to all who have a sully at least 3 yrs old

[elvis]

My sweet little baby sully, I've had since a hatchling and is approaching his 3 rd birthday, is starting to get an attitude, occasional hissing and raming. Is he just becoming a snotty teenager who needs to be sent to his room? Or something I need to nip in the bud, or perhaps some normal behavior? Thank you

 

[Tom]

This must be your first sulcata.

SULCATA VIRGIN HERE!!! Sounds like you have King Robert IV

Ha! Just kidding with you. You've probably got a little male there. That's the neat thing about sulcatas. They have no fear of anything. That's why they are so outgoing and personable. I've never done anything about that stuff. Its never really posed a problem for me.

Cory just told me a story about a guy with a with a whole bunch of sulcatas, mixed sexes and ages, living all together in one giant pen. Whenever he adds a new male to the herd, it almost immediately charges the first other male it sees. The man just walks over and flips him upside down. Apparently, after a few repetitions, the new males decide to behave themselves.

I'm not saying you should do this with your three year old, but I found it to be interesting from a behavioral standpoint. I'm thinking of trying it with my two boys. Seems to me like it would work better in a herd situation than with just two and a single female.

What is he ramming? What's causing him to hiss?

 

[N2TORTS]

My sweet little baby sully, I've had since a hatchling and is approaching his 3 rd birthday, is starting to get an attitude, occasional hissing and raming. Is he just becoming a snotty teenager who needs to be sent to his room? Or something I need to nip in the bud, or perhaps some normal behavior? Thank you

Yes as Tom mentioned .. sounds like you have a lil' male ... and his behavior is norm for the Sully's alike . Just wait till he is 50 pounds and ramming items.....
JD~

 

[elvis]

Thank you Tom and JD. I've always hand fed him about once a week. Thought we were bonding, and have always just loved that on Sunday mornings. Just recently sometimes when I first reach out with the food he tries to Ram my hand. Almost like I startled him . Then he seems to settle down. Should I completely stop any hand feeding ?

 

[ReptileBuddies]

sounds like you need a Cesar Millan for torts

 

[Tom]

It really doesn't matter one way or the other. Just do want you want with him and enjoy it. I hand feed mine sometimes. Scooter will do the ramming thing if I put the food tray down right in front of him. I have to put at least six feet away or risk my ankles, wrists or hands. Try hand feeding from a distance. In other words make him walk all the way across your pen and see if the ramming stops.

 

[TortieLuver]

I have a 22 year-old male Sulcata and although he is dominant, he doesn't do that to me, but will hiss occasionally at me due to the fact that I may have startled him from behind. He doesn't hiss at me if he can see me walking towards him or reach out to feed him. It's the male dominance in Sulcatas. My female doesn't hiss at all. Keep trying to feed him if you want to or you can try to place right in front of him and squat down as you are putting the food in front of him. If he does what Tom's Scooter did, then perhaps just laying the food down from a distance will be best. If you have had him since he was a hatchling and doing this on-going, I would hope you could continue to feed him. I have noticed over the years just how different each Sulcata is within their own species. I thought tortoises' personalities perhaps varied from species to species, but in fact, they are all different within each species. Although Sulcatas in general are well-known for ramming, each one is different in some way. At times, I think it also has to do with how they were raised from hatchling to adult.

 

[elvis]

Thanks Christy, that might be it, I will concentrate on making sure he sees me before I shove food in his face. I envy you and all your land and sulcatas. What you have there has always been a dream of mine : )

 

[DAC8671]

Ralph is 5 1/2 yrs and he has never rammed, thus far. He has never hissed at me and occassionaly he has with the kids. That is if the kids happen to sneak up on him and surprise him. He hisses ALL THE TIME at my husband, even if Ralph sees him coming. We just figure he doesn't like my husband.

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

Ok mine is only a juvenile, but what do you mean 'Hissing'? It's not that hissing sound they make when they tuck their heads in right? I notice my baby does this strutting around kinda thing, almost like 'puffing' himself up. Sorry Evis, hope I'm not hijacking your thread.

 

[TortieLuver]

They bring so much joy to my life (husband and kids too) and are fortunate that we have the opportunity to have what we have.

 

[9see]

my patita is about 3 years old also and the only time he/she does that hissing noise/ram is when i try and touch it in the morning when it barely wakes up..."the morning grumps" is what i call it lol!!! other than that, patita is one pretty sweet tort!

 

[DeanS]

I've actually gotten between 2 large sulcatas (approx 150 and 200 lbs)...and they immediately ceased and desisted from fighting. Today, I learned that Mortimer doesn't wanna tolerate another male. Aladar approached him inquisitively and Mortimer rose up and I NEVER moved so fast in my life...OK maybe that's an exaggeration. But I pulled Aladar out of the way before Mort crashed into him and it was over as fast as it started. Now, I have never been rammed but if a large sulcata is serious, so will the pain be when that massive guler slams into your shin...

In your case, I'd say he's just testing his environment a little...but keep us posted.