Are male mountain tortoises smaller than females?

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For most species of tortoises the female ends up bigger than the male but I can't find any info on this for the mountain tortoises. Thanks :):<3:
 

Yvonne G

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I assume by "mountain tortoise" you are referring to the Manouria emys phayrei? Let's send a shout-out to @Will and @emysbreeder
 

richosullivan

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When I picked mine up from Vic, he said the females get larger - he only had males for sale at the time, and said if I wanted one that was going to get larger that I would need to wait for a female.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I don't know that females usually get bigger than males for tortoises. Certainly for the dwarf species this it true, at the other end of the size spectrum males get much larger than females. Often the cost of producing eggs is better served with a larger female, but males often combat for the female, where again bigger is better. Both drivers for size have evolved differently in different species. You base assumption that females get bigger than males is not a good fit for tortoises in general.

A few years ago the male M.e.p. in the group that Yvonne and I have was smaller than the females. He is now bigger. He spent several months on his own without the females and all his food resources were used for growing, not seeking females. That may or may not have been what caused the change in size.
 
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