar with the study that has already been conducted. In fact, many Indian Star Tortoises are pushed in the trade as Sri Lankan Star Tortoises, simply because of the pattern involved; many southern Star Tortoise variants are completely indistinguishable from their Sri Lankan neighbors.

I have seen hundreds of these come in every couple of months or so and have learned from some dealers and those with ties to the Indian exporters about the subterfuge involved. There is no way to prove that someone actually has a Sri Lankan Star Tortoise, unless they have actual proof it came from Sri Lanka. Very few could actually produce that proof.