thinking of getting another tort?

[hannahshiers]

I already have one female tortoise and I was considering another, any help whether to get one???

 

[Tom]

Are you planning on housing them separately? There needs to be a quarantine period. My current vet recommends at least 12 months. Also, tortoises don't usually do well in pairs. Especially not russians. Sexes don't matter. Females russians fight just as much as males.

I think getting more tortoises is a GREAT idea. I have a bunch. Just house them separately if you only want two.

I would get one from one of the captive breeders here on the forum. We have lots of them.

 

[hannahshiers]

I was planning to put them in the same enclosure:/ would they be okay together if I got them from the same shop? there was three in an enclosure there

 

[Tom]

I was planning to put them in the same enclosure:/ would they be okay together if I got them from the same shop? there was three in an enclosure there

This depends on if they are all from the same source and if there has been any contact with any other tortoises since you got yours. It also depends on how careful the shop is with their hygiene practices.

And no, two russians will most likely NOT be okay with each other. They don't want or like company. Especially when its only two of them. In a very large well designed enclosure a trio or more can sometimes work out, but a pair of russians is almost always going to end badly.

 

[hannahshiers]

thanks

 

[wellington]

The three in the very small pet store enclosure only looks like they get along. You don't see much from them in movement, aggression or anything, this is because they are under a lot of stress, usually no proper heating, light, hydration, substrate, diet, etc, etc.

 

[biochemnerd808]

I would not recommend getting a second tortoise. Tom is spot on (as usual)...
This is a lesson I unfortunately got to learn the hard way. Russian tortoises are territorial little fighting machines, and keeping 2 together will not go well. It's not so much a question of IF they fight, but rather WHEN they will fight. I wrote a blog post about my experience:
http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-not-to-keep-2-tortoises-together.html
I'd encourage you to take the time to read it, it may help explain some of the issues better than what I have time to write here.

 

[bouaboua]

Looks like you have no option but build a separate enclosure if you really want a second torts. Best wishes! ! !

 

[karlie and kevin]

I have 2 Russians and have had them for over 2 years now. I got one then shortly afterwards I got a second and things were great for a while but then about a yr later the fighting began and it was quite horrible. We tried everything, bigger enclosure, more timeouts u name it and nothing worked so in the end a second enclosures was built and now they live totally separate and are much happier. If I get them out for a bath and for a split second place one near the other whilst changing water they will try scrapping. Nightmare. I think getting another is great but definitely keep totally separate. Lol. Good luck