Hey Tom,

>>Looks healthy but I am wondering about his activity. He will sit looking out from one of his two hides, head up, neck out, eyes open, and watch the world go by for hours! I have actually looked in on him hourly for 10 hours and he is happy as a clam to sit and watch. If I put him out on the floor he will wander around and then find somewhere that he can back into and do the same thing. Is this typical for a young emys?

In my experience with this species (both subspecies actually around 10 years now), this is quite normal. I've actually had my one HUGE female M.e. phayrei sit in the EXACT same spot for more than a week just 'observing' the world if you will. I also have occasions where they will follow me everywhere just waiting for food... MAJOR beggers! As long as food and water uptake are 'normal', I'd have no worries. Actually, more than anything I've found these torts like to hide UNDER substrate. So, each Spring I rake up dozens of garbage cans worth of dead leaves and dump them into their enclosure. Usually, within a day they are all underneath this and just heads are looking up and out (see PIC). VERY interesting tortoises! I'd say yours is 'normal' and doing what they do. I'm sure other keepers likely have similar (and I'm sure different) experiences too.

Note: The female (Manouria emys phayrei) pictured weighs approximately 50 pounds and is completely 'hidden' under a couple feet of oak leaves. She will just expose her head to see what's going on out in the world...

Matt

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