amberley layne
New Member
Would love to adopt adult male salcata or leopard tourtious. Have a great set up. My female needs a friend. We love our tourtiouses and they love us. We are very dedicated. From southern Ohio.
love to adopt in ohio
- Thread starter amberley layne
- Start date
welcome to the forum
! the truth is people don't want to give a tortoise to people they don't know. stick around on the forum and let people know what your about! good luck!
! the truth is people don't want to give a tortoise to people they don't know. stick around on the forum and let people know what your about! good luck!
Hi Amberley, Welcome to TFO. One of the first things your going to learn here is Tortoises do not want or need companions. They are solitary animals, another tortoise, would only be a threat to the one you have now. A male sulcata kept with one female could pester her literally to death. Sulcatas are also very territorial. Please reconsider getting her a friend. Lets see if this gets @Tom to chime in here. He has lots of experience with Sulcatas and Leopards i do believe. Were you planning on keeping them together or in seperate outdoor setups?
Hi Amberley:
I'm sure you've seen those nature programs where the pride of lions chase a lone lion out of their territory, even trying to kill it. A tiger has a territory and he'll chase an try to kill another tiger that wanders in. Animals that are solitary are often territorial and do not like the company of another animal in their territory and especially an animal of their own kind. This could be due to competition between rivals for the opportunity to mate or over territory, or it could be a more suitable way to live in the environment. When two of the same species meet they often show aggressive displays to try to chase off the other, but if neither of the two backs down a brawl can escalate. In some species these fights can end in the death of one or both animals.
If your tortoise is a friendly and human-oriented tortoise, adding another tortoise to his territory will change his whole personality. He will no longer be that friendly little guy. He will just have one intention, and that would be to find the intruder and either mate with it or try to kill it.
I'm sure you've seen those nature programs where the pride of lions chase a lone lion out of their territory, even trying to kill it. A tiger has a territory and he'll chase an try to kill another tiger that wanders in. Animals that are solitary are often territorial and do not like the company of another animal in their territory and especially an animal of their own kind. This could be due to competition between rivals for the opportunity to mate or over territory, or it could be a more suitable way to live in the environment. When two of the same species meet they often show aggressive displays to try to chase off the other, but if neither of the two backs down a brawl can escalate. In some species these fights can end in the death of one or both animals.
If your tortoise is a friendly and human-oriented tortoise, adding another tortoise to his territory will change his whole personality. He will no longer be that friendly little guy. He will just have one intention, and that would be to find the intruder and either mate with it or try to kill it.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 254
Amberley, please tell me about your winter setup : space heat humidity n feeding habits. The Sulcatas we have rescued have never been territorial or fought even once so I am not concerned about that as far as you taking in just one male, but southern Ohio winters for a 67lb and growing make require a large indoor space with the proper heat and humidity set up along with about $40 per week in fresh produce/mazuri/ edible plants. Thank you
Check out craigslist! There is a 4 year old sulcata for $100 that is only 4.5 INCHES long. poor thing needs HELP! It's in cinncinnatti, ohio.
This is true. Tortoises love their human caretakers, but 99 times out of a hundred, they will hate any tortoise you introduce into their territory. I always use my beloved Graecus as an example. He is an exceptionally bold Testudo ibera who always comes running whenever I enter his line of sight. Friends who visit always gravitate toward his enclosure, given that he is always so animated and full of energy. But if I put anything in his cage that even resembles a tortoise, he will ram and bite at it, throwing all of his strength into driving this unwelcome beast from his territory. He becomes a jerk. Now, were I to see him purely within the confines of a solitary condition, I would probably have no idea that his boldness and boundless energy would be committed to such brutal activity, but knowing this about him, it changes my entire perspective concerning his personality. The simple fact is that tortoises, more times than not, are jerks to each other. Some of them get along reasonably well, such as red foots, aldabras, and galaps. But sulcatas, like Russians or Greeks, are notorious for their nastiness when it comes to members of their own species.
Now, if you want to set up an entirely separate enclosure for this new tortoise you are seeking, that's an entirely different conversation. Speaking from experience, the more the merrier. But when it comes to sulcatas, I personally wouldn't go down this road, having done it in times past. These tortoises get big, require large quarters that are expensive to heat in the winter time (and I'm speaking of this as a South Texas resident; Ohio, to me, is the cold white yonder; anyone who has the dedication and force of will and ingenuity to keep a sully that far north has my deepest respect and admiration, because you really have your work cut out for you), and they are highly destructive. My cousin David in Florida recently had to make two thousand dollars in foundation repair when his pet monster sully D.C. dug below his house and busted three PVC pipes in the process. This same tortoise turned his 120 x 60 foot backyard into a moonscape, forcing him to set up raised gardens full of mixed grasses and edible succulents from which he trims leaves on a daily basis. The tortoise consumes all of this, plus regular additions of squashes, pumpkins, various green produce, and a bale of grass hay purchased from a farming supply store once every few weeks. But hey, if you've considered all these things and are still set on it, more power to you. But I must say, please consider all the variables that will be involved. Truly, the only thing more awesome than a sulcata is two sulcatas, but if double trouble ever had a more apt definition, two sulcatas locking gulars in brutal combat would definitely be a hard one to beat.
T.G.
Now, if you want to set up an entirely separate enclosure for this new tortoise you are seeking, that's an entirely different conversation. Speaking from experience, the more the merrier. But when it comes to sulcatas, I personally wouldn't go down this road, having done it in times past. These tortoises get big, require large quarters that are expensive to heat in the winter time (and I'm speaking of this as a South Texas resident; Ohio, to me, is the cold white yonder; anyone who has the dedication and force of will and ingenuity to keep a sully that far north has my deepest respect and admiration, because you really have your work cut out for you), and they are highly destructive. My cousin David in Florida recently had to make two thousand dollars in foundation repair when his pet monster sully D.C. dug below his house and busted three PVC pipes in the process. This same tortoise turned his 120 x 60 foot backyard into a moonscape, forcing him to set up raised gardens full of mixed grasses and edible succulents from which he trims leaves on a daily basis. The tortoise consumes all of this, plus regular additions of squashes, pumpkins, various green produce, and a bale of grass hay purchased from a farming supply store once every few weeks. But hey, if you've considered all these things and are still set on it, more power to you. But I must say, please consider all the variables that will be involved. Truly, the only thing more awesome than a sulcata is two sulcatas, but if double trouble ever had a more apt definition, two sulcatas locking gulars in brutal combat would definitely be a hard one to beat.
T.G.
