Here’s another gender confirmation. The Hermes are both the same age about 4 years old and I’ve had them since they were babies. One smaller than other. They both nip each other here and there (not injury force), but they hang out mostly together and climb on each other, sleep and nestle in . Thanks for helping!
Gender Confirmations
- Thread starter Casefresh
- Start date
Both boys. . . and sleeping together, climbing on each other and nestling in are all signs of aggression.
These are both males for sure. You should think about separating them.
Thanks! Yvonne - Os this grounds for separation? They have been doing awesome for 4 years. Healthy and active.
They have been healthy and active together for 4 years, no stress (even with the nipping here and there), no illness. No injuries. The cage is 3’x6’.
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You may have thought they were doing OK together but torts are solitary creatures and hate sharing their space, so it would have been very stressful for both of them and probably why one is smaller than the other.
Early signs of bullying behaviour are staring, following, hogging food and best basking spot, mounting, nudging and very close contact often mistaken for affection, but is the dominant tort telling the other to get out of his territory.
This develops into more the aggressive behaviour that you are seeing now, biting and barging etc.
The stress alone can affect the immune system and make them vulnerable to illness but you could end up with serious injury and even death for the one on the receiving end.
It doesn't matter if they are same or different sex, torts should never be kept in pairs so you should separate them into their own enclosures with their own lamps etc asap, and they will each need about 4 x 8 feet minimum now.
Early signs of bullying behaviour are staring, following, hogging food and best basking spot, mounting, nudging and very close contact often mistaken for affection, but is the dominant tort telling the other to get out of his territory.
This develops into more the aggressive behaviour that you are seeing now, biting and barging etc.
The stress alone can affect the immune system and make them vulnerable to illness but you could end up with serious injury and even death for the one on the receiving end.
It doesn't matter if they are same or different sex, torts should never be kept in pairs so you should separate them into their own enclosures with their own lamps etc asap, and they will each need about 4 x 8 feet minimum now.
Thanks for the info. I’m assuming if they both nip here and there and do the exact same aggression things to each other, still separate them as it really isn’t apparent who is being dominant, unless you go with size, however the smaller one has always been smaller since they were babies and I got them. Also, they both eat fine together and this aggression thing isn’t constant.
Everything you described in your post are signs of bullying, that's even why one tort is smaller than the other, it's the less dominant one.
Yes they need their own space, they will both be having pretty miserable lives and it will only get worse. Give them a better life and save yourself some money in future vet bills.
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