This has come up a lot lately and I want to try to give a better, more thorough explanation.
Tortoises are solitary animals by nature. Few species congregate together in the wild and individuals are seldom seen in the company of others. There are exceptions, like pancakes. Out of practicality, convenience and sometimes necessity, we sometimes keep more than one in an enclosure in captivity. As conscientious keepers, we must understand, and take into consideration, the ramifications of this. Many breeders strive for groups of single males and 2-4 females. Others keep larger groups of mixed sexes in large pens. Usually this works out, but sometimes not.
It is, and always has been, common for the casual pet owner to buy just two. Often they are hatchlings, but sometimes they are older. I see this as a common problem, and wish to prevent it wherever possible. Occasionally, having a pair will work out satisfactorily, but most of the time, one or the other suffers for this ill-advised, unnatural situation. Here is why: All living beings have different "personalities". Some are more boisterous, outgoing and unafraid. Some are more timid, shy and fearful. Every tortoise alive falls somewhere in this very wide spectrum. Please note that I'm not even getting into territoriality and aggression yet. Whenever we put two animals together they are always at different points on this spectrum. The "weaker" one will always feel intimidated by the "stronger" one and will wish to leave the area of the more dominant animal. Our enclosure, no matter how big, prevents this, and forces the more timid submissive to live in fear every day. Occasionally they simply desensitize and survive, even though it is stressful. Sometimes they fail to thrive and eventually die. Either way it is not good. This situation is made all the more serious if the more dominant one actually bullies or intentionally intimidates the other one. But understand that neither of them has to actually DO anything for this to take place. Just the presence of the other is enough to cause substantial stress in a one on one situation.
Now I know that there are exceptions and that lots of people keep pairs together and everything seems fine. I have done this in the past too. If the two animals involved happen to be close together on that dominance spectrum, AND not territorial or aggressive, they stand a much better chance of getting along for a while, and this is probably the case for some of the people who will say that their pair of tortoises is fine together. I am simply saying that it is asking for trouble, and most of the time, trouble is what you get. Clearly this is less of an issue with some species like redfoots and leopards. But it can be a very serious issue with more aggressive species like russians or sulcatas. It is a situation that is best avoided by having just one tortoise to an enclosure, OR having a group of three or more in an appropriate enclosure. Having MORE than two tortoises in an enclosure changes this dynamic drastically. By adding another tortoise or two, any subtle aggression is spread out over multiple individuals vs. focused all on one. Remember the dominant animal WANTS the submissive to leave as much as the submissive wants to leave himself. When the submissive fails to leave, despite being clearly told to in tortoise language, the dominant will usually increase his efforts. When there are multiple submissives the aggressor either divides up his aggression, or often gives up the tactic as hopeless since he is "surrounded" by so many. An example: For a short time I had Scooter, my adult male sulcata and Delores, my adult female sulcata alone together in a giant 7000 sq. ft. pen. He hunted for her all day every day and bred her 10-15 times a day. He was obsessed and she was suffering. She ended up hiding all day, and I had to take her food to her secret hiding spots. Luckily, I was given two additional adult females and as soon as they were introduced, the attention was off of Delores. He was enamored with the new girls and after a few days everything settled down. Now, he breeds 2 or 3 times a day TOTAL, as opposed to 10-15 times a day with one female. Because he has females and movement all around him all the time, he seems to feel less of a sense of urgency and not so obsessed. It is pretty peaceful in there now and everybody explores and grazes freely. They usually hang out together voluntarily and eat together too, even though they have the option to be far away from each other and out if sight.
Another example: When I went to pick up Scooter as a hatchling in 1998, Walter Allen generously gave me a second tortoise for free. I was ecstatic. I named her Bertha because she was quiet and shy and behaved very "female-like" to me. I raised the two of them together for about two years before I was given Delores. For around 8 or 9 years I was convinced that Bertha, the second free tortoise, was a female. "She" had no plastron concavity, tiny gulars, a very small head, a small tail and the anal scutes were right in the middle. "Her" behavior was also very typically female. Scooter bred "her" and Deloris constantly from the time they were all 4-5 years old. I was sure I had a 1.2 group and that all would be fine. As they hit maturity, or as "Bertha" hit maturity, I realized that I was wrong and I had a problem on my hands. Bertha was really Bert. Scooter was much bigger and always more dominant and active. Bert was so intimidated and chronically stressed as a hatchling and a juvenile that he failed to develop his secondary sexual characteristics. Bert has a great pen on the other side of the ranch now and is quite happy to be alone and away from Scooters tyranny. If they ever got together again, it would be a fight to the death.
To recap: Yes, I know it is not the end of the world and an instant death sentence to keep two tortoises together. But it IS a bad idea. At best it is a compromise, and a tenuous one at that. Many people do it and get away with it, but it is often just a question of time until the luck runs out. There are lots of example's of this here on the forum. As a tortoise owner, I want to give them the best possible chance at success and house them the best way possible. To me, this means not keeping them in pairs.
Discussion is welcome, but I will state ahead of time that for everyone who comes on with a story about a pair doing fine together, it can be countered with a lot more stories of a pairs that "seemed" fine together for a while, but really weren't fine, or pairs that ended in injury or death.
Tortoises are solitary animals by nature. Few species congregate together in the wild and individuals are seldom seen in the company of others. There are exceptions, like pancakes. Out of practicality, convenience and sometimes necessity, we sometimes keep more than one in an enclosure in captivity. As conscientious keepers, we must understand, and take into consideration, the ramifications of this. Many breeders strive for groups of single males and 2-4 females. Others keep larger groups of mixed sexes in large pens. Usually this works out, but sometimes not.
It is, and always has been, common for the casual pet owner to buy just two. Often they are hatchlings, but sometimes they are older. I see this as a common problem, and wish to prevent it wherever possible. Occasionally, having a pair will work out satisfactorily, but most of the time, one or the other suffers for this ill-advised, unnatural situation. Here is why: All living beings have different "personalities". Some are more boisterous, outgoing and unafraid. Some are more timid, shy and fearful. Every tortoise alive falls somewhere in this very wide spectrum. Please note that I'm not even getting into territoriality and aggression yet. Whenever we put two animals together they are always at different points on this spectrum. The "weaker" one will always feel intimidated by the "stronger" one and will wish to leave the area of the more dominant animal. Our enclosure, no matter how big, prevents this, and forces the more timid submissive to live in fear every day. Occasionally they simply desensitize and survive, even though it is stressful. Sometimes they fail to thrive and eventually die. Either way it is not good. This situation is made all the more serious if the more dominant one actually bullies or intentionally intimidates the other one. But understand that neither of them has to actually DO anything for this to take place. Just the presence of the other is enough to cause substantial stress in a one on one situation.
Now I know that there are exceptions and that lots of people keep pairs together and everything seems fine. I have done this in the past too. If the two animals involved happen to be close together on that dominance spectrum, AND not territorial or aggressive, they stand a much better chance of getting along for a while, and this is probably the case for some of the people who will say that their pair of tortoises is fine together. I am simply saying that it is asking for trouble, and most of the time, trouble is what you get. Clearly this is less of an issue with some species like redfoots and leopards. But it can be a very serious issue with more aggressive species like russians or sulcatas. It is a situation that is best avoided by having just one tortoise to an enclosure, OR having a group of three or more in an appropriate enclosure. Having MORE than two tortoises in an enclosure changes this dynamic drastically. By adding another tortoise or two, any subtle aggression is spread out over multiple individuals vs. focused all on one. Remember the dominant animal WANTS the submissive to leave as much as the submissive wants to leave himself. When the submissive fails to leave, despite being clearly told to in tortoise language, the dominant will usually increase his efforts. When there are multiple submissives the aggressor either divides up his aggression, or often gives up the tactic as hopeless since he is "surrounded" by so many. An example: For a short time I had Scooter, my adult male sulcata and Delores, my adult female sulcata alone together in a giant 7000 sq. ft. pen. He hunted for her all day every day and bred her 10-15 times a day. He was obsessed and she was suffering. She ended up hiding all day, and I had to take her food to her secret hiding spots. Luckily, I was given two additional adult females and as soon as they were introduced, the attention was off of Delores. He was enamored with the new girls and after a few days everything settled down. Now, he breeds 2 or 3 times a day TOTAL, as opposed to 10-15 times a day with one female. Because he has females and movement all around him all the time, he seems to feel less of a sense of urgency and not so obsessed. It is pretty peaceful in there now and everybody explores and grazes freely. They usually hang out together voluntarily and eat together too, even though they have the option to be far away from each other and out if sight.
Another example: When I went to pick up Scooter as a hatchling in 1998, Walter Allen generously gave me a second tortoise for free. I was ecstatic. I named her Bertha because she was quiet and shy and behaved very "female-like" to me. I raised the two of them together for about two years before I was given Delores. For around 8 or 9 years I was convinced that Bertha, the second free tortoise, was a female. "She" had no plastron concavity, tiny gulars, a very small head, a small tail and the anal scutes were right in the middle. "Her" behavior was also very typically female. Scooter bred "her" and Deloris constantly from the time they were all 4-5 years old. I was sure I had a 1.2 group and that all would be fine. As they hit maturity, or as "Bertha" hit maturity, I realized that I was wrong and I had a problem on my hands. Bertha was really Bert. Scooter was much bigger and always more dominant and active. Bert was so intimidated and chronically stressed as a hatchling and a juvenile that he failed to develop his secondary sexual characteristics. Bert has a great pen on the other side of the ranch now and is quite happy to be alone and away from Scooters tyranny. If they ever got together again, it would be a fight to the death.
To recap: Yes, I know it is not the end of the world and an instant death sentence to keep two tortoises together. But it IS a bad idea. At best it is a compromise, and a tenuous one at that. Many people do it and get away with it, but it is often just a question of time until the luck runs out. There are lots of example's of this here on the forum. As a tortoise owner, I want to give them the best possible chance at success and house them the best way possible. To me, this means not keeping them in pairs.
Discussion is welcome, but I will state ahead of time that for everyone who comes on with a story about a pair doing fine together, it can be countered with a lot more stories of a pairs that "seemed" fine together for a while, but really weren't fine, or pairs that ended in injury or death.