Antisocial?

[scubaMO]

One of my 7 month old sulcatas are active and the other 8 month sulcata always retreats to a corner....is this normal?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

can you explain a bit more? also sulcatas aren't social animals they are very territorial and prefer there own area.

 

[ascott]

One of my 7 month old sulcatas are active and the other 8 month sulcata always retreats to a corner....is this normal?

It is normal, in that---keeping a pair of tortoise together is not natural to their core being....tortoise are a solitary type animal...they don't want nor do they seek out a buddy...from this quick blurb of what you describe...I would say the "active" tortoise is the dominant of the two and the other is being forced to submit....great for the bully but not so great for the bullied.....

 

[tdt86]

But is there any way to stop the bullying like maybe if I put another little house at the end of the tank so she could be on her owe ?

 

[lismar79]

But is there any way to stop the bullying like maybe if I put another little house at the end of the tank so she could be on her owe ?

Not without removing them from each others "territory" The inactive one has assumed the submissive role while she is in the other (dominate) ones territory. This will not change until you move her to her own "safe" space. She will basically waste away trying to be invisible because she knows ( its in their nature) that she is in another torts turf. Unlike nature were she would simply go find her own turf, she cant because she is captive. It is up to you to do this for her so she is safe & grows healthy.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

As long as they are together, they bullying won't stop. As has been said, tortoises are naturally anti-social. She can get very stressed, and ill, and bullying can even be fatal if it goes on that long... best thing for both torts is to live alone. Might seem sad and lonely, but most reptiles thrive alone, including sulcata's!

 

[scubaMO]

Thank you everyone!!!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Is your enclosure large enough to put up a wall or a barrier? If you split it right down the middle, you could use one set of lamps but would still need two of everything else and then two much larger pens, soon after. Those suckers get BIG. A Sulcata was my very first tortoise.

 

[tortadise]

I wouldn't go as far as labeling a tortoise or any animal "anti social" or even "social". These are associations with human perspective linked with emotions and feelings. Animals and even plants do not posses this ability in cognitive response like humans. The easiest way to remedy this is to separate them or enlarge (much greater than you'd want to do) the size of the enclosure with many sight barriers, separate water bowls, feeding stations, basking areas etc.. Which essentially is two enclosures fused together. So separating them is best.

 

[ascott]

But is there any way to stop the bullying like maybe if I put another little house at the end of the tank so she could be on her owe ?

Well, this is a species that is especially tenacious...aggressive....territorial (most tortoise are, but this is one of the ultra species for this)....if one is bulling the other, it will likely not stop..but more likely progress....it is not a bad thing to offer them their own space/world...they will likely each appreciate it....also if there is bullying going on and you offer the bullied tort its own safe space, you will likely see an entirely different personality come from that tort....also, it will take some time for a submissive/bullied tort to become confident and then somewhat become a bit more free with their behavior....