Odd Behavior

[bigdog]

I just brought a new sulcata into the household (yard) a big 123lb male to be buddies with my 40lb female. So far they seem to be getting along ok, although I did notice some odd?? behavior. They were standing face to face yesterday and gently touched noses a few times. I was watching from behind her and I could see her wagging her tail and dripping a drop or two of something out. I not sure if it was pee or ???, she was also doing some weird movements with her leg like a sideways circular movement, both on the concrete slab and then on gravel.

Today was the oddest behavior as she seemed hell bent in being in a corner where the house and block wall meet up. There is a conduit coming out of the ground there so I put a big plastic tote in there to somewhat protect it and while doing that she rammed my leg. In the 2 years I've had her she has never done that before, she is pretty much a fraidy cat. I wasn't sure if she was going to bite or keep what her intentions were.

Is she preparing a nesting site and protecting it or ???

Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

It sounds as if adding a male to her territory has triggered a breeding/nesting response.

 

[Tom]

Understand something. Your tortoise did not need or want a buddy. She doesn't see this as new friend, she sees him as a rapacious attacker, and now she is trying like hell to get out of the area. This giant male has stumbled into her "territory" and her instinct is to get the heck out of Dodge, but your enclosure prevents her escape and this causes her tremendous stress. As this new male settles in, you will begin to understand why she feels that way.

Pairs are not a good idea. This male will literally harass your female to death over time, if not kill her outright one day. I suggest you house them separately, or at the very least have separate enclosures ready to go at all times. The problem is that they might be fine with no problems until the day they have a problem. You might come home from work and find her dead.

Please be aware that male sulcatas can be explosively and randomly aggressive. I had two males living together for years with no problems, then all of a sudden, one day out of the blue, they decided to try to kill each other. If I had not been there that day and seen it start, I have no doubt I would have found one of them dead. I removed one of the males and the other made it his mission to hunt down the remaining female all day every day. I ended up having to build multiple new enclosures for them. My hope is that sharing these mistakes with you, mistakes that I've seen many people make, we can prevent a disaster before it happens.

 

[bigdog]

It sounds as if adding a male to her territory has triggered a breeding/nesting response.

Yvonne, thanks that is what it seemed like to me but wasn't sure.

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Understand something. Your tortoise did not need or want a buddy. She doesn't see this as new friend, she sees him as a rapacious attacker, and now she is trying like hell to get out of the area. This giant male has stumbled into her "territory" and her instinct is to get the heck out of Dodge, but your enclosure prevents her escape and this causes her tremendous stress. As this new male settles in, you will begin to understand why she feels that way.

Pairs are not a good idea. This male will literally harass your female to death over time, if not kill her outright one day. I suggest you house them separately, or at the very least have separate enclosures ready to go at all times. The problem is that they might be fine with no problems until the day they have a problem. You might come home from work and find her dead.

Please be aware that male sulcatas can be explosively and randomly aggressive. I had two males living together for years with no problems, then all of a sudden, one day out of the blue, they decided to try to kill each other. If I had not been there that day and seen it start, I have no doubt I would have found one of them dead. I removed one of the males and the other made it his mission to hunt down the remaining female all day every day. I ended up having to build multiple new enclosures for them. My hope is that sharing these mistakes with you, mistakes that I've seen many people make, we can prevent a disaster before it happens.

Tom,

Wow, thanks for warnings, I will be on the watch for that. Right now their enclosure is my whole backyard so they do have space to get away from each other if needed. They are also 2 dogloos out there for them to go into as well, so I hope that will prevent any issues from happening.

Right now, (2 days in) the male does not really seem interested in her at all. Actually she is the one that comes up to him and does that tail wag thing along with the weird leg movement and dripping. She did it again today. I'm not sure if that is her trying to solicit mating or something else.

You say pairs are a bad thing, do you have to keep all yours in separate enclosures? I knew that 2 males might battle each other if there was a female present.

Thanks Again for your insight.

 

[Tom]

Groups with one adult male, several adult females, and a very large enclosure with lots of sight barriers and hiding places will usually work out. Pairs will generally not. A regular square backyard is usually not big enough or well planted enough. My enclosure is 7000 square feet and wraps around four sides of a building with lots of nooks and crannies in an "L" shape. That male would literally march up and down searching for that female all day long.

Right now your new guy is settling in. He is still discombobulated from the move. The cold temps and short days of winter are also working in your favor. When he settles in and things warm up, I will be very surprised if you don't have a problem. Anything is physically possible, but I've been around enough sulcatas and situations to make a pretty good prediction about what will likely happen.

With sulcatas, two adult males will generally not get along. Sometimes two females will get along, but sometimes not. Groups with all adult females or adult groups with one male usually work out. Large groups of 12 or more tortoises will sometimes get along with multiple males and females, but sometimes not. Often males have to be removed from the group.

Another issue you will soon have is trying to find homes for dozens of babies every year.

Unless breeding and producing lots of babies is your goal, it is best to keep them separate, or have groups of females only.

 

[Zamric]

Tom is so VERY RIGHT! I too had 2 males raised from birth... one now resides with a friend of mine to save his life! My yard ALMOST witnessed a blood bath. Lucky for Rocky I stepped in when I did because his shell had already started separating at the scutes from where WalkingRock was slamming him against a wall repeatedly.!

Sulcatas are LONERS! and they like it that way!