indian star tortoise

[kimmerz]

after thinking long and hard I have decided that leopard torts are not for me as i have been told they stink when they are older. can anyone give me some advice on the care of star torts. I want a tort that gets biggish, don't hibernate and don't stink.

[Athravan]

large animal = lots of poo = a smell! I'm not sure it's avoidable to be honest.

[kimmerz]

so no matter what tort i get thats quite big there gunna stink?

[Athravan]

Define stink? Many tortoises seem to defecate when bathed, which can easily be thrown away. If you are removing the poo every time he goes, keeping the enclosure clean, especially if you have an outdoor run where he can go when it's warm enough, then you will surely keep the smell down to a minimum. If you don't clean it then yes, it will smell.. I don't know about "stink" because that's a very strong word.

The tropical tortoises are the horses of the tortoise world... yes a horse is going to make a big smell if you leave it in it's stable and let the poo build up. They eat a lot. They go to the bathroom a lot. They need to be cleaned out a lot, or have an enclosure where the smell won't build up so quickly.

[Andy b 1]

leopards wont be the best option. red foot tortoises are not smelly, is it essential to get another breed of tortoise?

[leggy]

the redfoots and stars are not as easy as hermanns to look after.you have to be vigilant in checking humidity,temps environment,these animals are really only suitable with a lot of experience.one of our stars you only got to look at it and it gets rns. we have had several £100 bills with it.plus the more torts,the more chance of vets bills and most charge £30 just for you to walk in the door. oh and they only grow up to about 10" long.

[kimmerz]

Originally Posted by andrew b 1

leopards wont be the best option. red foot tortoises are not smelly, is it essential to get another breed of tortoise?

It's the non hibernateing that intrests me, cos i know that when my hermanns hibernate i'll miss them so it would be nice to have some around that don't hibernate.

[kimmerz]

Originally Posted by Athravan

Define stink? Many tortoises seem to defecate when bathed, which can easily be thrown away. If you are removing the poo every time he goes, keeping the enclosure clean, especially if you have an outdoor run where he can go when it's warm enough, then you will surely keep the smell down to a minimum. If you don't clean it then yes, it will smell.. I don't know about "stink" because that's a very strong word.

The tropical tortoises are the horses of the tortoise world... yes a horse is going to make a big smell if you leave it in it's stable and let the poo build up. They eat a lot. They go to the bathroom a lot. They need to be cleaned out a lot, or have an enclosure where the smell won't build up so quickly.

well when i spoke about leo's someone said they stink like a horse stable, and i was going to over winter them inside and it sounded as if they would hum my room out big time.
one thing i'm concerned about with my hermanns though is there lack of poop, they haven't had a real big poo in there enclosure for a abit but they do have white poo in there bath on mornings. they are not loseing weight, not putting weight on fast, eating everyday, very active and don't appear to be in any bad health they seem perfect apart from the pooing. before i got my 2nd tort and found out about daily baths my first tort woud poo alot in his enclosure (excuse my bad taste in words but i don't know a nicer way to explain it) he would poo logs. that don't appear to happen anymore. is this abnormal?

[mleadley]

Nice!!!!

[fantapants]

any animals poo can stink. if you clean it up straight away its not going to be an issue. a leopard tortoise ( or most tortoises for that matter) is a herbivore so there poo will never smell as "bad" as a dog that eats a meaty diet. they smell more organic than a dog does, but with either, you clean it up, open a window and wahay, the smell clears!

if you are really serious about bigger tortoises, the smell should not be an off putting factor. the sheer cost, leccy bill, volume of food you must provide and vets bills should be more of a worry!

and there is NO law anywhere that says med tortoises MUST be hibernated. yes they do in nature, but what will happen when global warming gets so bad that the wild ones dont hibernate?? hibernation is only really 100% neccesary for breeding purposes, and then its just to trigger breeding responses.