I wasn't sure what category to put this under so I'm hoping people can still help me. My female tortoise has started to build boundries in my 75 gallon tank. There is a limited amount of space in the tank and I don't want them to havve limited roaming space. My female has taken the side of the tank with the log, and where I put there food bowl (the best side of the tank) and has left my male with the side with some rocks and the water dish. He was running up and down the perimeter while she was eating and made a run for the log (because thts his favorite place in the tank) and she came over and started to try and get him to go back, so by my instinct I took her aside ( out of the tank for a minute) and he instantly ran to the log. I put her back in by her food so she could finish eating, but she ran into the log and started ramming him in further so tht he would be crushed, so again by instinct I took her aside and put her on "his" side of the tank. She and that is where she is now. I think that a sign of this would have been her bobbing her head at him and him "hissing" back. I don't want there relationship to go sour..... what should I do???
territories
- Thread starter jayde7699
- Start date
- Status
Sounds as though it already has...I would make plans to set up two identical enclosures so that they do not progress to actual biting and ripping at one another, biting chunks from legs and faces and over all horrible environment....pairs are a hard place for harmony to live....
Your instinct to remove from the scene is a human instinct...problem is that they do not get it that way....the bullying tort will simply do what tortoise are masters of "the wait"...when the opportunity presents itself your bullying tort will do what it sees fit to rid itself of the competition....
Now, understand that it is never anything personal, just the way it goes...the bullying tort is acting completely normal...one will be the bully and one will be the target...the target will suffer when it is not necessary...
I found that somehow my tortoise is acting better than yesterday, I took her outside and let them do what they wanted and they have been good ever since, not even really noticing that eachother was there. I think that she has just been a little weird because she didn't like to be here. I'm kinda scared that they might hurt eachother because I am going to florida in a week..... idk.....
Once this kind of behaviour starts, it rarely goes away completely.
In the wild they are largely solitary. They roam large distances, they meet up, they mate, they move on. They don't get lonely and they don't want company.
In captivity the space just isn't big enough for one tort to get away from the other and you are seeing the results. In large outdoor enclosures, groups of 3 or more tortoises can work simply because there's room to escape and more than one other to share the attention.
In small indoor enclosures, they're fine to start but once they start to mature and get territorial then things get aggressive.
You must separate them now. It will be a permanent arrangement. If you don't, the one who is being bullied will become ill and die.
In the wild they are largely solitary. They roam large distances, they meet up, they mate, they move on. They don't get lonely and they don't want company.
In captivity the space just isn't big enough for one tort to get away from the other and you are seeing the results. In large outdoor enclosures, groups of 3 or more tortoises can work simply because there's room to escape and more than one other to share the attention.
In small indoor enclosures, they're fine to start but once they start to mature and get territorial then things get aggressive.
You must separate them now. It will be a permanent arrangement. If you don't, the one who is being bullied will become ill and die.
What to do? Hmm……
1. Completely seperate them.
2. Get rid of one and focus all your attention on the other. (Make sure the other tortoise goes to a good home.)
3. There is no other option
1. Completely seperate them.
2. Get rid of one and focus all your attention on the other. (Make sure the other tortoise goes to a good home.)
3. There is no other option
alben909 said:What to do? Hmm……
1. Completely seperate them.
2. Get rid of one and focus all your attention on the other. (Make sure the other tortoise goes to a good home.)
3. There is no other option
I disagree, there are atleast two more options, one being build them a much larger enclosure, with more hides and more logs and even perhaps a second food bowl.
Also the female may be going into a phase (such as a breeding or laying mode), which some tortoises seem to do. So sometimes separating them for a short period of time will help. You said this started while she was eating? Try feeding them in separate enclosures and having no food put out when both are present to see if that does anything.
jayde7699 said:
are you saying you sadly did something like put him in a small enclosure and he overheated and died? Or something equally bad happened to him? If that is what happened, I am really sorry for you. Keep in mind you did what you did with the best of intentions. *hugs*
What kind of tortoises, and why can't you put them outside in outdoor habitats permanently?
I keep a small group of steppe tortoises, with more than one male in the same habitat. I don't have a bit of a problem with them because they are outside and their habitat is large with many sight barriers.
I keep a small group of steppe tortoises, with more than one male in the same habitat. I don't have a bit of a problem with them because they are outside and their habitat is large with many sight barriers.
Hey all...it appears that the one tort has sadly passed while the member was gone for a week....there is another thread that goes over this situation.....
- Status
Similar threads
