males and females living together.

[chloebailey]

Hi!! Im new to this forum, but I have a question. I have two herman tortoises who are about 4 years old. Recently the male tortoise has started mounting the female. Now my brother who is in to his reptiles and helps out in a reptile shop has said we must separate them immediately or she will become egg bound, and it could kill her.
Is this true? Neither are depressed or unhappy together, and the female is not traumatised or being hassled. Do they need to be separated until they are of proper sexual maturity or are they okay together? Thanks in advance.

 

[N2TORTS]

Not True ......at all. Maybe Taco Bell is hiring?
(no offense but a good dig at your brother next time your mad at him)

 

[mike taylor]

For the most part tortoises should not be housed together . The male has one thing on his mind . He will keep trying and trying making the female stress , hide , and not eat . Sometimes they will stress out and die . As far as eggs binding I guess that could happens due to stress . If you have a large outdoor enclosure you could add one or two more females . So the females can have a brake . Make sure to add hides and sight barriers.

 

[Elohi]

Not True ......at all. Maybe Taco Bell is hiring?
(no offense but a good dig at your brother next time your mad at him)

I die! Hahahahahaha. That's a good one!! Excellent teasing ammo lol.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chloe, and welcome to the forum!

The only ways she will become egg bound is if she can't find a decent place to dig a nest (and they are pretty particular, with outdoors being the best place), or if she's not big enough for the eggs to pass.

It really would be better for her if she was in her own habitat, but if it works out for you and she isn't bothered by him, and she's big enough to lay eggs, then its really up to you to decide.

 

[Tom]

They shouldn't be housed in pairs. It is very stressful on them. You can usually keep a group of one male and several females okay in a large outdoor enclosure, but pairs seldom work out.

Your two will be much better off if they each have their own enclosure.

 

[chloebailey]

This is so weird!
We were sold Brenda (the boy... i named the girl Trevor before finding out the sex....) when they knew that we were putting them together!
Bad reptile shop!
Haha.... im from the UK so will change it to KFC!
He is only 16, so maybe there is hope for him!

They don't seem stressed, but i will keep an eye on them!
I dont want to put her at risk, and im sure i could build another tortoise table fine, it would just take up most the room!

I think it is the size that my brother was worried about, obviously they are not tiny as they are 4, but they are not fully grown. Maybe that's why he thought that she would be egg bound.
How big does she have to be to avoid this happening?

Thanks

 

[Gtphale]

You can alway build a bunk that way you don't lose room space.