Presentation of my 4 Mep and some question

[braindead]

Hi

I post you 2 pics of my mep... the 2nd picture, it's my big baby One year 490g... Vic say me the weight of MEP 1 year, it's 250-300g...
My questions :
_ when possible to know the sex of my tortoises ?
_ when They can breed (reproduction age) ?

best

Phil

 

[juli11]

I never keep Manouria species but what I can say is that the bigger the tortoise become when it is adult the later is he/she able to breed.
So if you look to Mediterranean tortoise (Testudo) you can say that males can ready to breed with 6-7 years females with 8-11 years! And they become 20-30cm.
So to Mep which become really big you can say that the females are ready to breed with 15 years I think.. But let's wait for an Manouria expert.

 

[Yvonne G]

My male was 19lbs and about 20 years old when he started "Practicing" on the girls. The young female was about 25 and around 20lbs when she dribbled out her first eggs.

 

[braindead]

Wow 25 years... very long ... DO you know the age when is possible to sex my young MEP ?

 

[Yvonne G]

I think that Darth (the male Mep) was about 12-15lbs when we knew for sure he was male. Let's see if @Will remembers. He had them first, and as long as I knew Will, he already knew that they were male and female.

 

[braindead]

thanks

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

The tail and actual cloacal (a$$hole) opening are pretty good tells early on. Best to have several of the same size/weight so comparison is easier, otherwise you have to consult a library of such images in your mind's eye. Basically if you don't think an egg can pass through, because the cloaca is too far towards the tail tip it's a male. It the cloaca is right up on the body and the tail is very small it's a female. That's not new news, but these tend to be the first expressions of sexual characteristics that can be observed. Things like concave plastron in males and actual egg laying are secondary characteristics. Males will often express (stick out) their penis if excited, which is not limited to sexual excitement, but can be as simple as fresh clean water.

Knowing the sex does not change the sex. Best to amass many of a species with know histories, then see who is who when large enough to breed, and also who gets along with who. 1.1 is often a bit of a pipe dream for breeding. It's not impossible, it occurs often enough, but is more rare than not for captive breeding.