# How can you tell when a tortoise is ready to mate with someone?



## philthyturtle (Feb 5, 2012)

How can you tell when a tortoise is ready to mate with someone?


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## ascott (Feb 5, 2012)

When he gives you flowers and candy followed by googly eyes??? LOL....so just funnin...


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## tortuga_please (Feb 5, 2012)

Some of the most experienced breeders might know more, but do you mean at what age? It depends on the type of tortoise


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## philthyturtle (Feb 5, 2012)

tortuga_please said:


> Some of the most experienced breeders might know more, but do you mean at what age? It depends on the type of tortoise



I always wondered because i have a female russian, and I honestly dont know her age. But I've felt bad that she lives alone haha


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## tortuga_please (Feb 5, 2012)

Russians are very tricky to breed, the males can be EXTREMELY aggressive and can seriously injure the females. That's actually why I don't breed them or know much about breeding them, but if you ask in the Russian section you might get better help :-D


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## ascott (Feb 5, 2012)

> ready to mate with _someone?_



Alright so I am the only one that thought that part was fun.....

Alot of the time, in captivity, tortoise age does not dictate mating...but rather size....and this size is based on individual species of tortoise... Russians, in captivity females can be ready at about 6+ inches and males at about 5+ inches (some males will go to town and try at as little as 4 inches but likely not able to actually produce until near 5 + inches).

Also as previously advised this species of tortoise can be even more aggressive than others during courting/mating....so care should be taken when exposing the female to a male for this purpose...as well as you should be prepared to incubate and/or decide to not be involved at all---all naturale.

Yes, there are others on this forum that have had extensive experience with this species...I would suggest you wait around a bit to get further information....


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## tortuga_please (Feb 5, 2012)

I do remember that it's safer if the females outnumber the male and he is only introduced for breeding, but that's all I remember :-/


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## Yvonne G (Feb 5, 2012)

Another thing to consider is that tortoises are solitary by nature and do not seek out other tortoises for "company." They prefer to live alone so they don't have to compete for the best hiding place or for the food. They DO come together for breeding, however, its not necessary to allow them to breed in order to have a happy, healthy tortoise.


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## Arizona Sulcata (Feb 5, 2012)

Don't know about Russians... But Sulcatas are usually ready by 14 inches but I've found it to be even larger than that. 6 years ish but it depends on size more than anything!


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## dmmj (Feb 5, 2012)

tortuga_please said:


> I do remember that it's safer if the females outnumber the males


That's how I prefer it.

A male of appropriate size should be ready and willing to mate 24/7 
Of course some species require or like certain environmental factors, like a nice rain shower.


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## philthyturtle (Feb 5, 2012)

Thanks for the information, I was wondering is it even necessary for her to mate?? I personally would rather leave her alone.


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## dmmj (Feb 5, 2012)

To answer your question, it is not necessary to mate (like a biological imperative) so she won't suffer any ill effects from not mating.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 5, 2012)

dmmj said:


> To answer your question, it is not necessary to mate (like a biological imperative) so she won't suffer any ill effects from not mating.



If a female has never mated, will she still lay sterile eggs, or will she become egg-bound?


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## philthyturtle (Feb 5, 2012)

dmmj said:


> To answer your question, it is not necessary to mate (like a biological imperative) so she won't suffer any ill effects from not mating.



Awesome maybe someday in the future I'll consider breeding but not for a long time. Thank you for all your responses


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## Tccarolina (Feb 6, 2012)

philthyturtle said:


> How can you tell when a tortoise is ready to mate with someone?



Well, the males are always ready!
A female might start ramming the male if she's ready, but other than that I don't think I've read about any other specific signs.

My greek females will ram each other, or a head of lettuce sometimes, but I think it's just dominance behavior. I've never actually seen one of my females ram one of the males.

Steve


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