 |
|||||||||||||||
| Star Tortoise Treasury | * Indian, Sri Lankan, and Burmese Star Tortoises... plus a few other tortoises... | ||||||||||||||
|
Indian Star Tortoise
Burmese Star Tortoise Other Starred Tortoises Angulate Tortoise Misc. Pages
Tips:
Get THE Star tortoise book on amazon or eBay. It covers all aspects of Indian, Sri Lankan, and Burmese Star tortoise care. A must-have book for all current and prospective Star owners! * * *
* * * If you have Star Tortoise enclosure and hidebox photos to share for this page, email me to add yours.
|
Star Tortoise Housing p.2 more pics of indoor tubs & hide boxes
Sri Lankan Star tortoise
Indoor enclosures for allergic owners Here are a few more pictures of my indoor Star tortoise enclosures suitable for allergic owners. I use fabric-like, felt reptile carpets (NOT the plastic, unraveling astro turf kind) a lot because they are totally non-irritating to my allergies. I change the mats frequently, and when I do, I also clean the whole enclosure. This regular cleansing keeps my tortoises and enclosures tidy, which in turn helps prevent pathogen growth and disease. Felt-like reptile mats are soft, non-slippery, disinfectable, non-digestable, safe, and they last a long time. However, reptile carpets do not provide humidity, so they are only suitable for arid habitat species. Digging species will need a burrowing substrate as well. Star tortoises are not diggers, instead, they like to sleep and spend time under plants or in their hides. I live in a warm climate, so my Star tortoises have lots of opportunities to run outside on real dirt. :O) Read more about indoor substrates (e.g. garden soil, mulches) on the housing p.1 and allergic owners pages.
A 4ft x 2 ft acrylic (plastic) enclosure with low 13" walls and a smaller plastic tub. Plastic pens are very lightweight and easy to move. Light-colored plastics don't emit any odors either, unlike unfinished wood or particle board (which I am allergic to). Cleaning and disinfecting plastic tubs is simple.
What's a tortoise table? It's just a large, open-topped enclosure, often made of wood, on legs. I don't use unfinished wood or particle board because of my allergies. For larger plastic enclosures, like these are 4ft x 2 ft acrylic tubs (13" high), I like to use solid wood (no particle board with formaldehyde) dining tables as the base. Dining tables are sturdy, available in many sizes, and they have a good height. Tortoises stay warmer when they are higher up and away from floor drafts. Some tortoises also feel more comfortable when their enclosure is elevated, because people won't be towering over them. Most of my enclosures have see-through or semi see-through fronts because I enjoy observing my tortoises' daily activities, and they don't seem to mind.
A 110 qt plastic storage box (34" x 17") I used for babies. The sides are 12" high. Notice the brown tape along the bottom. Day lamp and a ceramic heat emitter for night time. The water dish is large, shallow, and stable. The low sides of the bowl allow easy and safe entry and exit. My Star tortoises do drink from the water dishes sometimes, but they never seem to soak themselves in them.
The top of this baby Star box is crowded with a long fluorescent UVB light, heat lamp, and ceramic heat emitter. Replacing the UVB and heat bulbs with a single UVB/heat combo mercury vapor light would free space. Just check the temperature gradient inside the tub to be sure the mercury vapor bulb is not too hot for the enclosure size. For feeding, I use steady, low reptile dishes or tiles (pic) that have a rough surface and rounded corners for safety. Walking over tiles helps wear down nails as well.
A very simple quarantine box made from a slightly smaller 90 qt plastic storage box (34" x 15"). It should have a hide as well.
Some other plastic boxes I've used as indoor tortoise enclosures for small tortoises. The top box is a large 74 qt underbed storage container (44" x 18"). It's 10" longer than a 41 qt underbed box. The middle bin is a very sturdy wardrobe shelf box from Ikea (34" x 20"), and the bottom tub is an Iris holiday tree storage box (model #251019, 52" x 20" with 12" sides). It's usually only available in stores around Christmas time. It is the largest clear plastic box I've found anywhere. On the floor is a 36" yard stick for scale.
Finding the right hide box Indoors My Sri Lankan Star tortoises are quite picky when it comes to hides. They have not liked most of the hide boxes I've I offered them. I've tried big ones, small ones, light ones, dark ones, moist ones, dry ones, warm ones, cool ones, open-backed ones, closed-backed ones, cardboard ones, plastic ones, with a floor, and without a floor. When they see a new hide box in the enclosure, they explore it with great interest, but they won't usually use it. The only ones they like are the Bark Bends ready-made hides (only available in small sizes big enough for babies) and the homemade hide boxes with sponge ceilings (see below). They like to stay under artificial, stemmed plants as well. I've also given them spots with loose substrate for digging, but they didn't use them. My Stars are not diggers, but hiders. Instead of creating their own hides by digging, they prefer to use ones that have already been made for them. Outdoors Outside, my Burmese and Sri Lankan Star tortoises like to rest and hide under tufts of grass or other plants. They do not dig into the dirt.
Artificial plants with stems make great semi hiding places
Hide boxes
After numerous hide box trials with my Stars, I finally invented my own 'jungle hide'. This simple and cheap hide box turned out to be my Sri Lankan and Burmese Star tortoises' favorite home. They have used it more than any other hide I've provided to them! This hide is made from a disposable food storage container, and the outside is colored green and black with non-toxic permanent markers. Some light comes through the openings I purposely leave in the coloring. Maybe this makes my Stars feel like they are hiding under plants. :O) A wet sponge is attached to the ceiling to increase humidity. This plastic is fairly thin and easy to cut with scissors. I finish the cut edges with a nail file to smooth them out. If you use moist sphagnum moss, coconut coir, or other loose substrate inside the hide box, it would be easier to use the box right side up. This way you can just lift the box top off and remoisten or change the substrate easily. Leaving a small 'step', a little bit of wall that the tortoise can easily step over, beneath the doorway will help keep the substrate inside the box (scroll down for a pic). I use these moist hides with wet sponges because my Star tortoises love them! My Stars utilize them all the time for resting, and they sleep in them almost every night.
As the tortoises grow, they will need larger and larger hides. This one is made from a plastic shoe box and has room for two or three flat kitchen sponges on the ceiling. These marker colored hides aren't pretty, but my Stars sure make good use of them. :O)
Plastic boxes filled with moist sphagnum moss or coconut coir are popular as humid hides for small tortoises, but my Stars don't like them. Moss, or any other damp hide box substrate, needs to be changed frequently to prevent pathogen growth.
Some of my other turtles love these hides made from plastic chocolate powder boxes (8 or 23 oz). I guess they like the snugness of small hides. They like to 'park' themselves into them at night. In the morning, they use reverse gear to back out. :O) My Stars, on the other hand, didn't much care for these hides.
Making hide boxes Make your own jungle hide! It's simple and allergy-friendly. The ceiling of the hide should be high enough to prevent the sponge from touching the tortoise's shell (could cause shell rot). If I color the box walls, I let the marker ink dry and air out overnight before putting the hide box into the tortoise pen. The bag ties make it easy to switch the sponge to a new one when needed. Replacing the sponge frequently helps prevent bacterial and fungal growth. If you use the same sponge continuously, it will start to mold after a while. The edges of the sponge start turning brown and you will detect a slight moldy odor. I keep a supply of new sponges at home, and just replace them as needed. Kitchen sponges can also be sterilized by boiling.
When possible, I like to use food-grade plastic containers. This way I know my tortoises won't be exposed to toxic plastic fumes when inside their hides. Before I buy any plastic box, I always smell the inside to check that it is odor-free. I avoid PVC plastics (see allergy page). In addition, I have made tortoise hides from tissue boxes, juice cartons, milk jugs, and numerous other cardboard and plastic containers. I like plastic boxes better because they can be washed, disinfected, and used as humid hides. I have even used wooden and plastic kids' stepstools as hides. I do not use plastic hide boxes outdoors because they can get very hot in the sun. I am not a do-it-yourself builder, so I use whatever hypoallergenic containers and materials I can easily convert to tortoise tubs, hides, and other necessities. :O) See also housing p.1 (indoors) and housing p.3 (outdoors) for more info and photos. |
||||||||||||||
| StarTortoises.net | * Star Tortoises - stars, stars, stars everywhere... | ||||||||||||||
Email: startortoises at yahoo dot com |
|||||||||||||||
(pic) is 12" x 14" in size and has 7" walls with a 5" deep opening. It comes in several colors.