10 year old female Radiated Tortoise ill or other?

Charlie Wertheimer

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I own a 12 year old female Radiated tortoise. She lives with 2 males, one 6 years of age and another 12 years old. She came from the same family that the 12 year old male came from. I live in CA near Berkeley. It has been in the high 80's here for some time. During daytime I keep them outside in a penned grass area, about 15x12 feet square. The area has a fair amount of shade as there is a large maple tree in the middle. There are low hedges that surround the perimeter. I keep them in 4x5 bins at night with ceramic heat discs and uva/uvb 100 watt bulbs during the morning hours before I bring them outside and for a short time after bringing them in, in the evenings. I house the small male and the female together in the bin and the older male separately. The large one seems to be attracted to her amorously I think. The small male does not exhibit this behavior.
The female has been very healthy and active, has eaten well and has co-habituated well with the males. Their diet consists of greens, occasional apple and strawberry and Mazuri once every two weeks. I use 2 kinds of calcium as well. I always have fresh water for them and mist their shell once or twice daily. About 3 weeks ago, she started to separate herself from the males. She is not eating very much. She spends most of her time under the hedge and I think sleeps. This behavior continues. I am concerned and am wondering if she is in heat, pregnant or maybe ill. I have an excellent vet I have taken her to for physicals. I will talk to the vet this coming week but wanted thoughts from you. Thanks!
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, Charlie, and welcome to the Forum!

I'm pretty sure female tortoises don't have heat cycles. There are certain times in the year that they are more receptive towards males than other times, though.

I'm sorry I can't help you with your problem, because I don't know anything about the radiated tortoise, but my guess would be that she is intimidate by living with two males. Is there any way for you to give her her own space?
 

Gillian M

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Sorry, I can't be of help here, but...welcome to the forum
 

bouaboua

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Welcome to the forum. But I'm sorry for not able to help you with your problem. Keep us posted after you take her to the vet.

Welcome.
 

tortadise

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6 years old is too young to develop follicle and ovulate(develop eggs). My bet would be the changing of sunlight as we are going into fall. Radiata are pretty hardy too. Low 60s is no issue at all for them. Were also currently getting dryer and crisper fall air. This can change the behavior of any species of tortoise. It is good that you separate them. But I would also separate the larger male even when they're outside in the pen. He could be harassing her, and trying to dominate the smaller male too.
 

coastal

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The female is 12 years old, plenty old enough to reproduce. You mentioned the pen is all grass? Where you keep the female you will need sandy soil for her to have a place to dig and lay. Often times this is around the root bases of trees in less then 6", but in CA the soil is clay and very hard. You will likely need to remove clay and replace a large area with sand/topsoil mix. Have your vet X-ray for eggs to see if this is the issue or not. Either way the above will need to be provided. Have you seen any attempt to dig?

Have your animals been tested for coccidian? If not have your vet test for this especially if you acquired from other hands these tortoises in a short period of time. This is an issue in CA.

If your high is in the 80's they can sustain being left outside in the mid 40's with no problems. The key is the high for them to warm up, its best not to move in and out every day. That said this is a very hardy species with minimal health issues under proper care.

Review x-ray for eggs, mend soil, test for coccidian and parasites while your at it. The test is a good piece of mind, and worth the expense, your vet will have to send the sample off to UF.
 

tortadise

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The female is 12 years old, plenty old enough to reproduce. You mentioned the pen is all grass? Where you keep the female you will need sandy soil for her to have a place to dig and lay. Often times this is around the root bases of trees in less then 6", but in CA the soil is clay and very hard. You will likely need to remove clay and replace a large area with sand/topsoil mix. Have your vet X-ray for eggs to see if this is the issue or not. Either way the above will need to be provided. Have you seen any attempt to dig?

Have your animals been tested for coccidian? If not have your vet test for this especially if you acquired from other hands these tortoises in a short period of time. This is an issue in CA.

If your high is in the 80's they can sustain being left outside in the mid 40's with no problems. The key is the high for them to warm up, its best not to move in and out every day. That said this is a very hardy species with minimal health issues under proper care.

Review x-ray for eggs, mend soil, test for coccidian and parasites while your at it. The test is a good piece of mind, and worth the expense, your vet will have to send the sample off to UF.
Dooooii. I'm an Idiot. Totally misread and got the sexes confused. Yeah that changes everything for sure. Thanks for pointing out my misread John.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Sorry in advance for crashing!:confused: but I think the female is 10yo, the other male 12, and the other other (male) is 6?
 

Jabuticaba

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Hi, Charlie. Welcome to the forum. I'm with Yvonne. You may need to separate them. Tortoises are generally solitary animals. In the wild, they only meet briefly to mate, then go their separate ways. Perhaps one or both males could be bullying her. Hopefully, a rad expert will be able to help more. Good luck.


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