MEP Question

[tortoiseguy65]

Hello All,
I am going to be getting a pair of MEP in about a week. The current owner says they are about 18 inches in length and have been breeding constantly but they haven't produced any eggs. I was wondering if they are large enough at this point to produce fertile eggs. They are long term captives of 8 years. These "should" be unrelated to any others in the states then I would guess. I have not seen them yet as he doesn't have pictures of them. He said they have gotten too large for him to adequately care for them. Also, wondering what to expect weight wise for these. Any ideas? I currently have a MEE juvenile and have kept a couple of MEE males in the past. This will be my first attempt at MEP. I fell in love with them when I first saw Vic Morgan's babies at the Daytona show in 2003. I couldn't afford them then, and am lucky now that the current owner of this pair is interested in doing some trading for my remaining parrots. I will post pics when I get the tortoises and am looking forward to keeping these guys. Would love to see some pics of everyones Blacks. Thanks.

 

[Yvonne G]

My male Mep weighed 25lbs when he first started practicing mating with the girls many years ago. At that time I was keeping the Mee and the Mep in the same pen. He was especially practicing on the full-grown Mee female, who also weighed around 25lbs. The second year after he started this activity, she laid fertile eggs.

My youngest female Mep laid her first batch of eggs last year. She weighed in at 44lbs.

So I would guess that the male might be able to breed at that size, however, I think the female has to do some growing yet.

 

[tortoiseguy65]

Yvonne,
Thanks for the info. I am really excited to be getting this pair. My little Mee is just awesome. It is so curious and very active. I hope the blacks to be just as awesome. Thanks again.

 

[dmward1978]

Sorry for the ignorance ya'll, but what are MEE and MEP???

 

[Josh]

Manouria emys emys and Manouria emys phayrei

 

[Itort]

Yvonne,
Thanks for the info. I am really excited to be getting this pair. My little Mee is just awesome. It is so curious and very active. I hope the blacks to be just as awesome. Thanks again.

The only difference I see between a MEE and MEP is size. Have fun, they are great torts.

 

[Millerlite]

the mep are just as curious as the mee's, from what i have seen. I have had both, young and old, I found older ones are a little more outgoing, younger ones are outgoing but a little shy (guessing by nature) Either way a pair that big should be fun to keep. I would also guess the female is a little to small to produce eggs, but you never know.

Also pictures when you get them! lol... Very important, ha

 

[Tom]

Yes, pics please.

 

[BlackMountain412]

I dont know anything about breeding size but I wanted to share some pictures of my Mep. I am a new owner and these are my first tortoises!
I name him or her Shredder.

So here is pictures of shredder with his buddies.
Enjoy.

 

[tortoiseguy65]

I just received some bad news. The guy I was supposed to be getting my tortoises from said he changed his mind and wants to keep them. I am REALLY bummed.

 

[Kristina]

Awww, that is a major bummer I was living vicariously through you. Hopefully you will be able to find some others.

 

[Jacqui]

I just received some bad news. The guy I was supposed to be getting my tortoises from said he changed his mind and wants to keep them. I am REALLY bummed.

I am sorry for you. I was so obvious how much you were looking forward to getting them. I know at least for me, when something like this happens it's like this bad moment happened so something so much better is then allowed to happen. Like I will not get an animal I was looking forward to and then down the road I am offered something even better, which I might not have been able to have or do, if the first plan had actually gone thru.

 

[tortoiseguy65]

I am sorry for you. I was so obvious how much you were looking forward to getting them. I know at least for me, when something like this happens it's like this bad moment happened so something so much better is then allowed to happen. Like I will not get an animal I was looking forward to and then down the road I am offered something even better, which I might not have been able to have or do, if the first plan had actually gone thru.

That would be nice if something like that happened. In this case, I found out that the seller lied to me. He didn't keep them. He sold them to someone else and now they are available on Kingsnake. Oh well.

 

[Millerlite]

still looking for mt. tortise? i know someone who has pairs for sale.

 

[Tom]

still looking for mt. tortise? i know someone who has pairs for sale.

Know anyone with babies coming? I'll be ready for some babies mid-summer or fall. Does this species mainly have hatchlings in the Spring? If so I'll have to wait until next year.

 

[Millerlite]

there are a ton of babies right now, are you looking for black or brown mt. tortoises?

 

[Tom]

Blacks. I won't be ready for them until summer or fall. Those enclosures are occupied right now and I'm in the process of building more. So do these usually hatch out only in the spring then?

 

[Millerlite]

they hatch around this time, and through summer. also clutches are big, so you will see babies for sale most all year around. You shouldnt have a problem finding them in a few months.