I'd like some advice

[Reptile Lover]

I have two female Russian Tortoises. They're about the same age, but one is larger than the other. I'm a new tortoise owner and I had read that tortoises like to have buddies but I guess that's not the case for them. They are being aggressive towards each other but the bigger one seems to be more aggressive, she bites at the other one and charges at her but she's not hurt. I hate to see them not getting along. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Tom]

Separate them immediately, before any more damage is done. Soon you will have bloody legs with missing scales that will be permanently scarred or you will have missing eyes. The long term chronic stress of this can also be deadly. Tortoises should not be kept in pairs in most cases, especially not russians. Other tortoises are seen as competitors for the same resources. They are treated as marauding intruders, enemy combatants and interlopers, not "friends".

Give each one their own separate enclosures and they will both live happily ever after.

 

[Jacqui]

With the size difference and what is already happening your going to have a hard time "fixing" it, if you even can. Unless you can even try to give them a really large enclosure (and I mean HUGE) with lots of hides and visual barriers then admit defeat now. That is usually about the only way to stop them. Even then, it might not work. You might try keeping them apart for awhile and then placing them back together, while watching for the aggression to start all over again (which it may or may not). Another solution if you have room, you could get more Russians. Three or more do better as a rule together then only two.

 

[Yvonne G]

When you read that tortoises like to have friends, you were very much mis-informed. Tortoises are solitary animals. They don't congregate in the wild and they certainly don't want another tortoise in their territory in captivity. My advice to you is to set up another habitat and separate the tortoises immediately.

In the spring, when the weather turns warmer, you can build them a large, well-planted and safe outdoor habitat. They might be able to live together outside if there's plenty of room. But most certainly not indoors.