Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to get a Burmese Mtn Tort:CB Manouria emys phayrei and I'm very excited. I will be relocating to South Florida in a year or so and I know this tort will do well there.
This tort is very rare and very,very endangered at this point in his current geo location of Southeast asia. The locals are taking them out of the wild in record numbers and sending them to China for food, so very,very few might be left in the wild.

I want to be a help in this effort and by helping keep these guys alive I feel pretty good!

Any info on these guys will be appreicated.
Terry

Check out my article in the 2004 Reptiles USA annual. I think it will give you some good guidelines to work with. Also, there are some breeders in FL who have had great success with both subspecies, and they may have some insight as well. The info provided in the article is based on my personal techniques and experience. Everyone has their own preferences/opinions on certain apsects (like substrates) but the guidlines I outlined have worked well for me so far. FL is a great place to raise these guys. Have fun, these are some awseome tortoises.

PS Based on personal observations and reports form owners, these torts can tolerate moderately elevated temps (90 or so) as long as the ambient humidity is high, portions of the substrate are moist, and the animal in able to soak. In other words: Dry heat is bad. If it gets baking hot outside, bring them in, or hose them down. Think southeast Asia.

Jonathan

Email Vic Morgan at victortois@aol.com He is in Jacksonville and is one of the premier breeders of this species. You can also check out an interview I did with him on the Jacksonville Herpetological Society's website at www.jaxherp.org Click on any of the ".....more" links to get to the page with the "Not So Famous" members. Vic is a great guy who will help in any way he can.

Mike
Jacksonville Herpetological Society