#3246

 My babies

Only to present my babies and to say they are doing great!My babies dont come out to say HI because they are pretty shy!

 #3247

 Re: My babies

I’m all jealous...eventually one day when I have more room I will have one of them, maybe 2 or 3. PE

 #3249

 Why dont you have a pancake?

Pancakes are not shy as STARS, they are pretty bold and they walk really fast (for a tort of course!)

 #3259

 Re: My babies

Just gorgeous!!! Stars have the most beautiful pattern on their shells and are so lovely. What an adorable pair they are and soooo tiny!

 #3263

 Well, not so tiny!!

The bigger one started already to pyramid(English?)!lol!

 #3268

 Re: Well, not so tiny!!

I wondered if that was pyramiding or just how they grow, I’ve only ever seen adult Stars. Maybe that one should be on a mostly grass diet for awhile so that the scutes don’t grow faster than the rest of him.

 #3294

 Pyramiding is quite normal for STARS

Perhaps im saying something VERY stupid because pyramiding is supposed to be bad, all right?Well what i mean is that " The shell of the Star tortoise may range from smooth to fairly bumpy with raised scutes giving it a pyramided appearance" .I copyed and pasted from the site " http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Geleganscare.htm" So, its just normal to grow like that! Dont worry i dont give protein or tortoise pellets to my babies!They eat the same food i give to my igs, what helps me a lot to say the true!

 #3298

 Re: Pyramiding is quite normal for STARS

I didn’t think it looked like true pyramiding in your Star’s case, just a nicely domed shell. They are such gorgeous creatures, I’d love to see more pictures. I have to give mostly grass to Tonka so that he will fill up on fiber. Russian tortoises can get pyramiding just from salad-type foods. In the wild they only eat for a few months a year so even a salad every day is overeating and too much protein for a captive Russian tortoise. So, yes, I do have to be mean and make him beg for the delicious stuff. He is soooooo happy when I bring him a little squash or chicory instead of just grasses, clover and mulberry leaves. Testudo horsfieldii is his Latin name, and as you can see his type is famous for pyramiding. Pyramiding-WCT

 #3300

 WOW! You must be careful!

I think that part is pretty interesting and we can use it for our igs too! "Hydration status has also been suggested as another important cofactor. This is an interesting subject in itself. There have been studies subjecting tortoises to high protein diets while also providing very high hydration states. The jury is out on kidney and liver functions and time will tell on those, but externally there have been cases of very rapid growth with high protein while achieving smooth shells at the same time. The thought is that the very high water throughput is flushing the system sufficiently to avoid pyramiding". You have a difficult task to avoid your baby’s shell to pyramid!

 #4566

 Can I know what species are those tortoises?

Hi Fla. Need to ask what species are those tortoise? My mom just found 6 of them about a week ago. Thinking of adopting them. I also need help with raising them. Can you give me some pointers??