Hi. I've kept and raised Greeks and Marginateds most of my life, and I've gotten pretty good at it. I also used to keep a colony of sulcatas, as well as a colony of redfoots, but since my father passed away, I wasn't able to keep those anymore (having to pull a half dozen, 50-100 pound sulcatas in on a nightly basis, along with five fifteen pound redfoots, was a monumental task without my father's help; also, such a large group of animals requires near constant attention, something I was unable to provide given my work schedule). Now that my brother decided to move back to the family home, and is enthusiastic in his zeal to help me with the tortoises, I've been thinking of getting into a large species again.
I must admit, ever since I first read about Manouria emys (both species), I've been utterly fascinated. The large southeast Asian tortoise with the prehistoric features that defended it's own nest from any creature foolish enough to bother it was always something I wanted to see in my backyard. However, I've read numerous sources stating that this species requires constant high humidity and that it does poorly in the heat. I live in San Antonio, which hovers around a hundred degrees Fahrenheit during the hottest part of the day. However, I have a corner of my yard that is mostly shaded by a grove of oak trees (a twenty by fifty area that used to house my red foot colony; it gets sun in the morning, with the shade coming to cover most of the area by noon), and that area only rises into the upper eighties/lower nineties, with dark and moist hiding spots in the lower eighties. I was initially considering just getting back into redfoots again, given that the large area is just so sad to look at on rainy afternoons, though the gulf coast toads that frequent my yard and the disused watering hole seem to be enjoying the space enough.
So, are these torts really that temp sensitive? Can they thrive in an environment like the one I just described? Space is no object. But I don't want to keep them in an extensive indoor setup for most of the year. I personally feel that no tortoise should be kept indoors more than twenty percent of the time, which is why I love keeping Testudo so much. But if they suffer chronic health issues as a result of the South Texas climate, I'll stop dreaming about them, but I've never found much text that addressed this particular environmental concern.
T.G.
I must admit, ever since I first read about Manouria emys (both species), I've been utterly fascinated. The large southeast Asian tortoise with the prehistoric features that defended it's own nest from any creature foolish enough to bother it was always something I wanted to see in my backyard. However, I've read numerous sources stating that this species requires constant high humidity and that it does poorly in the heat. I live in San Antonio, which hovers around a hundred degrees Fahrenheit during the hottest part of the day. However, I have a corner of my yard that is mostly shaded by a grove of oak trees (a twenty by fifty area that used to house my red foot colony; it gets sun in the morning, with the shade coming to cover most of the area by noon), and that area only rises into the upper eighties/lower nineties, with dark and moist hiding spots in the lower eighties. I was initially considering just getting back into redfoots again, given that the large area is just so sad to look at on rainy afternoons, though the gulf coast toads that frequent my yard and the disused watering hole seem to be enjoying the space enough.
So, are these torts really that temp sensitive? Can they thrive in an environment like the one I just described? Space is no object. But I don't want to keep them in an extensive indoor setup for most of the year. I personally feel that no tortoise should be kept indoors more than twenty percent of the time, which is why I love keeping Testudo so much. But if they suffer chronic health issues as a result of the South Texas climate, I'll stop dreaming about them, but I've never found much text that addressed this particular environmental concern.
T.G.
