Young tortoise mating behavior

[ChelonianChris]

Hi all,

I have two young eastern hermann's tortoises, they'll be two years old in June and are about 4.5 inches long. They are siblings. I haven't yet been able to sex them, but the larger of the two has grown a large tail in the last few months, suggesting to me that it may be a male.

What's got me mystified is that both tortoises will occasionally mount each other and display very obvious mating behavior (mouth open, squeaking). I thought I shouldn't expect this for at least another few years. Is this some kind of social heirarchy behavior or are they actually mating? Will females engage in this sort of behavior too? Does this mean I have 2 males? I'd appreciate any insight, thank you!

 

[Yvonne G]

At that size it's more than likely not mating behavior, but rather aggressive. Females do it too when trying to show the other tortoise they're the boss. Not a good idea to keep tortoises in pairs. Groups work sometimes, but not pairs.

 

[ChelonianChris]

At that size it's more than likely not mating behavior, but rather aggressive. Females do it too when trying to show the other tortoise they're the boss. Not a good idea to keep tortoises in pairs. Groups work sometimes, but not pairs.

Thanks! I have third that I keep separate because he is still small at 7 months old but will eventually join them. If the behavior continues, I guess they will need to be kept separate.

 

[wellington]

Dont wait too long to separate or you would have a sick or dead tort. It's like one is smaller then the other because of stress and bullying if they are of same age. A group only works in yard size enclosure not an indoor enxkosre unless a large room is the full enclosure and then it's still a maybe.

 

[bouaboua]

We have 1 male and three female Eastern Hermann. We received them in 2014 as sub-adult and all four of them are in the same large outdoor enclusre. We do see from time to time both male and female shown mating behavior but most of time they just have place to hide and avoid each other.

We been hatching babies from this group for three years now and only the male showing that behavior.

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

I have two young eastern hermann's tortoises, they'll be two years old in June and are about 4.5 inches long. They are siblings. I haven't yet been able to sex them, but the larger of the two has grown a large tail in the last few months, suggesting to me that it may be a male.

What's got me mystified is that both tortoises will occasionally mount each other and display very obvious mating behavior (mouth open, squeaking). I thought I shouldn't expect this for at least another few years. Is this some kind of social heirarchy behavior or are they actually mating? Will females engage in this sort of behavior too? Does this mean I have 2 males? I'd appreciate any insight, thank you!

What Yvonne said. Tortoises should never be kept in pairs. Injury or death is likely if you don't separate them.