Hi guys this post still a continuity of the last post, this post is about how to make it right, yes this post haven't reach the...

[ I will make a separate post for the pellets, comparing the nutrition and benefit and maybe I spill the minus of each brand ]

You guys Hive's Pet people can see the post relate here https://peakd.com/hive-196708/@marioikada/a-new-family-member-baby-indian-star-tortoise-has-arrived-guys-, actually thats the basic of basic of keeping the Tortoise no matter kind of Tortoise you have. This post about how to keep your pet Healthy and Happy guys, never forget about your pet feeling guys, most of the time a pet, especially Tortoise driven by mood that eventually affect the body, I know it sounds so universal can even apply to every creature but considering Tortoise are shy animal you have to pay extra attention on it, more specific on Geochelone Elegant or as we know as Star Tortoise and also any other Geochelone Family (Burmese, Indian, Sri Lanka). Offcourse it means that keeping Geochelone Family is not for a beginner keeper, at the very least you have a several experiences with Turtle, Tortoise, or even Reptile. Im not here to make you down about keeping a star tortoise but I just want you to know this animal has no similarity at all with a common pet ( Dog, Cat, Hamster, etc) and Im not here to speak this pet is too majestic to ignore or require much of both left and right brain system of the keeper, what Im trying to say is somehow like it or not this Pet is fragile especially for those who lived in four season country.

Guys before I start the tips, I suggest you who about to read this, Tortoise are cute animal and sometimes cute thing attract so many attention and most of the time this kind of attention tend to catch on kids so fast, and guys please let me remind you Tortoises are not for kids, they easily scared and easily get sick. They required big responsiblity and sometimes they require a lot of money compared to other baby animal.

MAIN IDEA

Ok, now lets get on the topic. The law of keeping Tortoises is based on 3 thing :

1. Hygiene / monitored synthetic habitat
2. Sun Ray / UVA + UVB
3. Food / anything that able to absorbed by the body

I think thats the main discussion about maintanance of this pet, other than that is a secondary purpose ( make the terrarium pleasing to the eyes, keeping the nail short, etc ) which we still put on this discussion also but I think Prevention is the the primary subject.

So here we go guysss...

So many people in this Tortoise community put a lot of focus to mimic the habitat of this Torto, Im not saying they were wrong what Im saying is I think somehow so many people give a lot of energy just on the start and forgeting the poin of having a creature that able to live longer than us.

Here's the catch, when you trying mimic the habitat you have to remember the soil, the plant, the substrate, the ecosystem, invite any other living thing and sometimes that other living thing bring HARM to the Tortoise itself, for example you put good soil and plant a aloe vera or whatever it is in semi-outdoor enclosure, well most of the time, again most of the time you give chances to a bug or any insect to hurt him, second, lets say you put a good soil to make it grow and healthy (the plant) in order to make it good for the "aesthetic" think about this,

Does this "good-for-plant" soil (substrate) good for the Tortoise ??? Don't get twisted in this but you have to think twice about this FATAL MISTAKE. Ok i give you the fact, most of the time Fertilized Soil for Plant Substrate contain Microbes that very very bad for the Tortoise. If you find the design of the enclosure pretty you have to make sure the product is made for the Tortoise Substrate purposes, and from my experiences I have never found any good substrate for Torto that also benefit the plant to grow. Then what happen to them in the wild ?? you asked, well... it totally different, in the wild they have unlimited option to find themself comfort, the land is wide open with so many option, the bacteria/microba/insect etc are disperse.

HINT : Im going to be honest wth you, to mimic the real habitat require a HUGE budget and especially you guys who lived in 4 season country I don't think I have to talk more about price. Also, if you have the land and the money you still have to pay an expert or at the very least a keeper to monitor the Tortoises. Personaly I live in Tropical country, the main enemy of open enclosure are rat and lizard,I don't know about you but I feel more save if he lives indoor under my watch with easy to clean enclosure and with right humid/temperature, but if you guys want to make it happen then you guys should have known the responsibility before even you guys started.

ENCLOSURE

As you can see here is the concept that might help you guys, its simple, inexpensive, clean, and save. Yes, the idea is to keep the tortoise happy and healthy, take this as an illustration for you and hopefully this able to brainstorm you guys. I know it has no aesthetic move even as a furniture but it will deliver the job. Ok, first of all in order to keep the humid proper I add plant that doesn't invite a bug or make a dirt to the enclosure.

1. I use wire net ( you can buy in home depot or any home industry shop nearby ). The reason I use the net is obviously to keep the Tortoise save from Predator. Remember, Tortoise doesn't attract any predator as far as I know but the remaining food / inedible food DOES attract the Predator, and if its sweet it will invite ant or any sweet-seeker-insect.
2. No Substrate for me is the best. Why? you can easily clean the poop or pee faster and keep the hygiene better.
3. Water dish. So many people claim that Tortoise doesn't need water in the enclosure... No, It does need water so badly thats why so many Tortoise died because of dehydration, plus you don't know when he wants to drink.
4. Hiding Cave. Im going to tell you later how I make my own Hiding Cave later, but for now if you don't have enough money or the place you live far from Reptil shop, you can make your own. I use PVC pipe cut in half and make a hole on it so if he hide too long the UVB still able to penetrate to the body. Don't forget to clean it before u use it, especially if you use an old PVC pipe.
5. Wheat Grass, Clover and extra Humid Plant. I put those two to keep the humid handsome, and also if you have oksigen checker you can tell in rigid way the use of that plant, BUT REMEMBER look how I use the used food container to keep the soil out of the enclosure, I made it clear that I put separation to keep the hygiene, and also I dont put hole under the "Pot" because I double the under layer to keep the soil out of the enclosure ground
6. Hygrometer and Thermometer. I need a precise celcius and percentage of the humid and heat of the enclosure to make sure everything going so well, for me the perfect celcius is 30 celcius - 36 celcius , and for humid between 40%-60%.
7. Thermostat. Ok, this is for safety reason. Im not always 24/7 in my house to watch everything, so I use Thermostat to keep the room heat balance. I put 29.9 celcius (low) and 36.1 celcius (high). If the heat go lower than 29.9 the heater (UVA) will turn on if the heater (UVA) above 36.1 the heater will turn off. Convenient, safe, and not expensive at all.

EXTRA CARE

Now, we moving to the extra care. First I want to give you a tips to be automatic in term of keeping the Turtle, we just had discussion about the Thermostat (poin 7), I use the Thermostat to keep the UVA on the precise number in order to keep the stability of heat and for the UVB I use SMART TIMER (you can buy in your local convenient store) so Im able to set how long the UVB must stay on. As you can see in 2022 everything tool started with SMART, dont get me wrong this will help you a lot, I always set the UVB stays on for 9 hour either I had already basked them under the sun. And also you can check the timer, the electricity consumption via smartphone or from your Iphone, from the price point it still under 9 dollar.

The Stabilizer is for maintain the elctric stay on how is supposed to be. Remember, not every house (including mine) have a good electric current, you can tell by staring at the bulb while its on and then turn on any high electric equipment in your house, if all sudden the light of the bulb blinking/vibrate you can tell you have unstable electricity and it will affect your bulb longevity especially if you use 2in1 Bulb (Exoterra Solar Glo/Zoomed Power Sun).

Im not here to put any brand recommendation or any kind of plug in this post, but literally I only give you guys the thing that I really use for my Tortoise. Oftenly those two are the main moisturizer and soap that so many people use in my country, the soap obvisly to clean the Tortoise, I use it once a week every Sunday after Church and Moisturizer I use once every 2 week. The tips are when you bath your reptile please do not use glove, u have to feel it under your palm and make sure everything went well and guys please do not use any human bathing product, please guys... the reason why because it doesn't fit any in the reptile and also hurt the reptile. If you don't have the reptile soap just wash it with warm water and scrub it slowly, don't take chances by using baby product etc.

Yes I personaly love the soap, it washed the dirt easily and leave with no strong scent but for moisturizer I use Bombshell, reason why because this one is somehow easy to absorbed (if my english not mistaken), it dried easier and also the longevity of this Bombshell is so good compare to other local brand. The moist is also good, its not too balsamic and not too greasy for a moisturizer if I can put number in this product I think I give it 8.5/10. Again when you apply this to the shell you have to make sure you use no glove so you can feel the damage area or you can feel if your Tortoise has a mineraal deposit on his body. So many people make sure the body is dry enough before you can apply, well for me its better if we apply the moisturizer when the body still have a little bit drop of water on it.

Serum, I apply the serum after I've covered his body with moisturizer, it just need one drop of serum to cover the whole shell, the best part of using serum is it can heal any light-medium outer damage pretty fast, it add a good portion of nutrition in order to keep the shell growing good. Well if you go like "I think this is too much" it comes back as a personal references still... I mean if you don't use it, it still going good and healthy but I just want to make sure they are growing beautifuly under my watch, and also it makes the shell shine so great.

DIY THE CAVE FOR THE BEST HUMIDITY

This one I can't go in too much detail because of this going to be my brand, yes the outer esplanation can be given but the main material and concotion still remain my company recipe, I just want you to know as topic of discussion considering I put much words about How to take care your Tortoise, so come on guys...

Okay, I know.. I know...
The reason why I use machete is because actually this is a work of the designer/artist but im sure you will see the poin. Those three are the main equipment, the next thing you need is clay, Why you asked the answer is because clay absorse good amount humid through water or cold air, so if you put one side heat spot for the Tortoise you should put this on the other side, the cooler side to help your Tortoise out of DEHYDRATION but still away from PYRAMIDING. Oh ya guyss you have to do it on the flat surface (marble, wood board, etc) in order to make it good, and trust me this is fun and easy.

This is the idea of making the cave distinguishes it from other caves is I make the top area to grow a green plant and dont worry guys I still put the irrigation system but I don't put it as hole under the pot but as you can see I make the water reservoirs at the edge of the top so i make extra space for it.

Here is the step (started with red arrow) :

1. Make the frame and adjust the frame in the shape of the corner of you enclosure, make sure it sturdy enough to handle the shake of your Tortoise (some Tortoise scratch a lot at the corner, I don't know why but its so funny tho)
2. Make the top of the cave. You have to make sure the height is well enough so it will not scratch the top of your Tortoise and also you have to make sure it leave no hole or anything that able to make the ground mat (soil) drip down, and after you done with that make extra space for water reservoir.
3. Make the edge of the top. Do not make it to tall the water barrier must be in good proportion to handle the soil and soil still in place and then make water flow system so the water can flow to the water reservoir.
4. Recheck the inside, if you still have a crack on it, fix it.
5. Recheck the top, add more clay to cover the crack, make sure nothing drip down from the top and make the inside cave damp
6. YOU made it guys !!!

HINT : Machete is to cut the block of the clay, I know ut sound stupid, but it easier that way, the wire is to shape the corner more correctly and it works just fine if you find other thing more comfy than this, and water to make it easier to shape. Again I can't tell too much about this because it contains company secret and recipe, offcourse they add more than just a clay, but if you want to mimic it, I think it save and works just find as long as the result of this cave cooked over 600 celcius and everything will work just fine. [ no matter what material you use, wether you buy it or DIY, you have to clean the cave once a week ]

I also add more extra pot for enclosure guys, still I do not put a hole under the pot, still same concept of the irrigation system. I guess this pot is for the clover. Im not going to lie but somehow it add aesthetics to the enclosure but still in the limits of hygiene. I don't think I have to add more than this considering the place is only 60 x 40 x 10 cm, but if you guys have an enclosure larger than this I think you can add more but remember** do not grow a plant that invite an agressive insects** or a plant that able to emit toxic gases.

GROW YOUR OWN

I think this is the last tips for me guys, I think this is one of the best part of having Tortoise, it make us pay attention more of surrounding environment and also this feels so good when you doing it right. For me this part is more like meditation, feels good to enjoy what we have been given from the start, Yes the Nature. It taste like two birds with one stone, we make our environment more healthy and also we have a natural food for the pet. My mom always taught me about how good it felt to grow a plant, I've always ignore her , but now this like an addiction for me. If I may suggest you to have a hobby perhaps you can start with this one.

I use wheat grass definitely for a Torto food no doubt but it does help to keep the humid on spot (especially those who lived in Tropical country) and to make the variation for pet supplies. Here is the thing so many people feed their pet with no more tha 3 menu for the pet. Trust me it is so wrong, lets say your mom buy you salad it taste nice for the first and second but if she keep feeding you with salad every single day for straight 5 years you defenitely going to miss something. Im not saying it was venomous what Im saying it was lack of balance and eventually affect your health I mean you live but you going to grow inbalance. So I always feed between Vegetables and Natural Green proportionaly.

For the plant I use little bit of my mom garden to grow the plant for vegetables my plan is to develop further with Hydroponic way because I think it is cleaner rather than I use a soil, and offcourse it takes time around one month but it going to be amazing. Collard Green and stem lettuce are one of the best vegetables for the Tortoise and it easy to get plus my Tortoise like it so much.

For the Natural Green compared to the Vegetables are easier to grow because basically it grow anywhere, so you dont have to put extra care for this one, just spread the seed on the soil wait for 3 days and use your UVB bulb and then voila it grow. But if you dont have enough time to spend, you can check any field around you area and write those down names on the picture, its free and easy to find depends where you live. But no matter how clean when you find it you have to wash it first before you give it to you pet.
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Thats it guys I don't thing I have to prolong the tips, the clue, or the hint for you. I think all of you Hive's Pet people way smarter and cooler than me. So hope you guys enjoy it and hope you guys can take little bit help from this post, I hope you and your pet always well and see you next time.
We going to have good time again... I have feeling about this one 😀

Love from my UNNAMED TORTOISE.

PLEASE HELP ME FIND A NAME