Question
BoBo
Hi Mark,
I have a star tortoise (I think its called an Indian start tortoise or Geochelone elegans, from what I've gathered) It was a gift, so I haven't been able to judge its age or other such details. I've had him for only six months, so far. His living arrangements are as best as can be provided in my current residence. He does not live in a small container or anything. Instead we've provided him with a large space (made a box-like structure in one part of the house) The living arrangement keeps him away from any unexpected starts or too many people, as we've noticed he tends to get scared when too many people are around. With regards to his eating habits, he eats twice a day; once in the morning after he has had an ample amount of time basking in the sun and the second time is in the night when we return from work. Foods that we've fed him include grass, carrots, tomatoes, dandelions, and hibiscus. There isn't much of a variety we've been able to find beyond this, as it not common for people here to keep star tortoises as pets.
We live in India, so luckily we don't have extreme winters. However, we are still looking for a vet, so we can get him checked. But sadly, no vets in our neighborhood and the surrounding areas seem to know anything about turtles or tortoises, most specialize in pets like dogs, cats and birds. We keep a watch on him very closely, as we have previously lost a red-eared slider turtle, eventhough she was apparently being treated by a vet in our neighborhood. I managed to eventually find out what was wrong with her when I came across this website, but she had worsened considerably by then. Given, that we have already lost one pet, we want to make sure our tortoise is well cared for. I'm writing to you in the hope that you'd be able to give me some information with regards to certain behaviors that we've noticed with our pet tortoise recently. He is on the whole a healthy tortoise, never noticed any symptoms of sickness or nothing. However, there've been two specific instances when we noticed that he had some sort of fit. His head moved in an unusual fashion almost like he was banging the side of his head to his front foot. His front feet also kept shaking in the same manner. These incidents have greatly disturbed us, as the manner in which he tortoise's head and front feet moved were very similar to someone having an epileptic fit. Honestly, we aren't sure what to make of this or what could be causing this. It has occurred twice so far, yesterday was when it occurred the second time.
I would really appreciate it if you could provide us with any information as to what we could do to look into this further. If you require additional information about him, his behaviors, etc, please let me know and I'll send the same across immediately.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Thank you in advance
Regards,
A very worried owner.
AnswerStars are beautiful, but different. I cannot really answer your question. I THINK it is a basic courtship movement, but I am not sure.
Please try http:/www.tortoiseforum.org. It is a free forum for tortoise keepers and there are several Star keepers there I am sure can help.
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