Graphic Pictures of a Sulcata Fight

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I've been looking for pictures of a sulcata that was in a fight with another sulcata for a long time. Many years ago when I used to belong to several YahooGroups listservs, I had seen the pictures, so I knew they existed, but could never find them.

So yesterday I contacted Julie at the Turtle Rescue Long Island, who also belongs to those listservs. She was able to locate pictures (they're not the ones I remember, but they'll serve the purpose).

This is what might happen to YOUR male sulcata if you keep TWO male sulcatas in the same enclosure:

injured sulcata a.jpg injured sulcata b.jpg injured sulcata d.jpg

This was caused by one sulcata ramming the other.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I remember seeing a pic of a sulcata with a hole punched in it's shell from an attack by another male, I thought it was here on TFO. I wonder how big the one that did this damage was.
I'm pretty sure THAT'S the picture I had in mind when I asked Julie to look for me. It was a big, open shell, all bloody. It was on the YahooGroups Sulcata listserv, many, many years ago. I'd also like to know how big the other tortoise was, as the one in these pictures is sort of smallish. If memory serves, the other picture I was thinking about showed a much bigger sulcata with the injury.
 

Len B

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
4,986
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Md - Northern Neck Va
The pic i remember was of a much larger tortoise also. When looking at these new pics I was figuring that he was caught against a barrier of some sort or he would have been just pushed aside of flipped over because of his smaller size.
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,056
Location (City and/or State)
Earth

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Aw geez! That poor tortoise. Maybe my old memory is playing tricks on me. That very well could be the picture in my memory banks. Thanks, Cameron. You're the best at "search"!!!!!
 

DeanS

SULCATA OASIS
10 Year Member!
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
4,407
Location (City and/or State)
SoCal

mastershake

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2018
Messages
585
Location (City and/or State)
Florida
sadly we have seen some come in because of this mostly because people dont want the vet bill so they drop them at our door. we have done many shell repairs due to this. it def is a problem especially for new keepers and or people who cant be bothered to monitor the situation. i have seen some (rarely) where 2 have been fine together but usually they have been raised together. and even then it always a situation you have to watch closely. but i agree please do not keep 2 males together. also size does not always determine the winner of battles. one i saw and worked on was over 80lbs the one who caused the damage was less then 50lbs.
 

SuzanneZ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2023
Messages
405
Location (City and/or State)
Georgetown
Aw geez! That poor tortoise. Maybe my old memory is playing tricks on me. That very well could be the picture in my memory banks. Thanks, Cameron. You're the best at "search"!!!!!
I had no idea what they could do, now I do. Thank you.
 
Top