Hi Dagashi,

Thank you for your advice.

They love cactus. I can't find cactus in supermarkets & wet markets. What I did was I bought from nursery. 1 pot of cactus is RM45 (with only 10 pads) & 1 pot of hibiscus is RM 15 which only lasts less than 2 weeks.

I bought dried bermuda grass & tried to mix with fresh vegetable but they didn't like it. Can you suggest some type of weed (local name)? What is bunga kertas leaves in English? And what is purple flower weed?

From what I found out online, beans are not good for star tortoise as they are high in protein.

Actually the problem I'm facing is that I want to mix their diet with vege, weed/ grass & flower but don't know what is the local term for all these thingy. And also other than sawi & romaine lettuce, what other vege is good for them.

Sorry to throw so many questions..

wild keladi not beracun meh? i know if we human eat can gatal2 la

Yerp. Found that out from wikipedia.

Uncle wiki enlists 6 types of Caladium (Link : http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keladi)

1.Pokok Keladi Sebaring
2.Keladi Seberang
3.Keladi Tikus (Typhonium Flagelliforme)
4.Keladi Kemoyan (Homalomena Sagittifolia)
5.Keladi Merah
6.Keladi Merbah

Mostly all caladium sps got at least one poisonous part, except Keladi Kemoyan which is fully edible.

hahaha later ur tortoise will gatal here and there

Thats why i dont just give him anything until i found out whats good and whats not. PNT not easy to find these days. Besides, ive been keeping him for more than 4 years, must keep well la

to all sifu sifu, i just got a pair of RES..

But infact, i can only put it near UV light (not direct sunlight, but near window there are uv coming in as my photochromic glass turn dark) for few hours a day (2-3) probably..

now i feel like buying some vit D and calcium for it, anyone can recommend what brand is good? thx

Dear all ,

Does Any know where i get russian tortoise or geek tortoise in around malaysia ?

It's illegal to sell them in malaysia ?

U can try Max reptiles in Old klang road. He'll know if the russian or greeks are not allowed. (not sure).

If allowed, I'm sure you just have to wait for a shipment.

Just saw his shipment of adult sulcatas! Awesome.

Sorry bunga kertas is bouganvilla. This is available alot everywhere. But my stars will only eat mebbe only leaf only.

Since you bought the cactus.. you can grow it in your garden for future use. Or buy extra just for growing. then it is sustainable and you will have constant supply. We are quite lucky.. One pad is bigger then them and they can only eat one fifth of it. Also our neighbours have plenty and they don't mind us pruning their stocks.

Your star is still young? they shouldn't be eating that much! also if it's juvi (under one year). You may want to chop it up a bit more so easier for them to eat it.

We used to grow bermuda grass inside the enclosure. so that they can eat it whenever they like. It's so very easy if you have a shallow tray of coco coir (coconut fiber) in your enclosure or your enclosure is made of coco coir. They usually eat it faster than we can grow it. (You can buy bermuda grass seeds from Ace hardware or Houz Depot in Kota Damansara.)

I don't know the local weed name. usually we will just trail our torts in the garden and let them eat whatever they like there. and take note what they like. Since we don't use fertilizer we figure that all should be safe. Saw them spitting out some stuff... so maybe they don't like the taste! They hardly eat weeds anyway. Usually it's when they are exploring (hardly).. and not hiding. If you have a garden you can try to let them explore. They have a great sense of smell and shouldn't eat stuff that are poisonous to them.
If you don't have a garden you can bring them out to the park where you see lots of weeds and see what they try.

Alternatively you can get them timothy hay. but young torts may have difficulty eating hay. Initially we had chop it up really really really finely and make a tortoise meatball (you can find the recipe for tortoise meatball on tortoiseforum.org). now they can eat it on their own.

Yes beans are high in protein but it's okay to give them once in a while. It's definately not a daily food. They have debunked the myth that high protien leads to pyramiding. Otherwise beans are fine. Of course it's only like one or two stalks in a month or fortnightly.

As my wife and I are both working and not so free to keep looking for veges for them on a daily basis. (in fact usually our vege purchases are solely meant for them!) We resorted to keeping them on a 70/30 diet of 70% pellet (mazuri) and 30% vege. that way they get the proper nutrients (gives us less headache on their feeding habits), they still have sufficient fiber and their beaks are kept trimmed and useful eating veges. Cause our stars and sulcata are still small, we still need to moisten the mazuri before they eat it.

So far our torts (kept for about a year) are doing well on this diet.

We also keep a block of cuttlefish bone in the enclosure for them to much chew whenever they like. Gives them the additional Calcium they need.. or to keep their beaks tip top condition.

you may want to think about getting a UV bulb for your RES. if you are concerned with giving it sufficient UVB.
We use exoterra cause it's widely available. It's not the best brand in the market but it's the easiest to source for.

Most VIt D3 + Calcium I know is in powder form. We usually sprinkle on our tort's foods. It's a bit difficult for RES cause they are in the water. So far most RES owners (I used to be one until they ran away) do not give it calcium and vit D. Their foods should have sufficient nutrients already.

Hi Dagashi,

Many thanks for your detailed reply.

My 2 star tortoises are more than 4 inch. I got them from a Penang seller last year somewhere in July. When I got them, they were kept in a small cardboard & I didn't notice the female star actually had "sprayed legs". Very unethical seller.

I am staying in a condo and thus, I keep them in a blue fiber container (about 3.5 ft x 2 ft) at the balcony. I am using black soil with coconut foil as their substrate.

I realize it is impossible to regularly feed them with the cactus pad as the cactus plant doesn't seem to grow after I cut out 2 out of the 10 cactus pads.

All this while, I have been feeding them with sawi, romaine lettuce, and mazuri. Occasionally on hibiscus & cactus pads too.

I will try to grow bermuda grass & buy some more hibiscus plants. I have timothy hay but they don't like it. I did wet the mazuri as I find that it's too hard for them to eat. They can easily finish 6 pellets of mazuri.

I have been reading up about this cuttlefish bone frequently. Where can I get them in KL or PJ?

Attached are some pictures of my star tortoise & their enclosure. Notice the one with the "sprayed legs" is the female star..

P.S. I find it really troublesome as everytime I have to really clean my hands after I handled them..

First of all you have a pair of absolutely beautiful stars! The design is just amazing! Smooth shell as well. Congrats!

The legs look a bit sprayed.. as you said.. prob the substrate when growing up was not that suitable for it. But they do look very healthy and contented.

They look about 3-4 years old? Just a couple more to go before they can start mating! We only have two males so no eggs for us!

For the cuttlefish bone, you can get it at most exotic petstores that sell birds or reptiles. Not necessarily torts. Most bird owners give their birds cuttlefish bone as well for calcium to gnaw on. It's the same stuff. It's pretty cheap I think RM4 for 2 large pieces. Can't remember cause we bought it over a year ago. we break it into smaller pieces for them in the enclosure and change it when it becomes gross or worn out.

Ikano used to have it (Toby's petstore) but now not sure. seems like they moved already. Max reptiles in Old Klang road should have it as well or any other petshop. It's quite common. It's whitish (sometimes a bit brown cause it's not that clean) and random size. mostly eliptical shape. If it's very perfect shape.. it could be manufactured!

I've also seen them at the chinese medicinal shop that sells sea products like ham yee, starfish, etc. When we first started tortoise husbandry we were perplexed what it was. But after we've seen some. They are available everywhere.

When I first got them last year July, they weren't so healthy with 3 types of worms plus other complications. I had to religiously bring them to a vet (near to zoo negera) every week for about 2 months before they are ok.

The shell of the female is not really smooth with some lumps here & there.

Don't really know their age as they were already about this size when I bought them. Only difference is they have increased in their weights. The male is about 400g plus and the female about 300g plus.

Tq for the advice..

3 types of worms!? Wow. must have been a nightmare! They are very lucky to have you as a caring owner!

I think natural that the shell has lumps a bit. Ours also a bit lumpy, eventhough we always soak, give high humidity, lots of access to water and plenty of UV.

I read somewhere that it could be genetic that some stars are naturally lumpy.

Just curious.. Has your male shown any signs of dominance over the female? like mounting her? or does he show off his "stuff" all the time?

The male hasn't shown any sign of dominance except during feeding time. He will get his whole body inside the feeding dish & denies the female from eating. And also the male is more shy as compared to the female.

I went to buy the bermuda seeds from Ace and it costs MYR 65 (500g)!! Went to a exotic pet shop at jalan ampang & they didn't seem to know about the cuttlefish bone.

Cheers..

RM65? I don't remember spending that much. But 500gms is a lot .. I think you can grow one whole garden with the seeds. usually for one small patch.. use only like one tea spoon of seeds. It's quite fun to see it sprout. haha. Hopefully it will sprout and have a chance to grow before your torts eat it. just make sure it's well watered.

Strange that they don't know about cuttlefish bone. do they sell birds? If they do they should know. alternatively can try to source for calcium blocks.

k.. will try to source for it this weekend.

do you have any pic for your star to share?

Pictures??

we have an FB for them! Vids and all.

I don't have any attachments of the pictures currently on this computer (work). If you can access fb, its at /SpartacusGalaticus

At least I think so that's the url. I'm pretty sure they are the only ones on fb with that name.

Is this the link: https://www.facebook.com/SpartacusGalaticus?

Wow.. you have a very nice indoor enclosure!! And they are so cute!! From India?

May I know the size of the tank? What kind of arificial plants are you using? How often do you change the substrate?

Our torts are captive bred from one of the members here at LYN. she so kindly sold us her babies. Then she regret! haha and wants them back. Btu we love them alot and don't plan to give them back.

They are indian stars. the other is an african sulcata.

The size of our tank was specially made in Aman Suria. It's an aquarium shop that custom makes tanks. Total cost is about RM150. Size is special I think approx 4 feet x 1.5 feet. It was built custom to suit the cupboard. We hang a heat lamp from the top and clip on a UV supplement lamp on the side.

Artificial plants were bought from Mydin. If I'm not mistaken they are ferns. Stuck on with the silicon glue. If you shop in Mydin near kota raya they have tons of fake plants which are super cheap.

We created little grass banks to "break" apart the vast space as well. Makes the tank seem larger for them and can hide more. Bought the grass from Mydin also. then made some cement and stuck the grass in. We hope it gives them a more outdoor feel.

AFter experimenting with many many many substrate... We had woodchip (lasts the longest), to coco coir, to forest moss..and plastic mat, we found that most easiest to clean and maintain is newspaper. lol.

Woodchip when they were younger.. we only changed once in 3 months. Woodchip we stopped cause scared it was not stable enough for them. They walked around very unsteady.

Coco coir and forest moss we change every month. but casue of our weather and humidity.. got fungus growth and became very gross. Got bugs also.

Newspaper we change every other week (fortnightly) or when required. which is more hygenic. The only sad thing for them is that they don't get to burrow much anymore. and when they do they mess up all the newspapers.