# Separating sexes



## Katherine (Apr 11, 2012)

There must be some distance of separation at which the lone males will be unable to detect the females, but I have yet to discover it. Does anyone successfully keep reproductively active males and females of any breed of African tortoise separated on the same property without the males stressing terribly? This is a stressful time of year for my males who want badly to breed, one particular sulcata will pace his wall and go on hunger strike, digging and moaning and humping a sandbag in his pen in efforts to quell his tortoise urges. It is awful for me (so probably much worse for him!) but I can not seem to help him find peace. If you house them separately and have no such issues I would love to know this distance between your pens/pastures/enclosures. As always, thanks for your input : )


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## dmmj (Apr 11, 2012)

I am only speaking for russians. I keep my russians separate and even though they are right next to each other the males don't seem to mind unless they actually see them. Sulcatas are a whole other story they seem to have mating on the mind 24/7 once they encounter a female and they never seem to stop, even when separated. I know of several people here in california who have separated their sulcatas even moving to another property yet the males seem to think the female is just on the other side of the enclosure.


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## Katherine (Apr 11, 2012)

Ugh. I was really hoping there was a magic number somewhere and I could just rebuild and be done with it. Not encouraging. I guess I should have taken up Russian rearing!


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## JeffG (Apr 11, 2012)

katherine said:


> ...one particular sulcata will pace his wall and go on hunger strike, digging and moaning and humping a sandbag in his pen in efforts to quell his tortoise urges...



This could be written about almost every teenage boy I have ever met. 

I'm not sure with the tortoises specifically, but with other reptiles I have bred, the males generally go insane during the breeding season whether there are females around or not. It is just instinctual to find a mate in order to pass on your genetic material.


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## tortadise (Apr 11, 2012)

No I just keep them together because he goes crazy. But in the last 10 minutes of collecting eggs from her I think I might separate them. 88 eggs in 3 clutches. Man it's so many from one female. It's separation time.


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## Katherine (Apr 11, 2012)

Mmhmm. Perpetual lose-lose I suppose. Breeding is stressful for the girls, not breeding is stressful for the boys, so either together or separated they are stressful to me this time of year!


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## socialworker81 (Apr 11, 2012)

I also have Russians and can not speak for Sulcatas. However, I did attempt to separate my male and female once. The male seemed so depressed and also went on a hunger strike. The minute I put them back together, he was as happy as could be and started eating again. I too am concerned about the number of eggs my female has recently laid, so my male may have find something else to occupy his time soon


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## Yvonne G (Apr 11, 2012)

I don't know about distance, but if you consider "time," it took my sulcata, Dudley, a little over a year to forget about the female he was brought to me with. All bets are off, though, if you use him for breeding.


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## Katherine (Apr 11, 2012)

emysemys said:


> I don't know about distance, but if you consider "time," it took my sulcata, Dudley, a little over a year to forget about the female he was brought to me with. All bets are off, though, if you use him for breeding.



Do you have female sulcatas as well? The male that prompted me to post this has had no contact with a female for several years at minimum, he came to us from people who couldn't house him properly when he was about 35lbs so I suppose it is *possible* he could have bred before then but I have no reason to believe he ever did. He knows EXACTLY where the ladies are though, regardless of where I put him he finds the wall closest to them and starts pacing...


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## dmmj (Apr 11, 2012)

katherine said:


> emysemys said:
> 
> 
> > I don't know about distance, but if you consider "time," it took my sulcata, Dudley, a little over a year to forget about the female he was brought to me with. All bets are off, though, if you use him for breeding.
> ...


Poor guys he sounds exactly like my love life.


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## Katherine (Apr 11, 2012)

Hysterical!


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## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 11, 2012)

katherine said:


> Hysterical!


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## Tom (Apr 12, 2012)

I have a lone male and he does just fine over on his side of the ranch. When I turn him loose to wander the whole ranch he will meander about calmly, but if he happens to go near the females pen he will start aggressively pacing the wall looking for a way in, so I do think there is a distance at which they don't catch the smell.

The lone male pen and the female pen are on opposite corners of the ranch. I would estimate around 120 feet between the walls of their pens. When either male is over on the far side all alone they seem pretty content and relaxed. No hunger strikes or pacing.


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## Katherine (Apr 12, 2012)

Thank you Tom, I was hoping someone would have had an experience like that. It is worth a shot! I guess I will be breaking out the measuring tape this weekend and seeing what I can arrange for 120 feet of separation.


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