Tortoises at War

[Tattie+Tarquie]

Hi, I apologise in advance if my posting has been answered in a previous post. I have spent a couple of days searching the posts to find one that answers my question to no avail. I have 2 Hermanns, a male (Tarquin: 4years) and a female (Tatiana: 5 years) not an ideal combination I know, however the female was a rescue that I took on. When I originally took Tatiana on she was a terrible bully so I separated them for a while. I then slowly re-introduced them until they were happy living together. They co-existed for about a year until recently. After cleaning them out one weekend I put them back and ever since Tatiana has been a complete bully biting and chasing Tarquin around the enclosure. From what I can see there has been no changes to their enclosure or routine so I am confused about what may have sparked the change in Tatiana's personality. I have recently double checked their sex to make sure I had got it right and I am 99 % sure that I have. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[josh shultis]

Hey! It could just be that time of the year again where the male is getting a bit "horny", that's part of the mating behaviour where he'll chase an nip her. an if they have been living happily for a year an then it happens randomly I'm assuming that's probably the case

 

[G-stars]

Separate them. Stress is bad for tortoises. Even worse is an injury.


— Gus

 

[Tattie+Tarquie]

It's not the male thats bullying it's the female thats whats confusing me.

I currently have them seperatd. What do you think the chance of them ever being able to be in together is?

 

[G-stars]

Maybe your current enclosure isn't big enough to house both of them together? It could be territorial if the females the one doing it.


— Gus

 

[tortadise]

Both males and females can express dominant behavior. They do it for reasons of being territorial, alpha, food rights, and survival. Separating them will remedy this issue.

 

[wellington]

During your research, you may have come across it time and time again, that pairs don't do well. This is one of the reasons. The male tormenting a single female to mate with her all the time is the other reason. Your best option would be to keep them apart, or rehome one of them. If you have the space for a very large enclosure, with lots of sight carriers, couple hides, two water and food dishes and lots of plants, etc, you might be able to put them back together.

 

[Tattie+Tarquie]

Thanks guys, I think she'll definitely have to stay on her own. We call her enclosure the timeout zone