Gathering info,

[Jenminer]

Hello all, I was hoping someone could answer a few questions for me. Currently I am trying to figure out which tortoise would be right for me. I have read up on the needs of the black and brown mountain tortoise I have the space and can provide proper outdoor housing, but as a pet what are they like? Do they seek you out, how active are they, how fast do they grow? Things like that.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome.
It's very smart to do your research first. However these are not species that I know anything about.

 

[Yvonne G]

Manouria emys phayrei and Manouria emys emys (I don't like to use the 'nicknames' because too many people use the wrong one for the species) are more like box turtles than tortoises. After acclimation they can get very people oriented, looking to you for attention (read food) and following you around their yard when you visit. BUT. . .

They are pretty susceptible to overheating. They MUST be kept in a rainforest-like yard with plenty of plantings and lots of humidity.

I learned this the hard way. I was taking a group of my tortoises to a library across town to do a presentation. It was a sunny day and around 80F degrees. The tortoises were in boxes in the back of my truck. I had a desert tortoise, a russian, a yellowfoot, some box turtles, a small sulcata and a young Mep.

The trip across town took about a half hour and when I got to the library and started opening the boxes, all the animals were ok except for the Mep. She was sitting in her box foaming profusely at the mouth. I rushed her over to a puddle at the side of the parking lot and started splashing water over her, but after about a half hour she died.

The tortoises were in cardboard boxes that were not sealed, but open slightly for air exchange and there was a piece of plywood over the bed side to side and tied down so the boxes were in shade. So a half hour in shade at about 80F degrees was this tortoise's downfall.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I have more experience first hand with M.e.p. than M.e.e. but some crossover applies.

M.e.p. are very responsive to you as neonates and as adults. So much so I would guess they have some sort of symbiotic relationship with other animals in their native range. That is not to suggest they DO have a symbiotic relationship, but their behavior certainly suggest they could.

Many years ago I had a backyard mostly full of crab grass and after several years of not mowing it was a fluff a few feet high. The then younger Manouria would make tunnels through it to traverse the yard out of sight. They knew how to navigate it. Now I have a forest of sorts of palm fronds set into post holes. They really like jungle.

When I bring food out they respond readily to me. Sometime I get the food out before sunrise, and they will poke their head out of their nighthouse to see if there is food waiting for them. One female will run out and eat and return to the heated nighthouse, even when the outside temp is as low as 41F. Some tortoises understand night houses and some do not. M.e.p. most definitely get it, that that is where the warm is.

My kitchen window is visible to the adults who sometimes get to the food place before I get the food out in the morning. They look in through the window to see if there is activity, if they see me they stand up high on all their legs and then lift and set down one front foot as if to ask for their food. That is not anthropomorphism. They really do it based on seeking food. They know I'm the tree that drops the fruit, what some people call a 'food god'.

One difference I see with M.e.p. is that they don't look at you like you are an amorphis blob, they look up at your face. A good friend says they don't observe in real time, that there seems to be a few second delay between what has happened near them and their corresponding response. Like what they see went through some visual relay system and gets to their brain more slowly, and with a corresponding slow reaction. That seems true. Equally true then they may have some intuition of what you may do based on the last several things you did do. They can project what your path will be if you are not too dynamic in your actions. I think they think.

They do not have the pretty shell of a radiata or leopard, but they have body armament that would make any gladiator feel envy. Keep in mind that on the rare occasion you might need to pick an adult up, the pinch between the shell and a retracted leg has the potential to destroy fingers.

 

[Jenminer]

Thank you for all this information. I am so grateful to this tortoise forum, it's making research a lot easier when I can hear some first hand accounts.