MEP Creep

jsheffield

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I've been in love with this species since Aretha arrived via FedEx from Florida a bit more than three years ago. I decided to try and develop a breeding group of these amazing and beautiful tortoises, and have been fortunate enough to have events work out that I now have 6 of them living with me.


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All of them are captive-bred. Aretha, the top left, hatched in 2019. Marvin, the top right, hatched in 2014. Ella and Nina (formerly Billie), the bottom right, hatched in 2022. Stevie and Louis, the bottom left, hatched in 2021.

Aretha and Marvin are distinct enough that I don't think I need to mark them, but probably will for simplicity's sake... I've got some orange nail polish that should do nicely.

Things are a little hectic at the moment, with four enclosures running during quarantine... once I get out to 60 days and vet/worm checks, I'll likely house the two big ones together, and the four smaller ones together.

Jamie
 

Markw84

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Nice!! I love this species. I was just at @NorCal tortoise guy 's place yesterday and one of the things we did was walk the areas he was planning on a new large enclosure for a MEP colony he wants to get. Also on the very short list of species I would consider adding to my new tortoise preserve.

Congratulations.
 

Ink

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WOW! Congrats on the new tortoises. Nice looking creep
 

jsheffield

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I meant to share this but forgot... it's a health tracking sheet I use with my torts. I like comparing the group and the individuals to their past selves, not just my memory of the past.

I'm not convinced of the applicability of the tBMI & target weight formulae, but even so, I think it's useful for tracking each individual's "density" from month to month... as opposed to "they should feel heavier than comparably sized baked bread, not so heavy as a rock, but more like a piece of fruit" (which is a good thought exercise, but lacks some precision).

I'm interested to see how the different cohorts grow and change over time, compared to themselves and the other groups.

Jamie
 

g4mobile

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MEE is on a very short list for my next tortoise. A little smaller than MEP, which is what I would need. Beautiful and interesting tortoise species.
 

jsheffield

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Good New!

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The 2023 calendar arrived, and it looks gorgeous...


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The November check-in shows everyone gained weight!

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All of the MEPs are looking good, eating well, and active.

Jamie
 
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jsheffield

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PXL_20230402_131248896.jpg

All but one of the MEPs out on some weight in the three weeks since their last weigh-in... Stevie has felt light light to me since he came out of the shipping box, and continues to be the lightest among them for their size (a tortoise should feel about as dense as a similarly sized apple or mango, Stevie feels more like a mixed grain dinner roll).

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I'm not concerned about a one-time weight loss, but if he continues not gaining over time, I'll consider testing/treating him for parasites.

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The tWT& tBMI formulas were developed using many species and ages of tortoises, but MEPs were not among them... I still think it's a useful tool for tracking and comparing individuals to their past selves and a group of the same species to the other members of that group.
 
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