When to intervene?

[laney]

I want to breed my torts in the future, maybe in a couple of years so I'm trying to learn now.
My boy Harley is quite excitable right now and started biting the legs and head of a toy tortoise which got me thinking, when I introduce my torts hoping for breeding how much sexual aggression is ok?? Do you intervene when things start getting feisty? I don't know if I could let them bite each other but its part of the ritual isn't it? I just wonder what people do and when is enough enough?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's why it's better to have two or more females to one male. It gives each girl a little respite from the male. My russians are outside and the grass is pretty tall, so he can't see the girls all the time. And when he does find one, he just gets the breeding done without too much biting or injury to the females. If you have them indoors, you just need to plan on having two habitats and keep them separated until you're ready for them to breed, then when he's finished, put him back in his own habitat.

 

[laney]

That's why it's better to have two or more females to one male. It gives each girl a little respite from the male. My russians are outside and the grass is pretty tall, so he can't see the girls all the time. And when he does find one, he just gets the breeding done without too much biting or injury to the females. If you have them indoors, you just need to plan on having two habitats and keep them separated until you're ready for them to breed, then when he's finished, put him back in his own habitat.

I have them indoors at the moment all 3 in their own enclosures, I wouldn't breed until I had more room and an outdoor area as well for them. It makes sense about having a few girls and some sight barriers. I've seen a few videos of them mating and it just looks so rough!

 

[tortadise]

Russian males can get pretty rough when breeding. Mine like yvonnes are outside. I also let the grass grow pretty tall. When i do cut it down every so often. The males will become aggressive. Even in a very large enclosure(25x40). Best thing to do is just supervise them if they cant have a huge area with a chance of getting away.