help indian star baby weight

[roboticnat]

i weight my male and female back in 13.03.11 the males weight was 36g and so was the females which was wierd as female should weigh more
i just weighed them today 13.05.11 and the males weight has gone up to 40g but the females weight has dropped by 1g to 3g which is really worrying

[littlestar]

all torts are different my female eats like a pig and is way heavier than the male my male just waits about till shes had hers then off he goes and has his.

how long have you had them? what are you feeding them on? how much?they doin the doins back end wise :0)?

[roboticnat]

had them since december and they was borin in october and november yeah it'd be understanding if one wieghed more and they had both put wieght on but it's the fact one has lost weight when they aren't even a year old

i feed them on a mix of weeds and growing salad leaves and feed them more then they can eat and for the back end not sure they do do it when been bathed but i never see it in the enclosure really i think they like to eat it before i see it :P

[kkenny]

just like humans then. some have a better metabolism than others maybe?

[roboticnat]

shouldn't they be mnaking steady growth which comes with weight gain? when they are still young. i spoke to a vet and she said that they was under weight for their age.
i'm chaging their diet now and the temps are in basking area 32-38 depending on room temp and night time hits 19 'c at the lowest but i'm leaving the basking light on for extra warmth tonight to see if a higher night temp makes a difference. soaking once a day

[Torterra]

Do you keep them on the open table? I have ceramic heater for additional heat all night, they do not go far away, and the hides are placed close to ceramic bulb to keep temps higher. the lowest shell temperature they ever have would be 21C ish, they have a choice to go to cooler areas but prefer to stay warm. I have infra red thermometer, the basic one from Maplins Electronic, and measure the shell temperatures to reassure they are ok and not go too cold. Right now, one has 28C, one 24C and on is 'cold' spot with 21C. I would suggest to get a ceramic heater bulb and leave it overnight, at the height of 25cm/ 10 inches from the substrate if you will be using wire mesh reflector and higher with full shade reflector. With thermostat probe placed under the heater. I use 100W bulb. It is good, no light at night and additional hot spot during the day in darker area of the table. They grow so far ok, i weigh them every week. I put the chart somewhere on this forum last year, measurements of my older star growth rate.
I would not worry too much I would be worrying more if they start gaining weight too fast, but then some grow faster than others.
Keep us posted, and get a ceramic bulb

[EJ]

This is why I suggest a viv for small tortoises and some other species... it is way easier to maintain a good general environment.

[littlestar]

Originally Posted by roboticnat

shouldn't they be mnaking steady growth which comes with weight gain? when they are still young. i spoke to a vet and she said that they was under weight for their age.
i'm chaging their diet now and the temps are in basking area 32-38 depending on room temp and night time hits 19 'c at the lowest but i'm leaving the basking light on for extra warmth tonight to see if a higher night temp makes a difference. soaking once a day

do you have any sort of thermostat attached to your heater? i use dimmerstats my day time range is 30c to 32 night time 22c to 24c its idel to have a thermostat because you can set the temp range.

32 is okay but 38 is way to high.

can you list your set up

viv or table size?
lighting?
heating? day/night?
thermometer digital or dial?
substrate?
humidity how?
Feeding?
additives to food?
Uk breeder?

they are still only young so would not worry if we can go through the list keepers may be able to surrgest ideas.

[knottyedge]

was reading this thread with interest,i got my baby star at the end of feb this year he hatched in dec 2010 and i am starting to worry a little about his weight.
I have been weighing him regularly since i got him and in the 3 odd months i have had him his weight seems to go up and down between 39 and 42g

he is in a 3ft viv with a 60w red bulb on a dimmer stat for night time heat which i set to 24 as he never sleeps under the heat source so i thought by setting it slightly higher it would be round about the correct temp of 20-22 where he actually sleeps.
For day time heat there is a 60w reflector bulb on a dimmer stat that keeps his daytime temps between 32 and 35 and a 30" arcadia d3 6%uvb striplight with reflector which is set about 10" above the substrate(i am going to move this a few inches lower 2day as i have read so many differing opinions on what a good height is ,it seems to vary between 6" and 12") am also going to order a new tube 2morro as i am aware its coming to the end of its life

He is fed on weeds from sw shop i have been growing in a green house i brought especially for him these include: grass,fibre mix,dandelions ,clover,prickly thistle sow and a few rocket leaves also gets a very light sprinkle of the dried flower mix every 2 or 3 days

He gets limestone flour sprinkled on his food 5 days a week and Reptavite the other 2 days he also has a cuttle fish bone in his viv although he dosent seem bothered by this lol he is also placed in his water dish every day before his food but he does trundle over and have a drink of his own accord now anyway

sorry bout the long post lol just been starting to worry about the weight issue

[EJ]

Doesn't sound like there is enough protein. Did you check out that Star Tortoise web page that was linked in this thread. There is some really good advice there. Although the copyright only shows a few years I'm pretty sure the site has been around for well over 10 years and is one of the best on Stars.