The enclosure is 4 ft long by 2 ft wide its plenty big enough. The pics were all cropped around the turtles. He doesnt bother her at all. They do their own thing. She likes to burrow while he chills under the heat lamp all day. Thank you vm for the advice! I Appriciate any and all
That makes sense. Thank you for taking the time to explain that. They do have another enclosure in the works which is 3'x7' so i will most likely put one in each instead of keeping them together. After i posted this i did read that males basically torture females bitting at their face and limbs in their mating ritual. This is why i asked, id never wana put her in harms way or a stressful situation. I see them alot but i dont have eyes on them every minute of everyday.. & Yes they are both within that size range. She is a bit smaller than him. shes prob 4" and hes about 6" ... Again, thank you for your kind & informative response. Others just belittle or try to make ppl feel stupid for asking a question. So i appriciate that.
Geesh i guess I was misinformed on the size. &
Also, i get what others have said and generally that is probably correct but ppl have gotten pairs to coexist extremely well. You would have to meet my turtles before trying to convince me otherwise. But as someone else said, they are reaching sexual maturity and he will torture her in their mating ritual and she needs an escape. So for that reason alone i plan on separating.. Again thanks!
tortoiseforum.org
Meesh, I'm a newbie & I don't have my tort yet. We were house hunting today & looking at a house where they kept goats, a minature horse and smaller donkey all together in a big fenced-in area with a pond. I watched this poor mini horse fight off a donkey that wanted to mount her & she wasn't big enough to kick him with her back hooves, but she wasn't having none of it.
Yes they have. In rare instances. With proper care, constant vigilance, and luck. But it’s something I would never recommend to a new tortoise owner especially with testudos. Even redfoot pairs that are generally peaceful are a bad idea. The male likely won’t directly hurt the female (usually) but will harass her to death. But to definitively say it’s impossible is not accurate. I have a Greek pair together now for the last 3 years. Zero issues. I kept a sulcata pair together and they always ignored each other. I gave them to a friend when they got to about 20” because of space issues and they’re now part of a larger group but in the years I had them they did great. Tortoises aren’t machines and if we study them close enough we find that all of them have different dispositions and personalities. Matching those dispositions to their general needs is key to proper keeping. The goal should be a group with proper sex ratios depending on species or separate enclosures. Even then it’s not an exact science. How many of us have had the “perfect” ratio only to find one female in that group was the harasser? That’s certainly not the norm but it happens. Point is, there are tons of ways of doing this and not all of them are wrong or just opinions. I think it’s great folks come here to seek advice. Seeking a variety of opinions and doing thorough research makes the world go round.No they haven't. They can sometimes survive in a pair, but its not good for either of them. It is very stressful and the chronic stress and reduce appetite or hamper the immune system over time. It is not a good situation. You aren't recognizing the signs. Most people don't. Following, climbing on each other, sleeping in the same spots, sleeping face to face, sitting on the food, and several other commonly seen behaviors are all signs of aggression and territoriality. Overt hostility and biting is possible but relatively rare. More often its the subtle signs that people don't realize that are seen.
Do a search for "pairs" here on the forum and you can read hours of discussion on the matter.
2x4 is much too small for a 4+ inch tortoise. Tortoises need much more room than some other pets. Large enclosures are a necessity for them.
Read this for more info:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
I’m pretty sure I outlined it’s not the best idea and emphasized that research is important. The point is there is no definitive way to do things and people with good intentions who are doing it wrong should have a safe place to get feedback so they feel comfortable continuing to come back to get advice and continue to tweak their care until they get it right. Likely 90% of what I do is the same as most experienced people on this forum do it. But the remaining 10% is how I do it based on my experience. Everyone is going to have different circumstances that make them adjust to different ways of keeping. It’s important people also get different viewpoints and that the community welcome people with supportive advice. It’s how I do it, take it or leave it. Either way, I’m good.
Not once did
Not once did Bonsai Tortoise say that it's a good idea for anyone to try it. Simply said that its inaccurate to say it's impossible. The comment didnt promote pairing tortoises. Also just bc i am new to this group does not mean im a new turtle owner. Ive raised box turtles for almost 20 years. I'm by far a tortoise expert but there is no need to belittle or talk down to people asking questions. My tortoises being housed together wasnt even the topic of my question. I wanted to know when they'd reach sexual maturity from othet hermann owner's and seeing if she was in danger from him being older/bigger. I do know the signs of aggression in torts, such as head bobbing, sitting on the food dish, ramming, posture.. The only time mine go anywhere near each other is when they bask under the heat lamp together. Other than that they do their own thing acting like the other doesnt even exist. Hense why i said they get along great.. New member does not necessarily mean new owner, Nor does it mean uneducated. Was just asking other hermann owners about sexual maturity. Thanks to everyone for all the advice!
Perhaps I can help...at times when I am trying to weigh a decision and its risk, I ask myself, “If I choose this, can I live with the consequences if I’m wrong?” If the answer is “no,” I err on the side of caution. Good choices come from not waiting until there are signs of something wrong.
