Introducing a new tortoise

[Bry:)]

Hey guys, im new to the website but not new to tortoise handling
I have a female hermann, dylan, i've had her for 3 years, and she is now 4. I recently bought a new tortoise George, who is also 4, george hasnt been soaked at all from the pet shop i bought him from, and hes having trouble interacting with dylan and sharing food,

Any ideas? x

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Bry:

Welcome to the forum!!

First of all, you should have had a quarantine period for the new tortoise to be sure one or the other of them doesn't contaminate or infect the other.

Its sometimes a good idea to introduce tortoises to each other in a completely separate habitat. Tortoises are territorial and sometimes the original tortoise will try to make the new tortoise get out of his territory.

The little Mediterranean tortoises are quite aggressive in the male/female department, with males being overly dominant. Is that what's happening with yours? You may need a bigger habitat. One where you can have lots of visual barriers so that Dylan can get out of his sight. You can also try two feeding stations, with one out of sight from the other one.

Good luck integrating George into the "group." We'd love to see pictures!

 

[Bry:)]

Thanks for the advise!
George and dylan are both clean, as they were both checked originally to avoid contamination, its had the adverse effect really! they get on beautifully, they have a massive enclosure with many hiding oppertunities, but definatly two feeding stations, i just cant seem to seperate them!