Egyptians?

Ribarski

New Member
Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
North Carolina
Hello!

My name is Tyler. I've been trolling this forum for a while but finally decided to get on board.
My wife and I decided about 6 months ago that we really wanted a couple tortoises.
We stumbled upon Egyptians and after much research.... WE NEED TWO EGYPTIANS!

I haven't had any luck finding any. and we don't mind being put on a waiting list because I've noticed they can be hard to find.
Any insight would be appreciated!
Also, we are in Florida; moving to North Carolina soon.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
Hi Tyler
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1463529545.086050.jpg
Most of us are very attached to our torts . Do the research that we have here . For example dogs and cats do well in pairs torts do better in trios .
 

bouaboua

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
11,809
Location (City and/or State)
San Jose CA
Welcome to the forum.
 

Linhdan Nguyen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
1,790
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
Hello & welcome !
As Grandpa Turtle mentioned, tortoises dont do well in pairs but in trios or more IF they have alot of room to get away from each other when needed and sight barriers. This is due to bullying. Usually there will always be a dominant tortoise and he/she can bully the other tortoise, causing stress, and the tortoise will be afraid to eat, bask, and possibly leave its hiding spot. Usually if you were to keep trios or more, it would be one male and many females, even so, you need to be prepared to separate them all if need be.
Hope this helps!
 

Rue

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
1,259
Location (City and/or State)
Canada
Why two? Two are never recommended.
 

ShellyTheTortoise71

Active Member
Joined
May 31, 2015
Messages
217
Welcome to the forum! I hope you guys find a new tortoise. You will get the tortoise bug soon enough ;). Unfortunately, Egyptian tortoises are EXTREMELY hard to come by. And if you are lucky enough to find one, they are very expensive, usually over a thousand dollars. Hopefully you find what you are looking for.
 

Ribarski

New Member
Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
North Carolina
Two seemed like a good number. A friend of mine has a pair, and they seem to get along fine. They could be an exception to the rule or just a couple of show ponies acting right for company.
I get the trio thing. Fish can do the same as far as bullying, and territorial behavior. I've managed a first tank or two most of my life.
Would it be best to keep a single male, and two females?
If I buy hatchlings and don't have a say in their sex, would it be bad to have three males in the same pen?
 

Linhdan Nguyen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
1,790
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
Two seemed like a good number. A friend of mine has a pair, and they seem to get along fine. They could be an exception to the rule or just a couple of show ponies acting right for company.
I get the trio thing. Fish can do the same as far as bullying, and territorial behavior. I've managed a first tank or two most of my life.
Would it be best to keep a single male, and two females?
If I buy hatchlings and don't have a say in their sex, would it be bad to have three males in the same pen?
I know, i have 2 russians also due to this misconception and for the first 3 days they were fine together (male and female) but my female is such a bully.
There are always exceptions to the rule, and we always hope we are the exception but very little of us happen to be. Yes a single male and two females is better, but even then, you may have to separate them all if things dont work out or rehome them.
I believe I've seen someone mention that hatchlings are better in groups but I also have heard some hatchlings have shown some dominance. So if you are able to potentially provide a bigger enclosure space for each tortoise when they are older, then a trio sounds lovely. But if not, start out with one, get familiar and add on when the possible.
 

Sara G.

Active Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2016
Messages
526
Location (City and/or State)
Long Island, New York
Personally I'd start out with just one.
Even if you got two females, there's still the possibility (more like probability) that you will have a bully and a victim.
That means you'd have to separate them. Which = 2 enclosures, with light systems, bulbs, etc. more work, less play. You get the idea.

Plus if you start out with one you can just spoil the one rotten! :D
 

Kapidolo Farms

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
5,172
Location (City and/or State)
South of Southern California, but not Mexico
What is your end game as you see it today? Pets or maybe for breeding? If you plan to breed once they mature enough, you might plan on buying one or two each year for several years and see what sex ration you end up with, then sell those that don't meet your breeding need. As you noticed there are few available, so when you try to sell 'extras', odds are you'll have buyers. If for pets, and you don't think you'd want to breed then just one is okay maybe? Just two in a single enclosure is potentially problematic as a few other folks have said. So if for pets and you want more than one three or four is good. Males can be a little combative with each other. When females do it (be combative) it is believed they are trying to provoke males into breeding.

As for finding any in the first place, look through the older for sale posts and you will see who has them sometimes. Older posts in FaunaClassified can serve the same purpose.

They are very wonderful tortoises with a great deal of extrovert-ness tortoise-wise.
 

Ribarski

New Member
Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
North Carolina
What is your end game as you see it today? Pets or maybe for breeding?

First and foremost, we want a pet. Breeding has crossed our minds, one for the absolute cuteness of the little ones and two for the potential of a little extra cash.

I'm starting to think the notion of buying a single is the best course of action for the near future. If we decide we want to breed, we can add to our family later.
 
Top