Eating problems when young Russians are kept alone?

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Hi everyone!
I'm new on the forum.
I'm also quite new to keeping tortoises, as I am the owner of two one-year-old Russians since three months. Their names are Yoda and Platvoet (Dutch for Little Foot from The Land before Time). The forum has already helped me through a lot of beginner stress, but now I have a question that I haven't found the answer to yet.

When I decided to get a pet tortoise, I first thought I would buy just one, since I had read advice about agressive or dominant behavior from male tortoises and I don't have enough room to keep two adult tortoises separately when one of them turns out to be male or very dominant anyway.

However, the breeder told me that young tortoises often refuse to eat and keeping them as a pair would inspire them to eat properly. Since the vet agreed to that and the pet store was struggling with hatchlings that refused to eat, I bought two one-year-old Russians (already keeping in mind that I might have to find a new owner for one of them eventually).

Both are doing fine, they're active, seem healthy and have a big appetite. They seem to get along most of the time and they do push each other off the best basking spot, but rarely bite each other's legs. Neither seems really dominant yet.

However, Yoda is recently very interested in the flexible, relatively thin skin on Platvoet's neck. I've seen Yoda bite that skin so hard he flipped poor Platvoet on his back last week and yesterday Yoda was chewing something that looked like shedded skin. Platvoet didn't bleed and Yoda's behavior seemed like curiosity rather than agression, but it did get me worried about having to separate them soon.

So my question is: what is your experience with young Russians refusing food when they are kept alone? Is there an optimal age/ developmental stage when it is 'safe' to separate them to avoid feeding problems?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi and welcome!

It's really not a good idea to have two Russians together in the same habitat. Tortoises are solitary creatures, and Russians are especially aggressive.

I wouldn't wait any longer, I'd separate now. I doubt you'll have problems with them eating.
 

RosemaryDW

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Yes, please separately them immediately.

The bullied one will eventually start eating less, not more. Because it's pushed out of the food bowl or otherwise intimidated.
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice.

I will be getting supplies to set up a set up a separate enclosure and probably put up an ad to find a new owner for one of them.

I feel kind of sad, because I wanted to make the right decision for the animal from the start and I thought I had done a decent amount of 'homework' on that.
I was trying to choose between a single Horsfieldi or a single Hermanni tortoise and I had noticed that many breeders of Hermanni tortoises would only offer pairs of young tortoises, which I thought had to do with CITES registration rather than the eventual risk of aggression between two adult Hermanni. I found a breeder of Horsfieldi tortoises who was willing to sell just one, but advised to buy two and the vet (reptile specialist) was also concerned about eating problems.

However, with the appetite both the tortoises have now, I agree that they will probably keep eating, even if they experience some stress while adapting to the new enclosure.
 
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After my long and slightly frustrated posts, I would like to add that owning a tortoise turned out to be even more fun than I expected and I'm happy that I have this little guy!
 

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Loritort

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Hey Lady,

I enjoyed your post! Owning a tort is so much fun! People who haven't experienced it are certainly missing out. I know I'm fortunate to have the ideal pet. They don't require constant attention, are easy to feed and maintain and they are quiet. It's an all around win win!
 

Tidgy's Dad

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After my long and slightly frustrated posts, I would like to add that owning a tortoise turned out to be even more fun than I expected and I'm happy that I have this little guy!
They're wonderful, aren't they?:<3:
Nice to meet you, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum. :)
 

Tom

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Hi everyone!
I'm new on the forum.
I'm also quite new to keeping tortoises, as I am the owner of two one-year-old Russians since three months. Their names are Yoda and Platvoet (Dutch for Little Foot from The Land before Time). The forum has already helped me through a lot of beginner stress, but now I have a question that I haven't found the answer to yet.

When I decided to get a pet tortoise, I first thought I would buy just one, since I had read advice about agressive or dominant behavior from male tortoises and I don't have enough room to keep two adult tortoises separately when one of them turns out to be male or very dominant anyway.

However, the breeder told me that young tortoises often refuse to eat and keeping them as a pair would inspire them to eat properly. Since the vet agreed to that and the pet store was struggling with hatchlings that refused to eat, I bought two one-year-old Russians (already keeping in mind that I might have to find a new owner for one of them eventually).

Both are doing fine, they're active, seem healthy and have a big appetite. They seem to get along most of the time and they do push each other off the best basking spot, but rarely bite each other's legs. Neither seems really dominant yet.

However, Yoda is recently very interested in the flexible, relatively thin skin on Platvoet's neck. I've seen Yoda bite that skin so hard he flipped poor Platvoet on his back last week and yesterday Yoda was chewing something that looked like shedded skin. Platvoet didn't bleed and Yoda's behavior seemed like curiosity rather than agression, but it did get me worried about having to separate them soon.

So my question is: what is your experience with young Russians refusing food when they are kept alone? Is there an optimal age/ developmental stage when it is 'safe' to separate them to avoid feeding problems?

Hello and welcome.

As everyone else has pointed out, you asked the wrong people and got bad advice. Russians, and any other species, have no problem eating when housed alone. They do best that way. If a person did want more than one, groups of 3 or more juveniles will often get along, but not always. Plus you have the issue of what to do with them when they reach maturity. Best to house them alone. They are quite happy as the sole king or queen of their domain.
 

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