Meet my Torts – Manouria Impressa

[mrscruffy]

I have been stalking the forum and absorbing much useful knowledge for a while now. I have been keeping Curoa Ambonesis but yearned for some torts but had to wait until I built a house. I only wanted a native species to Laos, because I know too well the pressure that there native habitat is under.

After much searching I finally obtained a male (Ernest) and female (Betty) from a village in central Laos. I live in the capital city and I am working at helping my torts prosper. Right now the weather is comfortable, but I worry about the peak of the hot season. Their run is setup where I keep most of my rainforest plants, its dark and I keep it moist. I hope this is enough to keep them comfortable, but time will tell.

I was worried about all of the horror stories, but I got both torts eating. I suspect that a less stressful experience of being moved (5 hours by road) and the availability of their local diet really helped. I attached a picture of Betty with her almost empty plate of mushrooms. I have seen Ernest eating Pothos. I stimulated eating by getting them of the hide and simulating rainfall.
I hope you enjoy seeing these Central Laos Dinosaurs.

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! Nice to see a person in their area having them. Do you ever see them in the wild? Would love to see some pictures of their native area. What are you keeping them housed in? Would love to see that, too. What sorts of native food are they eating. I see the pothos and mushrooms both of which we commonly use for them over here.

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Almost forgot, would love to see your turtles too and how you house them and what you feed them. I have one lone guy that I have had from when my children were small and got them. I keep thinking I need to get a group of them going again.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ, USA . Great looking torts , keep up the great work !

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!!

The Impressa are very rare to be kept as pets here in the U.S.

 

[diamondbp]

very nice. I love that species

 

[sibi]

Wow, this is so cool. Could you please share more pics and keep us all posted on your pair. Welcome!

 

[mrscruffy]

Hi and welcome! Nice to see a person in their area having them. Do you ever see them in the wild? Would love to see some pictures of their native area. What are you keeping them housed in? Would love to see that, too. What sorts of native food are they eating. I see the pothos and mushrooms both of which we commonly use for them over here.

Hi and nice to meet you.
I've been trekking in different parts of their range but never seen one in the wild (a situation that is getting more difficult each year). Since I have small children I don't currently get free time to trek.
I will take some more photos of my pen in the future, its runs along a wall of property with the enclosure walls being a mix of fencing and large ceramic pot plants. Since the ground is tiled and concrete, I have built a tray which I filled with coco coir. Their hide also is lined with coco coir, which maintains moisture. It is still a work in progress (and probably always will be), my aim is to adapt that part of my property as much to their needs as is practically achievable. The edge of the wall is the rain water drain, which seems to be working as an impromptu jungle stream.
I acquire the mushrooms/vegetables at the local markets, which contain wild caught and locally farmed varieties. I don't know the english/latin names of the fungi. I am still experimenting with their diet and trying to provide a variety of local foods. I am yet to introduce bamboo shoots, but these are widely available at certain times of the year and are used in local cuisine. To get Betty to eat for the first time, I actually collected some maggots and put them in a bowl. Betty, watched them intensely for about 15 minutes before digging in, she seemed so interest that she ignored I was in front of her. Despite some people's skepticism, I am sure they eat bugs sometimes, as their natural range is full of insect life.