Interesting observation

[harris]

I know most of the few that do keep this species are able to keep them outdoors year round. I have a group of 5 yr old Mee's. Mine are kept outdoors from late Spring to early Fall, and indoors throughout the cold months. What intrigues me by observing this group over the past few years is the way they react to the two environments. It's opposite how I would imagine it. Outdoors, there is not much activity at all. They may go 2 straight days, once in awhile 3, without moving from their hunkered down spot under the vegetation. What's stranger is seldom do they hang out for any length of time in their watering holes. They eat and graze, but growth during these outdoor months is minimal, if at all. Now, INDOORS is completely opposite. Within 2 weeks of coming indoors for the Winter there are noticeable growth lines on all of them. They must eat daily, or they go nuts. In fact anytime I enter the room they immediately come charging and climbing the walls to get at me for some food, even if they ate a few hours ago. Also, they will spend most of their day hanging out in the watering holes enjoying their day. It's almost as if they prefer to be indoors vs outdoors, which is a ridiculous statement. They act and grow like I described indoors ALL through the Winter. The first couple years I just kind of chalked it up as that their natural instinct to fear predators at this young age was keeping them so reserved outdoors. But when they are active outdoors, they have no fear of anything. Strange. I've never experienced anything like this to this extreme with any other tortoise species I've kept.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's not true of either of my "creeps." During the summer, most of them don't go into their house at night, but hide under the bushes outside. In the winter they go inside and sometimes don't come out for a couple days. Mostly they act like all the other types of tortoise I care for.

During their outside time, do they get to see you, the food god? I'm wondering if YOU're the trigger rather than being indoors.

 

[harris]

Oh yeah, they absolutely see me. Some days they react, some days they don't. When they don't, they will sit and watch me the entire time. When they are, they'll follow me around the whole enclosure. They see me as much as they do when they're indoors, where they react every single time I enter their room. I'm in no way complaining as they're thriving year round; it's just the opposite of how I'd expect them to react. I wish I discovered this species 20yrs ago. They are far and away my favorite out of any turtle or tortoise I've had experience with.

 

[Tom]

I've got nothing to add, but I'm reading with great interest. Neat info. Thanks for sharing. I could read about Manouria all day.

 

[Kristina]

Mine are the same way. When they were outside this summer, they were active, but nothing like the explosion of activity that I have witnessed since they came indoors.

One thing I struggled with outside was humidity. Even though I soaked the pen a couple of times a day, I just could not keep it as damp as I would have liked. I combated that partially by placing a large sheet of glass over 90% of the enclosure, but what the heck is the point of keeping them outdoors if they are still under glass? I think next year I may try an outdoor mister system or soaker house to run during the daylight hours.

Now, indoors, I have my 4 kids in a 75 gallon aquarium. The substrate is organic humus that I bought at Home Depot. They have the same large water dish as they had outside, plus a mud wallow, and it is much easier for me to control the humidity. The temperature in their indoor enclosure is actually lower than it was outside in the summer. Their activity level and growth has skyrocketed. Plus they LOVE that mud wallow, lol. They are the funniest tortoises I have ever observed.

Also, mine are younger - they are about 14 months old.

 

[Tom]

How big are they now Kristina? Length or weight?

I wonder if having open sky over them makes them a little more reserved or nervous. They are probably under a pretty dense canopy where they come from most of the time. Yvonne's are covered by a pretty dense canopy outdoors and remain active, while Harris' and Kristina's got more active once they were inside with a roof over there head. Possibility? Maybe?

 

[Kristina]

I don't have a current weight, but they are about 4" long. I can say that they have never acted shy. They were raring to go when i took them out of the box and still are

They are also VERY owner oriented. And very curious. I have even seen the run towards a loud noise and strain upwards to try to see what caused it. Crazy cool critters!

 

[wildak]

I would guess dense cover and rain would help them relax .

A sprinkler timer would work well and if you need cover just cut some brush and toss it in a few piles until something gets planted .