adding new hermanns

[Beeliz]

I was asked recently to home a 4 month old female hermanns tortoise cause the person can no longer care for it properly. Is there a way to introduce them to the older ones? I have 1 male 1.5 years old,,will he accept another one? Pretty sure it's a female baby...

 

[JoesMum]

They must be kept entirely separately, in quarantine, for at least 6 months to make sure that no tortoise makes any other sick.

Introducing a newcomer can upset the balance of a group of tortoises and you may well end up with squabbles where previously you had none. You must accept that this newcomer may have to live entirely separately from yours long term. There are no guarantees when it comes to introducing a newcomer unfortunately.

At 4 months, there is no way you can be certain of gender. That is not obvious until 4 to 5 years of age usually.

 

[Yvonne G]

The best way I've found for adding a new animal to any group is to have a totally different habitat, one that neither tortoise has laid claim to, and put them both in there. But be prepared that they may never get along. And the bigger tortoise may harm the smaller one.