Russian Males playing, fighting or ???

[Lucymay]

We have 3 Russians, all males that are now able to be outside (Sunny So. CA) again. Two had hibernated during the winter months, one never did but was kept indoors. All 3 have always been fine together, in fact we sometimes wonder how they find each other in the large outdoor pen to stay together, sometimes following each other around thru the tunnels.

Lately, it seems like they want to mate with each other. They climb on top of one another and make strange sounds. If it weren't that they are all males, we would definetely think they were trying to mate. Usually nothing much else happens, they end up climbing off and moving on. But sometimes they first nip at each other and the other day they actually looked like they were going to fight and so I separated them and then they moved on.

My questions... is this normal for 3 males to act this way? Should I try to find females for them? Should we split the large outdoor pen and create 3 separate areas?

Or am I being a nervous mom and should just leave them alone?

 

[terracolson]

thats mating and Russians dont care if its male or female....

And you cant add one female, you would need 3 or more.. I would see about separating them or adding more hides

 

[Lucymay]

Thanks much. I knew I couldn't add just one female and actually don't have the cash to buy 3 or 4 so.... I guess I will watch them closely, add a few more hides and then try the separate areas. I really didn't want to do that as they seem so happy to be together 99.9% of the time.

 

[GBtortoises]

Tortoises don't "play". If you have three confirmed males what you are witnessing is a form of domination which is common among male Russians. It is almost always brought on by spring & summer weather conditions but can also go on continuously throughout the year depending upon their environment and enclosure space. Regardless of whether or not a tortoise has been hibernated or kept awake. It's the change in climate and environment that spurs it on. The reason that they are following each other around is for same reason. Not because they're "friends" but because one, possibly two are vying for dominance. One will become the submissive and then the second one. Ultimately, the most dominant male will attempt to clear other males from his territory. With three a pecking order may even develop to the extent that one is the most dominant, with a second one being submissive to the first but dominating the third. Some people don't have much problem keeping male Russians together if they are given a large enough area with adequate hiding areas and obstacles so that there isn't constant aggression. It might also decrease once you get further into summer and the height of the mating season has passed.

Getting them one female would surely mean constant non-stop attention and aggression towards that female and she will never get a break. This will also likely increase the aggression that the dominant male has towards the other two males. You'd have to get a pack of females to satisfy three males! A one on one ratio will only work if you have all the pairs seperated from each other. Otherwise the males will often concentrate on one female at a time. Simply put, the males go where the action is!

If you don't intend to get a bunch of females, about a 1:2 ratio of male to female, then it would probably be best to either completely seperate them or if the enclosure is large enough, provide several hiding areas and lots of visual obstacles so there the aggression isn't constant. It should soon (if not already) be obvious which tortoise(s) is the most dominant and which are the more submissive. The ones that really bear watching for signs of stress and potential health problems are the submissive tortoises. The dominant tortoise is the king of the hill, his life is good!

 

[dreadyA]

Well put, Gary.

 

[Tom]

I agree with GB too. I'd separate them rather than let the submissives be stressed all the time. I've had to separate males many times, many species. Russian males can be a whole lot of tortoise for such a small package.

 

[GBtortoises]

"Russian males can be a whole lot of tortoise for such a small package."--Perfect description!

I've always told people that male Russian tortoises sometimes remind me of "A Pit Bull in a shell!"