guys, any way i can smuggle my star tortoise from peninsula to sarawak>>? it's illegal to own a star without proper document rite.>? correct me if i'm wrong..thx

Why need to smuggle ?? Most Sarawak pet shop / local fish shop have them for sale !!!!!!!!!!

I saw them for sale in Bintulu , Kuching , Miri and Sibu not just one or two in a paticular shop but most shop stock a few of them

u see i bought my pet tortoise here in peninsular.. wondering whether i can bring it back to sarawak .

Do you think public forum is a good place to discuss such issue like smuggling across states ....etc ?????

sure can
get ur tortise in a pet hotel at the aeroplane

is it illegal to own a star ?? do we nid proper documentS?

Hi All,

I just got myself 2 little cute Star today. Sex unknown. Their captivity setup is simple, just some corn corb bedding and shallow dish with water. will feed them sawi and papaya.

Will learn more on the Star from all the sifu sifu here..

Regards,
Andrew

This post has been edited by andrewnib: Oct 20 2007, 01:55 PM

How big are they and their setup / enclosure ??

I dont really put a dish with water in any of my indoor enclosure BUT all animals smaller than 3 inch are soak and allowed to drink every morning As the water mess the substrate up very fast with the tortoise getting in and out countless times on a daily basis !!!

And do slow down on the papaya , as soft fruits are not that good for this species of " dry " tortoise

This post has been edited by SAMPERTH: Oct 20 2007, 03:13 PM

Hi Samperth,

Thanks for the advise. They are about 2 inches. Their enclosure is about 1.5 feet x 1/2 feet. Planning to convert my 2ft x 2ft aquarium for them but i think that will be too big just for 2 small fellas. he he. . .

Luckily i haven't feed them any papaya yet. I fed them with sawi only but today they seems to get bored with it already. . the first 2 days, they like it a lot. ha ha . .i feed them once a day only. Is that enough?

i'd add something to infos Samperth had given.

the red eared sliders is considered ecological nuisance not only in non-native countries, but in the us itself. For example, introduced population had been known to interbreed with yellow bellied sliders (T. scripta scripta), thus wrecking the purity of T.s. scripta's genes. they had also been known to breed with various Trachemys species in central america and the carribean, including cuban slider, jamaican slider, etc, resulting in unwanted hybrids.

the whole European Union had also banned RES, fearing the ecological impact they might bring on native species.

in south east asia, res had been increasingly released by keepers since the late 1970s. the feral population competes with local species for food, basking sites, nesting sites, etc. in which local species are the losers, as res are faster and more aggressive than local species.

please also note that a single female res can lay 20+ eggs a clutch, up to five clutch a year. compare that to a malayan boxie, which lays only 2 eggs per clutch, 2 clutch per season. everyone can see the big difference in reproduction rate. and while our local turtles are continuously being caught and consumed on an alarming rate, more and more res are being brought in, and more and more keepers are releasing them. one day, we might not have anymore wild malayan boxies.

conclusion is simple; ban the sales of res here. if the authorities can decide to prohibit the import of common and ally snappers (presumably because of the ecological impact they might bring), they should have seen the bigger picture and ban the import of res instead.

Hi!

Well im suppose this is the best thread to ask about tortoises eh. I found this tortoise walking on the road last week while i was driving, it was raining at that time, so what i did was pick it up and put it in a plastic bag and drove to the nearest pet shop and bought an aquarium and a bottle of terrapine food. After a few days ive noticed that the aquarium is some how too small for the tortoise.

Should i buy a bigger aquarium to keep the tortoise?
And what kinda food does this tortoise eat? been feeding him terrapine food sinced.

I`ve attached a picture of the tortoise.

Thanx a bunch!

Star tortoises feed in the early mornings and late evenings.... bored after 2 days? No... it won't get bored that fast. No papaya for them.... what you can do is find opuntia cactus and hibiscus flowers and leaves. Sprinkle some calcium supplement on it and feed it to them. Coz they are young, you would need to chop the food stuff up nicely but not too fine.

Since 2 inches, they are quite sensitive to humidity, so use newspaper as a substrate and place a reptile lamp for them.

Look like a RES @ Red-eared slider - Trachemys scripta elegans to me can post a pic of the underside and a close up of its face

If it is a RES they will eat almost anything ( most veggie , seafood , raw meat , fish pellets , terrapine food , insects ...etc ) But adults are more vegetarian so more green will be good

yup bigger aquarium. judging by the size of the aquarium and pellet, yours seem to be around 5", so definitely a 3' or more aquarium is needed to provide adequate water and basking spot with enough aquarium height to prevent escape.

RES are active swimmers, should have some watery playground. the water depth should be at least the size of caparace length to let them swim freely. also note that they are avid baskers that need uvb, otherwise will rapidly develop metabolic bone disease. please check on corresponding caresheets on the internet.

under any circumstances, don't release it back in the wild.

Thanks guys! Looks like I`ve got to get a bigger aquarium for the tortoise. Hurmmm been to a few shops they doesnt seem to have more than 2 feet x 1.5 feet aquarium. Will keep on lookin.


Why couldnt i release back into the wild?

Hi Sifu out there,

Need to find out something. I found that 1 of my star tortoise took some time to open up it's eyes. It will rub it few times to get it's eyes open. When i have a closer look, its eyes seems like got tears and it's eyelids seems like swollen compare to the other side. but later on, it looks normal a bit. Is this normal? or is this some disease?

Oh by the way, it still eats greadily.

read my previous post please.. its on this same page

i think camillenoirs signature explains enough

lessily and camillenoirs DBT. superbb wehhhhh. . simpan sini ke balik kampung?

DBT in kampung already... only transit in bangi/cyber for about a week b4 raya holiday.

DBTs have wonderful, adorable temperament.. like puppies that loves attention. even hatchlings are not shy to beg for food from anyone, would take food from hand and completely comfortable while being handled, not skittish/excrete waste at all. mine readily take mealworms, guppies, prawn, mussles, oyters and all sorts of seafood.

the only downsides are they won't readily take pellets, the husbandry requirement is quite strict and their market value is in 4 digits, not 2. (in US can get for 2 digits LOL, price multiply exponentially here)

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Added on October 29, 2007, 2:23 pm

northern diamondback terrapin - Malaclemys terrapin terrapin

This post has been edited by camillenoir: Oct 29 2007, 02:23 PM

Hi guys im back from my long holiday. I can see a few newcomers here, Welcome to the family!