Adding new tortoise to an other tortoise

[claire.petrie.7]

I have a 3 year old horsefield tortoise and I am wondering can I add another horsefield tortiose in with her same age or younger, different sex or even the same sex. Or will I have to keep them separate until the get to know each other


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[Tom]

You will likely have to keep them separate permanently. Tortoises, especially russians, do not view other tortoises as "friends". They view them as competitors, combatants, unwanted intruders and rapists. They prefer to be the sole king of their castle and do not want to share. Sex, age and size are pretty irrelevant and pairs are the absolute worse case scenario. Russians can sometimes be kept in very large groups of mixed sexes in huge outdoor enclosures, or in smaller groups of one dominant male and several females in large outdoor enclosures, but even then, combat and blood loss is often the result. Russians are a scrappy species. Combat is just in their genetic make up. In the wild, submissives would run away and leave the territory of the aggressor. In our enclosures, escape is not possible.

Your tortoise does not want a "friend" or understand the concept of "friend". So get as many as you would like, but be prepared to house them all separately.