TortoiseForum.org

Hi

I'm new here but was directed over from another forum.
I have two greek tort males. One is 9 years, the other is of unknown age but was found 15 years ago as an adult by a friend so is probably 25+ I would say. I don't know what sub-species they are (although I'm hoping to try to ID them).

They live separately. They both have such fantastic personalities but the older one is a bit aggressive and somewhat obsessed with shoes/terracotta pots and spends a lot of his time either chasing us around trying to butt and bite our shoes and mate with them, or doing the same to pots/rocks etc. He's rarely aggressive towards me and can be hand fed and enjoys a chin stroke, it's just shoes and pots that seem to get him going! I've read that this is normal behaviour but I just wondered if there is anything I can do to help him. He seems so frustrated bless him. I ended up making him a terracotta pot tortoise friend! It was love at first sight and I give him limited access to it as it seems to help, but maybe that was a bad idea?

Interestingly he wasn't as bad last year (I only inherited him a year ago and my other tort has never behaved like this - perhaps as he is too young).

Others have suggested I get him a female but I really am not sure that's the answer. I wouldn't want to stress out a poor female and I certainly can't house a 3rd tortoise separately (even some of the time) right now so I don't think that is the answer. Of course I may be wrong and would value other people's advice and tales of your own experiences with Male greeks.

thanks

Hi,
Not a thing you can do to help him, unless you get him a female. He's never seen a female tortoise so he's using up his hormones on any available object that even looks close. It's not going to cause him any harm though to keep doing what he's doing.
If you post, straight down on, carapace and plastron pictures we can give a go at telling you what subspecies you have. Though the tortoise in your signature looks like a T.g.ibera.

Danny

Hi,
Thanks - good to know he's not harming himself at least. He gets very frenetic and I was worried about him. Is it usual for them to be like this from the moment they wake from hibernation until they hibernate again? He seems to be like it all the time he's awake!

Here's some shots of them - hope they're clear enough:
Tort 1



Tort 2 (the one in love with a terracotta pot! )



thanks for your help
cheers
Nancy

You have 2 very nice T.g.ibera Nancy Though they do happen to be a pair. Tortoise #1 is a female.
I think you may have little tortoises in your future.

Danny

he he he
Ah now it's interesting you say that - I have asked 3 vets so far about that one! 2 said she was a he, one said a she! So I was going with the consensus! One vet said her plastron was concave and that was the sign that she was a he (!) (and it is a bit) and the other said it was tail length that gave it away and she was definitely a she. Out of interest what is the identifying feature that gave it away?
She's only 9 and at the moment if I put them together the big guy just tries to bite her head. She has shell butted him back though (which I thought was also a male behaviour). At what age is a good time to introduce them again?

Thanks so much for the ID and sexing

It was the shape of the shell and the size of the tail Nancy.
She is big enough to lay eggs and very ready as evidenced by the fact she was ramming the male back. Ovulating females usually do this.
The aggression from the male is normal, for one having not seen a female for a bit. You can introduce them anytime, just watch what the male does. Sometime they can get over aggressive with biting and not doing enough ramming and mounting.
Put them together when you have the time to watch them to make sure he's not biting her obscessively. They will probably need to be together at least 3 weeks to make sure she has ovulated and he has caught her.

Danny

Thanks so much for the info. I feel a bit stupid for not recognising she was definitely a female but I just didn't trust myself so went with the vet's opinion - doh!
I think I'd better make sure I provide her with a suitable laying area then.
Thanks again
Nancy

Congratulations on your pair of T.g.ibera Nancy.

Thanks - I'm thrilled they are a pair and that they're the same sub-species.

I inherited the male when my best-friend passed away and her parents didn't want to deal with him, so it's just great news that he's the same sub-species as my little girl (and that my little girl is in fact a girl and not a boy as once thought - I hope tortoises don't get complexes as she's going to have to keep her name - bob!)

They are gorgeous, and BIG! YAY for them being a pair!!!! Let him go at it, what fun! LOL!