Getting another tortoise

McSnotoisethetortoise

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Hello! So my partner and I received our beloved red-foot from his dad (who got him from a friend who breeds Indian-star who got it from some random person who knew he liked tortoises and couldn't take care of him). Basically the story goes that our tort actually had a female "mate" until about 10 years ago when, in the care of my partner's dad, the mate got out, was hit by a car, rehabilitated by a vet-tech who found her, and then gave the mate to a family before it was discovered she belonged to someone who wanted her back. As a result, our tort went from always having a companion to being a solo tort. Fast forward to now, we have an insanely friendly tortoise who's desire/need for attention can not actually be met by my partner. We have a Russian tortoise who, true to his nature, wants nothing to do with the red-foot on the rare occasions the two have met (our RF is a bit of an escape artist and annoyingly intellegent at breaking through barriers). So, we've been thinking about getting another RF (I think we could only handle one more) but do not know what gender to get, how to ensure they both have space to be seprate when they need to, etc. and I wanted to see what y'all think.

P.S. we feel we'd need to get an adult for sure because our RF is large (15+ in) and has a big personality to boot.
 

Sarah2020

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General consensus is they are happy alone and no need for a partner or company. If you do pursue the friend track then 2 males will fight, new friend can bring in an infection and infect your tortoise, bring in a female and the male will pursue. If it has been OK for years I suggest you continue as you have a happy active tortoise and add enrichment into the enclosure I,e new plants to help. The activity could be he is bored so think about the enclosure layout.
 

McSnotoisethetortoise

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What we had been thinking about was getting a female/male and then cutting a hole in a board to the shape of her shell that sections off the enclosure to make sure she can get away from him in case he's a bully. Generally, when our two torts have met or when he has met other animals (cats/dogs) he tends to be very trusting - puts his head out all the way with neck out and approaches slowly and then, with dogs just tries to cuddle.
 

wellington

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Your RF should not be with the Russian or any other animals. Do not put your human emotions on a tortoise. They are loners and only cross paths to mate or fight. A cut out in a board is not going to work.
Either get 2 to 3 females and then they might be able to live together or leave him to live happy alone.
 

Tom

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Hello! So my partner and I received our beloved red-foot from his dad (who got him from a friend who breeds Indian-star who got it from some random person who knew he liked tortoises and couldn't take care of him). Basically the story goes that our tort actually had a female "mate" until about 10 years ago when, in the care of my partner's dad, the mate got out, was hit by a car, rehabilitated by a vet-tech who found her, and then gave the mate to a family before it was discovered she belonged to someone who wanted her back. As a result, our tort went from always having a companion to being a solo tort. Fast forward to now, we have an insanely friendly tortoise who's desire/need for attention can not actually be met by my partner. We have a Russian tortoise who, true to his nature, wants nothing to do with the red-foot on the rare occasions the two have met (our RF is a bit of an escape artist and annoyingly intellegent at breaking through barriers). So, we've been thinking about getting another RF (I think we could only handle one more) but do not know what gender to get, how to ensure they both have space to be seprate when they need to, etc. and I wanted to see what y'all think.

P.S. we feel we'd need to get an adult for sure because our RF is large (15+ in) and has a big personality to boot.
Torts should never be kept in pairs. Its bad for both. Sometimes groups of RFs can work, but they sometimes don't work, and in that case you'd have to have a separate pen for each one.
 

Sarah2020

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Just be aware that....Dogs have been known to kick and use the tortoise as a ball and can damage the shell with a bite.
 

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