How many tortoises?

[Rhoen1]

Thanks so much guys I think I'm going to get 1 male 2 female, but I'm going to see what I can find. Luckily my house is laid out so I have the upstairs as a bedroom, and the dog and cats are downstairs.

 

[DPtortiose]

I avoid doing pairs together for the same reasons most people do although at times I will house a pair together only temporarily with no issues at all. Most are in groups, small to fairly large. All our Hermann's subspecies and locales are broken down to manageable groups anywhere from as small as 2.3 to 6.15 adults. I always prefer to have multiple males as it has proven to show the best results both reproductive wise and behavior wise. It's very natural. Males get to fight and are supervised for the most part which enables a very naturalistic setting and promotes competition.

I've heard this from multiply breeders over here who keep groups in a similar fashion. I very much like the idea behind this kind of husbandry, but I was wondering if/how the social structure is expressed in these groups between males. Is there an 'alpha' male and a couple of 'betas' or do the less dominant males sneak in when the biggest male isn't looking?

 

[teresaf]

It's also a good idea not to tell everybody on the planet that you have the tortoises in the first place. And you can bring them in at night or put them in a locked box at night

Good idea but just HOW on earth is this possible? I'm always so excited to talk about mine...lol

 

[Rhoen1]

I was wondering the same thing I feel ya XD