Greetings from Heidi, Frosty and Frank.

Thank you all for the kind words!

To answer Ariza and Tom's questions. These three torts are siblings. They are too young to be sexed, I think. So, Frank can actually grow up to be a princess and Heidi can grow up to be a stud. The three torts get along very well for the most part.

Frank and Frosty have been very mellow and easy going from the beginning. Heidi, the smallest tort, is the instigator. She occasionally 'tailgates' one of her siblings and follows him around and nudges his side with her nose. Recently I witnessed her chasing her sibling down to face him and shaking her up and down at him. Other than this odd behavior from Heidi, they get along fine. They share food without a problem and sleep together every night. Perhaps this will change as they grow older.

Is Heidi exhibiting aggressive behavior? sexual behavior? I posted about her nudging her siblings a few years back and someone said she may just be a jerk...perhaps she is.

Thanks Jessica. I think I read that most females only get agressive before hibernation, perhaps a little cranky from their changing metabolism. So, Heidi is certainly acting a little off. Or maybe she just has the Napoleonic Syndrome (if you're little, act big). Or perhaps in ten years you may end up having to rename her Hector. LOL

I was actually laughing reading about her bullying antics, considering that she was the runt and practically dead when you got her. If I were religious I would call her recovery and survival a ''miracle''.

Lol. I agree Heidi has Napoleon complex. So far, the other two just ignore her when she acts up. I am just glad she doesn't act up often. I've only seen it a handful of times in the last 5 years.

Perhaps Heidi is acting up bc she/he is having identity crisis! I should have given them unisex names like Alex and Casey!

Sounds like "She" might be a He.

Yeah, I'm afraid Heidi is male, and because they're from the same clutch, they're probably all male.

Ah, ok. Thank you. Is this behavior only exhibited by some males but not all? Should I expect Heidi's behavior to get worse as he becomes an adult? Just wondering if I need to consider separate enclosures in the future.

Males not only fight other males but also continuosly harass females for sex until she gets sick from stress if unable to get away, like they do in the wild with lots of room. You will have to separate them when they become adults. Of course, there are ALWAYS exceptions to every rule, just play it by ear.

I read somewhere about someone observing two males fighting. The A bigger one won and flipped over tort B. Usually when that happens B will either manage to right himself or die. Well, A loved fighting so much that he would go over and right B so that he could resume fighting, he did this about 3 times. The observer said this is the only time he'd ever seen such behaviour.

Here's a link to a blogpost that I found re fighting and bullying, hers are Russians but should be the same thing. In the comments there is one where the poster said her two got along fine for 16 years, then the male sexually matured and started fighting etc.
http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-not-to-keep-2-tortoises-together.html

Thanks the the information and the article, Ariza. Heidi started doing the head bobbing thing this year. I am wondering if this is why Frank has been a little withdrawn recently. I'll have to keep a closer watch and be prepared to separate them sooner than later.