My baby female sulcata attacks our baby male sulcata tortoise...

[SulcataTortoiseFanatic]

We bought a 3 inch baby female sulcata tortoise about 3 weeks ago. My boyfriend has owned sulcatas in the past so knows pretty much everything there is to know about these amazing creatures. She was with a baby Russian tortoise at the pet store when we bought her, so I decided to get her a friend as she has a lonely 55 gallon tank all to herself. About 2 days ago we bought another 3 inch sulcata tortoise, I special ordered him from the same pet store. The female who was bought first is very shy and doesn't really like being touched or petted, but doesn't seem to mind being held. The male however loves his head and chin rubbed, he is so outgoing and sweet! He also loves water! But our only problem is the female seems to hate him, and I mean genuinely hate him. If she's not doing everything possible to avoid him at all costs, she's constantly ramming him and biting him. She's not biting him hard enough to leave marks or wounds but it's surely not a good thing she's doing. If you could give me any information at all about why she may be doing this, what we could do, or anything else it would be greatly appreciated. Ill be happy to answer any questions anyone may have. It could possibly take a while to get back to you though as I work a lot. Thanks a lot!

 

[dmmj]

at that age gender is impossible to tell. perdon using work well as you now see that's the first rule of tortoise keeping. honest advice is to separate them probably forever. tortoises are loners they don't like company. the one tortoise is telling the other tortoise to leave its territory or else.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Please separate the torts immediately as these wonderful little animals do not like company. Bullying and fighting may begin (as it has with your tortoises-sorry about that) and one of them could harm/hurt the other, GOD forbid.

Kindly post pics of your torts and their enclosure.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

The previous posters are right.

1. They can't be sexed as 3" babies.
2. Tortoises should not be kept in pairs. Even without the overt, obvious hostility you are seeing, they don't like company. Pairs are much too personal.

Further:
3. That pet store is misleading you to make a sale. I wonder what else they mis-informed you about? Did they sell you a dry substrate, ramped water bowl, cfl type UV bulb, and a red bulb for heat in one of those double domes? If the answer to any of the above is yes, I hope you will accept our help in improving the situation.
4. Species should never be mixed. Russians are notorious for carrying all sorts of diseases and parasites. Now both of these babies have been exposed to whatever the russian might have been carrying. Keep an eye out for trouble and find a good reptile vet to run some fecal exams for you.

These babies need to be separated immediately.

These will help:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum. Hope we will be able to help you with your tortoises.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

I hope you and your boyfriend are open to suggestions. You said he knows everything there is to know about sulcatas, so I hope he'll have an open mind and read the threads Tom suggested. The way we care for sulcatas, especially young ones like yours, has changed a lot in the past few years, as we've learned how to better care for them.

 

[DDickie]

Tortoises are highly territorial and do not mix unless mating. Keep them apart!