A good care guide from Burmese Mt. Tortoise?

[BrinnANDTorts]

I bought a baby Brown Burmese Mt. Tortoise and I just wanted to get general information about their care
What temps should be kept?
I normally always do, 100 Basking, 80 degrees cool and at night. I just want to be sure that will work for this species
And should I feed the tort zoo med forest Tortoise food instead of grassland?
I know humidity and soaks are a must.
What about food wise? Do I need to feed fruits in addition to the norm

 

[mikeh]

Congrats, hope its being shipped before thursday.
The inner workings of Manouria emys emys are little different from many other torts, research on where they come from may help one provide ideal husbandry. If you want them to grow smooth think steam room, only slightly cooler. Dampness, moisture, humidity, wetness are key words.

From observation they like it warm, but not hot. Ambient 88-90F seems to be a sweet spot for juveniles to stretch out and soak up the warmth after emerging from their hide. With cooler end at 80F they may still prefer the warm side. 100F basking is too high and some don't seem to care for overly bright lights. I stopped using basking lights. When I did I used low 40-60W for emys emys. Night time temps for babies work from low to mid seventies. I would avoid temp. dropping below 70F.

I mix Zoomed forest food with good amount of very finely chopped oyster mushrooms and broad leaf weeds as the two juveniles here will not eat it Zoomed on its own. Babies may spend good amount of time in the hide just lurking and coming out mostly to feed.

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Thanks so much for the info! I know they aren't a very popular Tortoise and not many people have them on the forum but I wanted to be sure I had the right info. I've always had dessert torts. Leopards and sullies. I will leave out the Basking spot, I'm going to use bottom heating on a Thermostat then day and night, also is amazing for humidity. I have Repashy supercal HiD to make sure they keep hard shells, Coco coir substrate and spangum (spelling???) moss for hides and promote even more humidity.

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And trust me I more than learned my lesson with shipping, I stayed up all night Saturday to make sure he got here, picked him up Sunday morning then had to take him straight to work with me and work eight hours on now sleep. Plus I spent hours on the phone with Fed ex, I was very thank ful they were willing to help. This tort is being shipped out today and I will pick him up tomorrow on Ups hold location

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I agree 100% with temps. The often suggested cooler temps are okay, but these IMO are better, but don't slack off on offering food, everyday in abundance. You should feed in the AM, and there should be a little bit left to the next AM, then that is enough. The little M.e.p. I had were very willing to eat everything offered, they can be ravenous. At the warmer end of acceptable temps, like these you keep them in an optimal growth phase, and they need food. One day a week with no food is OK, two is too much, and defiantly not two in a row.

Congrats, hope its being shipped before thursday.
The inner workings of Manouria emys emys are little different from many other torts, research on where they come from may help one provide ideal husbandry. If you want them to grow smooth think steam room, only slightly cooler. Dampness, moisture, humidity, wetness are key words.

From observation they like it warm, but not hot. Ambient 88-90F seems to be a sweet spot for juveniles to stretch out and soak up the warmth after emerging from their hide. With cooler end at 80F they may still prefer the warm side. 100F basking is too high and some don't seem to care for overly bright lights. I stopped using basking lights. When I did I used low 40-60W for emys emys. Night time temps for babies work from low to mid seventies. I would avoid temp. dropping below 70F.

I mix Zoomed forest food with good amount of very finely chopped oyster mushrooms and broad leaf weeds as the two juveniles here will not eat it Zoomed on its own. Babies may spend good amount of time in the hide just lurking and coming out mostly to feed.

 

[edwardbo]

Will, can you explain what there carapace is about ? Some times it feels leathery ? Mention protein intake as well.

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Re: RE: A good care guide from Burmese Mt. Tortoise?

Will, can you explain what there carapace is about ? Some times it feels leathery ? Mention protein intake as well.

What's a good source of protein and is once a week okay??

 

[edwardbo]

It's me again, I meant plastron ,one of mine is so thin and playable , I offer as much protein as they will take ,some times I offer many foods at once ,in piles to see their choices, again the protein guys grow twice as fast ,are more alert and hard shelled .i don't keep track but many times a week is working ,cantaloupe ,sweet potatoes, omega turtle sticks are loved as well as kale,endive too. I will leave greens and fruit to eat at will . Some times if I get up very early they are out in the dim light foraging like dinosaurs in the wee hours of the morning. I offer mushrooms very often . It's my belief that in there native environment food is plentiful . Also if they find a mush room patch in nature they probably eat their fill over a period of days, they eat enough to actually