Adding a male with a female

[Chango]

I recently obtained a beautiful 18" female she us doing great. However my wife and I didnt want her to be the only shelled family member her entire life. We are considering an 18"-20" male. As far as introduction is there anything I should be aware of in terms of aggression and sleeping space etc? I was told getting 3 is better then having a pair. But as far as in door space thats not feasible at this time.. I've read that males get really testy during breeding season. When is breeding season for these awesome animals?

 

[Guts]

Sulcatas are not social animals, and introducing another regardless of sex will be detrimental to both animals.

 

[Yossarian]

Big No No, Sulcatas dont want friends. Even if they dont fight, the presence of the other is likely to be detrimental. . . on the other hand, one might kill the other.

 

[Herman_WA]

Just wondering, would it be the same for Hermann's too?

 

[Yossarian]

Just wondering, would it be the same for Hermann's too?

Yes, testudo species are known to be especially territorial and aggressive.

 

[Tom]

I recently obtained a beautiful 18" female she us doing great. However my wife and I didnt want her to be the only shelled family member her entire life. We are considering an 18"-20" male. As far as introduction is there anything I should be aware of in terms of aggression and sleeping space etc? I was told getting 3 is better then having a pair. But as far as in door space thats not feasible at this time.. I've read that males get really testy during breeding season. When is breeding season for these awesome animals?

They should never be kept in pairs. Groups can sometimes work, but not when they are indoors for half of every year.

If you want another tortoise (Sheesh. Who doesn't???), just house it separately. There should be no contact and no sharing of space. Disease potential is another reason in addition to all the other reasons.

 

[Yvonne G]

Another thing to address about the male/female pairing is the continued male harassment of the female. He will pester her so much she will eventually hide in a corner and stop eating.

 

[Chango]

I can't thank you all enough! That's very logical. If I consider obtaining a male in the future I'm definitely going to house them separately. I'm currently working on pinning off the basement giving almost the entire floor space of the basement complete with Hide box box heating basking areas etc... With all of this in mind I would keep them separate and only allow contact with each other when I'm tentative and can monitor things. I'm planning on building an extremely large green house come spring time. I will allow them to roam the yard in daily sessions when I'm present. From what I gathered I'll need to make sure I safeguard against their digging abilities. As I prepare things for one at the moment I will keep in mind that if a 2nd one does come into the house hold I will ensure that they have separate living space and will keep an eye on behaviors if I allow them to visit.

 

[AgataP]

I can't thank you all enough! That's very logical. If I consider obtaining a male in the future I'm definitely going to house them separately. I'm currently working on pinning off the basement giving almost the entire floor space of the basement complete with Hide box box heating basking areas etc... With all of this in mind I would keep them separate and only allow contact with each other when I'm tentative and can monitor things. I'm planning on building an extremely large green house come spring time. I will allow them to roam the yard in daily sessions when I'm present. From what I gathered I'll need to make sure I safeguard against their digging abilities. As I prepare things for one at the moment I will keep in mind that if a 2nd one does come into the house hold I will ensure that they have separate living space and will keep an eye on behaviors if I allow them to visit.

Dont want to sound rude but why?
I would recommend that you live with one sulcata for a while before even thinking about getting another one. Mine is only 182 grams at 5 months with a digging potential of a little submarine with explosives. I live in WA for now and we had some 70+ days in November and few in December (wow). Money and space are not an issue for the tortoise however I would not wanted to take away the outside living from him. Even having another tortoise in close proximity can cause issues. Male will go through walls - yes I mean it to get to the female.
I would really give it some time.

 

[Chango]

I appreciate your concern and you make very valid points. However my plan to have a male would not be in the near future. To be fair to the animal I want to get back in the full swing of keeping reptiles. Also considering the size of the greenhouse and other plans for construction even at full size another tortoise could be separated to the point that they would not even know the other exist. I live in Amish Country in Indiana in the equestrian portion of the community. Space and housing wont be an issue. To the point of a stand alone building for wintering in addition to the greenhouse. Its been since the 90's since I've had reptiles and I realize there is a huge learning curb. Im going to see how things go 1st and take everything in consideration. It sounds like adding 2 or more would be better then attempting to have a pair. I should have been more clear about how I would keep them separate.Thanks again for the sound advice.

 

[Sue Ann]

I recently obtained a beautiful 18" female she us doing great. However my wife and I didnt want her to be the only shelled family member her entire life. We are considering an 18"-20" male. As far as introduction is there anything I should be aware of in terms of aggression and sleeping space etc? I was told getting 3 is better then having a pair. But as far as in door space thats not feasible at this time.. I've read that males get really testy during breeding season. When is breeding season for these awesome animals?

Please NO! They prefer to be solitary. So many terrible stories when people get a friend for their tortoise.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I recently obtained a beautiful 18" female she us doing great. However my wife and I didn't want her to be the only shelled family member her entire life. We are considering an 18"-20" male. As far as introduction is there anything I should be aware of in terms of aggression and sleeping space etc? I was told getting 3 is better then having a pair. But as far as in door space thats not feasible at this time.. I've read that males get really testy during breeding season. When is breeding season for these awesome animals?

DO NOT in any shape or form breed Sulcata. The average Sulcata is free.They are like feral cats. Professionals breed top of the line Sudan Sulcata buncha money. You don't know how to breed them, how to start hatchlings, temps, humidity, diet, it's much much more then a newbie knows how to do.
I recently had 2 rescued male Sulcata...They were separated by a 3 high cinder block wall. However after a couple of years Big Sam knocked over the wall, and fought very violently with Knobby. So that happened 3 or 4 times. Then my sister told me to show Knobby's butt. Female. Big Sam wasn't trying to kill her, he was trying to rape her. Imagine what a 3 high cinder block wall offset is, strong as hell. But Sulcata are so freakin strong it can be scary. They go thru Sheetrock! I saw one lift up a VW bus and carry it! You do not want male and female where they can smell each other. You are looking for trouble, just sayin

 

[Maggie3fan]

This might help you

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Chango]

My intentions are not to breed them. I understand your point of view on breeding of sulcata. I should have explained my background before posting here. Im far from a "newb" in terms of reptile keeping and breed and rearing and also egg incubation. I dealt mainly in import and on rare occasions export of reptiles and what was considered exotic animal in the late 80's and early to mid 90's. My experience with sulcata had been limited to shipping and temporarily housing for delivery. Life and a change in professions caused me to leave the hobby outside of my personal collection and breeding stock mainly snakes and monitors. My new profession and travel schedule and family eventually had taken me away from the hobby completely. This all happened around 1999-2000. My sons and daughters have had various reptiles over the years mainly lizards and snakes. But nothing out of the normal bug box petstore variety. So fast forward to my post here. My 2nd youngest daughter is off to college and is an assistant manager of a petstore. Ive always told my daughter if I was to get back into the hobby it would be with sulcata or aldabra or galapagos. In my day lol the other 2 had not been heard of in the pet trade and the sulcata was still being imported. So when her store got our now new addition to the family my wife and daughter suprized me with her as Christmas present. So this lead me here to this forum. My knowledge of keeping sulcata outside of discussion with wholesalers and importers was limited shipping and temporarily housing them. My mind has been blown by the incredible gains in the hobby since my envolvement. I live in an Amish community across the street from a horse farm. I have plans for construction of a green house and a separate heated building for my reptiles. There will be a sulcata room in that building. There are plans for an extra storage area that I could dedicate to another large reptile. I have plenty of land so it would be no problem designating two separate sulcata summer time outdoor areas. Thank you for bearing with the long post. But this gives a better perspective of my intent and question. Also maybe I'm missing it or maybe because I'm in Indiana but rescues are really scarce in this part of the country and I'm finding it difficult to find folks willing to ship rescues. As far as sales I see adults for $800 and up. I did find one place considerably cheaper but Im going to wait for construction to be completed before making a final decision.