Emmie

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Yvonne G

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In '08 only one Manouria emys phayrei egg hatched. This was little Emmie at about 6 months of age, at Maggie's house:

Emmie2008.jpg


And here she is 3 years later. I put my glasses next to her for size comparison. She's about 6" long:

6-13-11emmie-1.jpg


She seems sorta' flat compared to the bigger tortoises. I hope she starts to dome soon. I'd hate to have a Pancake mountain tortoise.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I could not believe my eyes when I saw her! She was a hatchling when I had her and it was horrid trying to get her to eat. I thought she was going to die on a daily basis.

I am glad she grew for you Yvonne...She's beautiful now...
 

Yvonne G

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Here's little Emmie today at 4 years of age. She's now bigger than my hand:

emmie-2-1.jpg

emmie-3.jpg
 

Tom

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She's gorgeous. I didn't know they were that difficult to get eating. Seems like they would do well in a closed chamber style of set up.
 

Yvonne G

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Emmie had scraped ALL of her substrate into a mountain under the hiding place and I worried that the cats may knock the plywood "roof" off. That would allow Emmie escape access. She had outgrown it anyway, as it is only 3' diameter.

emmiesoldhouse.jpg



She was supposed to graduate into the pen I have built in the Mee pen, but Dr. Cosmonaut's redfoots occupy that one. So I built her a new space. It is 8' long and 5' at one end, but in a triangle or pie shape. I am a scrap lumber hoarder, so it didn't cost me anything to build. I spent a couple bucks on a bag of top soil and a few plants, though:
manouriapen-1.jpg

manouriapen-2.jpg

manouriapen-3.jpg

manouriapen-4.jpg



Emmie is up under the plywood "roof" at the point of the triangle:
Manouriapen-5.jpg
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I can't believe how she's grown! Just goes to show ya that they grow whether they eat or not...
 

Stephanie Logan

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Wow, how fun to see tortoises growing and thriving.

I still have to skip the threads of sick and dying tortoises on this forum...I know people have good intentions, but I cannot handle the sadness of yet another tortoise passing. :(

Bravo Maggie and Yvonne, for all of the hard work and careful attention you pay to your menagerie of testudo and other species of critters. You do so much good in the world for these fascinating yet basically defenseless creatures. :)
 

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Thanks for the pics, but you are still not making me want one less...
 

Yvonne G

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Little Emmie has hit a mile stone.

I wish I had thought to add pictures of her winter tort table to this thread. A couple winters ago I built a tort table on the wall (like a shelf) in the Manouria shed for Emmie to live in over the winter. Then last winter I added Little Phaeri (pronounced Fairy) to the tort table, and they've been living together ever since and all summer in the outside pen.

So today I took all the old substrate out of the tort table, put down a layer of diatomaceous earth on the floor of it, then added a liner of painter's drop cloth. It's plastic and cloth, flimsy, but water proof. I added the hiding place and a feeding rock then the waterer. When I put Little (now BIG) Emmie and Little Phaeri in the table I said, "Whoa...this isn't going to work." Even without Phaeri in there, the table is way too small for Emmie.

So I've moved her out with the big guys! No, she's not with the big Mep. They're way too big for her. I've put her out with the Mee. Here's what they look like. Emmie is the clean-looking tortoise on the left. The other one is a Mee that I bought from a fellow up in San Jose. She's a bit deformed, and isn't growing, but almost the same size as Little Emmie:

09-27-13a_zps319dede4.jpg



This picture is San Jose, Emmie, Duc and Lumpy. Duc is the only Mee male not counting the intergrades, and Lumpy is an intergrade who grew funny:

09-27-13b_zps228655ff.jpg


Here's Little Phaeri in her tort table and in her water:

09-27-13c_zps3508089f.jpg

09-27-13d_zps20bb39cb.jpg
 

harris

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I just love this thread. Way to go Emmie!
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I am glad Emmie has done so well. She was a real tough cookie while I had her and I worried everyday that she wasn't going to be healthy because I had such a hard time feeding her.
 
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