Taking a pee or sexually active?

[TortNZ]

Hi All
I’m after some advise.
I have seen my tortoise this morning pushing/ injection his tail into his substrate. Then I spotted his penis out and a lot of water/ pee around. I have never seen him do these movements or his penis before when doing pee. Is this the way they pee or is he getting sexually active? He is 18months old. At what age do Herman’s become sexually active?
I got him at 11months and he was 58g now after 6months he is 226g. He is quite active, food , hydration, humility, substrate and lights are all correct.
Could it maybe be that he was older then 11 months when I got him but undernourished and now he has caught up?
Sorry to ask all those questions.?

 

[EllieMay]

I think he is just discovering his penis

 

[Tom]

Hi All
I’m after some advise.
I have seen my tortoise this morning pushing/ injection his tail into his substrate. Then I spotted his penis out and a lot of water/ pee around. I have never seen him do these movements or his penis before when doing pee. Is this the way they pee or is he getting sexually active? He is 18months old. At what age do Herman’s become sexually active?
I got him at 11months and he was 58g now after 6months he is 226g. He is quite active, food , hydration, humility, substrate and lights are all correct.
Could it maybe be that he was older then 11 months when I got him but undernourished and now he has caught up?
Sorry to ask all those questions.?

Sounds pretty normal to me too.

 

[TortNZ]

Sounds pretty normal to me too.

Do mean normal as being sexually active or doing a pee?

 

[KarenSoCal]

As in "Wow! Look what I found! I'm going to play with it!"

 

[TortNZ]

As in "Wow! Look what I found! I'm going to play with it!"

Ha,ha. Is that normal at that age? I thought normally you can not tell the gender till about 3-4 years.

 

[KarenSoCal]

I'm not familiar with details for Hermann's. 18 months does sound young, but he's obviously a he. Maybe, as you suggest, he is older than that.

But one thing is pretty universal...once discovered, most males want to show it off and play with it, and drag it around through the dirt.

 

[TortNZ]

I'm not familiar with details for Hermann's. 18 months does sound young, but he's obviously a he. Maybe, as you suggest, he is older than that.

But one thing is pretty universal...once discovered, most males want to show it off and play with it, and drag it around through the dirt.

All the time or when it is mating season?

 

[KarenSoCal]

All the time or when it is mating season?

I don't know. My friend has a sulcata who has a rock as his partner. If I'm remembering correctly, the only time he does not use it is mid winter, Nov-Jan. I'll have to double check with my friend.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

All the time or when it is mating season?

If he's anything like my tort, All day, everyday, 365 days a year.

 

[KronksMom]

I've only seen my tort's penis once. Just so, if it doesn't happen again, you don't think something is wrong. Of course my guy is probably much older, as he's wild caught, I really don't know his age.

 

[Tom]

All the time or when it is mating season?

This varies tremendously. Some do it once and never again, others do it daily for ever, and anything in-between. Its typical for young males to "flash" frequently for a period of time, and then gain more control over it. Most likely to happen during the typical breeding times of spring and fall.

Its not anything to worry about unless it doesn't retract.