He Won't Stop Breeding the Others

[InTheTortoiseBix]

We have a 70 pound Sulcata male that breeds our others until he has cracked his shell!!! It's not a bad crack but it started to bleed. We have now separated him from the other two so all are safe. My question is . . . has anyone else experienced this and what did you do??

 

[dmmj]

Male sulcatas breed, that's what they do.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

I get that, but the other two are males as well and have never bred anything.

 

[dmmj]

Ok, brutal honesty time. The other males are being terrorized, I thought the others were females, constant breeding with females is rough but normal. The males should not be subjected to this. Separate IMHO, it is not fair to the others, sorry if I sound harsh.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

Oops, typo. I meant we have NOW separated him from the other two so all are safe. We noticed that one of the others stays in the barn most of the time and figured it had something to do with the constant breeding. We have rescued all of these and each came from a home with no other tortoises. Thankfully, we have enough land to create separate living spaces for the breeder and the other two. We also have 3 very small Sulcatas and have them in their own area to keep them from the larger boys. No apology necessary for sounding harsh. If I had reviewed my post, my actions would have been clear.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ .


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

Some tortoises are more active breeders than others. Now that your big boy is alone he will settle down. I've never encountered a tortoise so intent on breeding that he cracked his shell. My GUESS would be that there was a fight that you didn't see. I HAVE seen pictures of large sulcatas with crushed shells caused by ramming from other large sulcatas. At any rate, now that he's alone, the shell should heal and all should be right once again with the world!

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome.

Now you have them all separated so you can rest easy now. May I ask you to share some pictures of your "Boys" specially the "breeder".

Thanks.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

He's doesn't seem to be a fighter, just an intense lover!! The crack is on the bottom of his shell right where it strikes his love interests shell. It happened yesterday and we saw it almost immediately because we try to protect the others from him when they are all out grazing. But he is persistent, and quick!! We'd separate him from the other, turn around to change water, and he'd be at it again! Hopefully all three will be happier and healthier with the new living arrangements. Plus, it will be quieter in our tortoise pasture!!

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

I'm such a newbie, I'm not sure how to add pictures. I had a heck of a time putting the one on my profile. The "lover" is the guy in the back of my profile picture.

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Am I misunderstanding something?

He isn't "breeding" them or "loving" them if the other 2 are males.

You have a dominant male that has been mounting 2 other, more submissive males.

..I re read your post and you do say that all 3 are males. Now that he is alone, great...but most likely you'll start to have issues between the remaining 2 males, so please separate them from each other, too.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

I'm curious, Team Gomberg, how many tortoises do you have? What species are they and how are they housed? I used generic terms on here because I am not an expert and wanted to get my point across. I have, however, been in touch with an expert and we are handling this based on his advice.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Do you really want answers to those questions? Or are you asking with sarcasm?

Look, I have no clue who you are or your experience level. I was simply trying to point out that the terminology you used is misleading. Some of the advice given was as though it was a male who wouldn't stop breeding females.

Correct details of the issue will only help you get correct advice.

I'm sorry you felt attacked by me pointing out your tortoises genders.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

I was just curious about your experience with large tortoises as I tried to differentiate between the fact and fiction of your advice. While I did not make it clear in my first post that all 3 were males, that was corrected quickly and long before your diatribe about my terminology.

 

[Tom]

Everything Heather told you was right on the money. He's not a "lover". He is a dominant male throwing his weight around making the other two males live in a state of constant fear. I have been keeping sulcatas since 1991 and have bred hundreds of them. I currently have nine of them. I also have three other species currently and at one time or another have kept most species over the last 35 years since I started.

Now that you have removed the dominant male, the next most dominant one will likely take over the role and commence trying to drive the least dominant one out of the territory. They are capable of doing great bodily harm in minutes, so I would suggest you separate them right away BEFORE anything bad happens. Adult male sulcatas seldom get along. I'm surprised you haven't had more issues prior to now.

 

[InTheTortoiseBix]

I hadn't been on here in awhile so I thought I'd give you all an update. We now have 23 Sulcatas ranging from 5 oz. to 100 pounds. We have 10 males in one pasture; 5 males in another pasture; 5 males that are all under 20 pounds in yet another enclosure, and the baby in the house. We took in 1 female, but we've put her in her own home. Other than the one that was the reason behind this thread, we have not had to separate any of the others.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Am I misunderstanding something?

He isn't "breeding" them or "loving" them if the other 2 are males.

You have a dominant male that has been mounting 2 other, more submissive males.

..I re read your post and you do say that all 3 are males. Now that he is alone, great...but most likely you'll start to have issues between the remaining 2 males, so please separate them from each other, too.

I too agree with the above statement! I would like you now who the " Expert " is and is he on here trying to help others for free ?

 

[Alaskamike]

Wow, you are certainly providing area for large number of the big torts. We all know the sulcata especially seem to be found often, re homed, or given away. It is good you have the heart and means to care for the rescues. There are a number of folks on here who do the same for all they can help.

You are not the only person keeping groups of large sulcata together in large enclosure or on rescue preserves. Sometimes the males fight, breed the females too much, have to be isolated or separated into another enclosure. Those gulars and chomping mouth could take out a groundhog (and have)!

It was a bit of a rocky start here on the advice and clarification of what you are dealing with. Don't let that discourage you, so may varieties of experience and personalities here - but one thing is certain; many very active, experienced and knowledgeable keepers from biologists and vets to zoo keepers, hobbiests to professional breeders. As well a a great number of newbees looking for help. Like any forum, we disagree - explain why - and learn from each other.

Would love to see pics of your land, do they dig burrows?
Welcome to the forum.
Good fortune with your charges.