Female sulcata not eating much and not active

[380tom]

Hello all
New to the forum and new to sulcata'S
I just adopted two salcuta male and female (I think?) The "male" is active and eating like crazy but the "female" is not eating nearly the same and basically goes and hides most of the day. She will come out and eat but only for a few minutes then goes right back to the same spot and sits there all day and night. I have owned a few tortoises in the past but never a salcuta so I'm not sure what their behavior is like.
I do have plenty of space so they are not crowded. The weat her is pretty warm getting up to 95 in the middle of the day.
They have plentry of grass to eat with lots of dandelion and clover which the male is devouring. I have also fed them assorted greens here and there.
I have had them for 1 week so maybe she is just getting acclimated to her new home?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Tortoises should not be kept as a pair.

The "female" is likely under tremendous stress. You need to separate them ASAP.

What size are they? What size is the enclosure? What are their night accommodations? How cold is she getting at night?

If you post pics of the tail and anal scutes we can verify the sexes.

The zip code is better than nothing, but I don't know how many people will take the time to look up where you are. You could make it easier by just naming the region or city. Winchester has good tortoise weather most of the year, but the nights are too cool. You'll need a heated shelter. I let my night boxes drop to 70-75 at night for sulcatas in summer. In winter I keep them 85-86, so the tortoise always have a place to warm up on cooler winter days. Like this: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

 

[Yvonne G]

It might simply be a case of dominance. Rarely does two work. You can have three or more together, but when you only have two, you always have a bully and a submissive. The submissive tries to stay out of the bully's way, and hides all the time. If you set them up separately, you'll see a big difference in the submissive tortoise's attitude.

 

[380tom]

Ok I am learning here.
So the tortoises came as a pair and have been together their whole lives since hatching (from what I was told) From watching them closely all weekend, they avoid each other at all costs. One stays on one side of the yard and the other stays on the opposite end (when the "female"decides to come out of hiding). They only met up briefly while grazing in the grass and immediately went in opposite directions.
Previously they were kept in a yard 1/4 the size of mine. At night they are in an enclosed area that is 50ft x 50ft during the day they have 4x that area. I have built two temporary boxes for them but yet to get any type of heat since it is pretty hot during the day and not getting cold at night, BUT I am working on a heated box with two seperate areas and entrances or possibly two seperate boxes all together. They do not go in either box and prefer to go under the rain water tank or behind a storage box I have for chicken feed and supplies.

 

[380tom]

The "male" Doug is 26" front to back and the "female" Skeeter is 22" front to back. The previous owner said they are 7 years old.
They were kept outdoors at all times and had no source of heat or box. They lived in Los Angeles CA

 

[Korall]

The "male" Doug is 26" front to back and the "female" Skeeter is 22" front to back. The previous owner said they are 7 years old.
They were kept outdoors at all times and had no source of heat or box. They lived in Los Angeles CA

Can you post some pictures of them and their enclosure?

 

[Tom]

Ok I am learning here.
So the tortoises came as a pair and have been together their whole lives since hatching (from what I was told) From watching them closely all weekend, they avoid each other at all costs. One stays on one side of the yard and the other stays on the opposite end (when the "female"decides to come out of hiding). They only met up briefly while grazing in the grass and immediately went in opposite directions.
Previously they were kept in a yard 1/4 the size of mine. At night they are in an enclosed area that is 50ft x 50ft during the day they have 4x that area. I have built two temporary boxes for them but yet to get any type of heat since it is pretty hot during the day and not getting cold at night, BUT I am working on a heated box with two seperate areas and entrances or possibly two seperate boxes all together. They do not go in either box and prefer to go under the rain water tank or behind a storage box I have for chicken feed and supplies.

Frequently a pair of tortoises will reach some sort of balance and survive living as a pair for a time even though it is not good for them, but upon being deposited into a new territory, that tenuous balance is shattered. Sounds like that is what you have going on.

Here is a night box that I recently built. Sounds like you have plenty of room to make a divided enclosure. Using this design for inspiration, I think you could easily make a divided enclosure with only one night box to heat:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

I found that if I paint the tops white and run a sprinkler a couple of times a day for five to ten minutes al around the box, it keeps ambient temp inside the box in the low 90s even when its 100+ outside all day.

To get them to use their boxes you need to put them in every night. Over time, they will learn to go in on their own. It usually takes 2-4 weeks, but some of them are stubborn. I try to give a lot of thought to placing the box where there tortoises want to be, instead of making the tortoises go to where I want the box.

 

[380tom]

Well some good news Skeeter took a HUGE dump, pee'd and dispatched a bunch of white stuff and she was cruising around and eating like a champ right along side Doug out in the grass. Both of them ate off and on in the clover patch and then ate some collard greens to boot. I'm still keeping my eye on her as I was very worried and I am putting together some plans now for a double sided box with heat and fan. Thanks for everybody's advice and thanks Tom for the photos so I have a good idea of how to construct it. Construction begins this weekend.