Mee nesting

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Yvonne G

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Of the two species, Manouria emys emys and Manouria emys phayrei, the Mee is the smaller. My long term captive, but wild caught female is old, of unknown age, and normally weighs 25lbs. She is now at 26.8, but I think that's because she has eggs. The male is young yet, also wild caught, but probably about 10 or 11 years old and 13.4lbs. He's of an ok size compared to her, for breeding. The female had an accidental breeding with the young Mep male appx. 13 or 14 years ago that resulted in 49 eggs, 19 of which were fertile. She hasn't laid eggs or been bred since then. She's been with Duc, the current male, for appx. 4 years, but he's just now big enough to breed her. She started nest building last Monday. Funny thing about it was, Duc started the nest building before the female, Maggie (short for Magumba - she came to me with the name). So he got her interested in it, and she joined in. As soon as she started scraping the substrate, he quit. I bought 6 large bags of cypress mulch, and emptied one in there for her. Whenever that bag had been used, I'd empty another. I figured 6 would be enough. Yesterday I put out the last bag and this is what the outside of the shed looks like this a.m. She seems to be finished with it.

Meenest-1.jpg


As it started to get tall inside the shed, I placed a small piece of plywood over the top so they couldn't climb out:

Meenest-2.jpg


And under the plywood it looks like this:

Meenest-3.jpg


The nest that she built the first time was appx. 3' diameter and appx. 2' high.

This one is only about a foot and a half high, but she seems to be finished with it. So far no eggs, but time will tell.
 

Tom

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This is fascinating! Do your MEP's breed and nest too? Is there much difference in the nest size or shape? I've read about this, but there is so little photographic documentation of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
 

Yvonne G

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Yes, the Meps nest too. I put up the Saga of the Burmese tortoise a couple years ago showing the huge nest that one built and then one-by-one the other two shared. Lots of eggs, but only 1 hatched. Little Emmie is now two years old and eating and growing nicely!

Its a VERY interesting process. I wish I knew how to do a video to show you all how they move the substrate into the area where they want to nest. It IS so interesting. And it takes them quite a long time. Usually much longer than today's nest.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-2819.html
 

harris

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Outstanding!!! The Manouria are quickly becoming my favorite. To my knowledge there is no one in Ohio that has an established collection. I'd love to be the first! My little guy is 3 years old now and I want to add a couple more this year. I'm just mesmerized by them.
 

Tom

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harris said:
Outstanding!!! The Manouria are quickly becoming my favorite. To my knowledge there is no one in Ohio that has an established collection. I'd love to be the first! My little guy is 3 years old now and I want to add a couple more this year. I'm just mesmerized by them.

Which ssp do you have and where in Ohio are you? I've got family there.
 

harris

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emys emys. I live in Kent, which is about 40 minutes from Newton Falls.
 

egyptiandan

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Thats great news Yvonne :) Hopefully she'll lay soon and they'll be fertile. :D

Danny
 

biglove4bigtorts

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best of luck to you Yvonne!! Sending fertile energy your way. My own little tortoises will me on the way in 2 weeks!!! I can't wait to get my Meps...I have lots of fun assembling plant list for cold-hardy bamboos, palms, banana trees, figs, grapes, and forage plants for the outdoor enclosure. I started some seeds at the beginning of March and will be tilling the garden and enclosure next week. I have some time to plant the outdoor enclosre, since they are still small. I think I will focus more on growing the forage plants and add to the outdoor enclosure as I can, b/c I don't think that giving them all that space is safe and won't allow me to monitor thier progress and behavior at a time when they need to be watched for signs of nutritional problems and disease and get accustumed to human interaction. I may keep them in a kiddie pool, within the future enclosure for this year, until I feel comfortable with thier progress. I have lots to consider and plenty of time to do it in, but one thing I know is that they will get optimum care and attention here with me and my family.
 

Yvonne G

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My words of wisdom to you are to start NOW!!! while they are still too young to go outside. They trample and eat everything! Unless your plants are well established, they won't last long after you turn the tortoises out on the habitat. I've been trying for 2 years to grow an annex to my original Mep habitat. I get it up to about 2' tall, turn the tortoises out on it, and its all trampled and eaten within 2 weeks. Its best if you can grow the cover, mow it, grow it, mow it quite a few times, so the roots and plants can be well established.
 

biglove4bigtorts

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Good advice Yvonne. I think I will be moving out to Portland in a few years, so I will have to start all over lol. I have already started my seeds indoors and will be tilling up the enclosure area next week to plant the forage mix. I think they will saty in a wader pool this year at least and they will be indoors in the winter months anyway. I think the plants that are going to be used should be established by next year, but when those torts grow, they need lots of food and lots of graze, so no matter how much you plant, if they are aloud near it, they will eat it for nothing more than the joy of eating...lol
 

Jacqui

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I find it very interesting that the male started it. How far did he get, before she joined in? Have you heard or saw that happen before (the male starting the nest)?
 

Yvonne G

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Jacqui said:
I find it very interesting that the male started it. How far did he get, before she joined in? Have you heard or saw that happen before (the male starting the nest)?

It is an inate quality that these guys like a pile of substrate to sleep on, so its not unusual to see males pushing substrate into a mound.

So far both tortoises are just sitting on top of the pile. I wasn't home most of today, so I wasn't able to spy on them to see what they've been doing. Tomorrow...
 

Stephanie Logan

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emysemys said:
So far both tortoises are just sitting on top of the pile. I wasn't home most of today, so I wasn't able to spy on them to see what they've been doing. Tomorrow...

That sounds worthy of a photograph! :p
 

Jacqui

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Do you recall at about what size or age, yours started to do the mound making?
 

Yvonne G

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I got the Mee at full grown (wild caught), and she nested the second year I had her.

I have a young Mep who laid eggs last year for the first time at 15 years and 40lbs, however, she used a nest that was built by the oldest female in the group. The females lay eggs right around 40lbs and the males start practice breeding around 20lbs.

In my experience, they really get with the nest-building program until the second or third year after they've started laying eggs. But in the meantime, they will drag and push substrate into their sleeping quarters, just not into a nest mound.
 
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