Keeping a pancake solitary

[aidbre94]

Hello!

I’m strongly considering a pancake tortoise and honestly I’m not against breeding them in the future due to the very low amount of them available in my country. I may have the opportunity to buy 3 unrelated hatchlings (knowing if I get all 2.1, 3.0 etc I’d have to rehouse some), but my other option is just to buy one and enjoy it.

My question is how do pancakes do fully solitary? I know they’re commonly referred as the most communal, but is that just tolerance based and being alone would be perfectly fine too like every other species, or do they congregate for a sense of security?

I have to admit, the look of 3+ in a beautiful outdoor pen & indoor enclosure is quite fascinating and would be a cornerstone piece to my reptile army but I thought I’d pick the brains of a few that keep them. I’ve spoken with a few people already who just keep them in colonies so they couldn’t really fully answer me which is ok.

 

[Tom]

Hello!

I’m strongly considering a pancake tortoise and honestly I’m not against breeding them in the future due to the very low amount of them available in my country. I may have the opportunity to buy 3 unrelated hatchlings (knowing if I get all 2.1, 3.0 etc I’d have to rehouse some), but my other option is just to buy one and enjoy it.

My question is how do pancakes do fully solitary? I know they’re commonly referred as the most communal, but is that just tolerance based and being alone would be perfectly fine too like every other species, or do they congregate for a sense of security?

I have to admit, the look of 3+ in a beautiful outdoor pen & indoor enclosure is quite fascinating and would be a cornerstone piece to my reptile army but I thought I’d pick the brains of a few that keep them. I’ve spoken with a few people already who just keep them in colonies so they couldn’t really fully answer me which is ok.

They are totally fine alone. I don't think they are any more communal than any other species. I think they are found together in the wild because they congregate on the rocky outcroppings where they are typically found. It's the only place there is to avoid their numerous predators. Similar to Galapagos or Aldabras that are photographed together in the wild all under the same shade tree. I don't think it's because they like each other and want company. I think it's because that is the only place available for shade, or hiding out from predators in the case of pancakes.

Having said that, I prefer to raise baby tortoises in groups. I think it makes them more amenable to being housed in groups as adults for breeding purposes, which should be very important to everyone. With such a rare and special species that has such a low reproductive rate, I would love to see you with a reproductive group down the road, even if you have to trade out one of yours to get the right sex ratio. It would be great if you had three females and had to add a fourth male tortoise to your group in a few years. They reproduce fairly easily and readily, albeit at a slow rate, and how fantastic would that be to have babies to share with other enthusiasts. Pancakes make gorgeous babies.

Good luck and keep us posted whichever way you decide to go. We love pics!

 

[aidbre94]

They are totally fine alone. I don't think they are any more communal than any other species. I think they are found together in the wild because they congregate on the rocky outcroppings where they are typically found. It's the only place there is to avoid their numerous predators. Similar to Galapagos or Aldabras that are photographed together in the wild all under the same shade tree. I don't think it's because they like each other and want company. I think it's because that is the only place available for shade, or hiding out from predators in the case of pancakes.

Having said that, I prefer to raise baby tortoises in groups. I think it makes them more amenable to being housed in groups as adults for breeding purposes, which should be very important to everyone. With such a rare and special species that has such a low reproductive rate, I would love to see you with a reproductive group down the road, even if you have to trade out one of yours to get the right sex ratio. It would be great if you had three females and had to add a fourth male tortoise to your group in a few years. They reproduce fairly easily and readily, albeit at a slow rate, and how fantastic would that be to have babies to share with other enthusiasts. Pancakes make gorgeous babies.

Good luck and keep us posted whichever way you decide to go. We love pics!

Hey Tom, thanks for the reply.

That’s kind of exactly what I’m thinking. Invest in them now when I get a chance then raise them and see what happens. I still haven’t fully decided, other than for sure 1 haha. In a perfect world 3 females would be amazing like you said. Funny enough, I spent 2 weeks in Galapagos this past February and got to see two different species in the wild and they May get close to each other but they definitely preferred being alone unless it was a male chasing a female down.

There’s only a couple breeders in Canada, and I think it would be an unbelievable passion project. I have an Egyptian too but there’s literally no other bloodlines in Canada from anyone’s knowledge so for now, we just enjoy the little guys and let our neighbours to the south do the insurance colonies.

Appreciate the chat and I will for sure let the group know if I make a choice!

 

[aidbre94]

 

[Tom]

The best indicator of sex is tail size. When they are small, all of them tend to look female. These are just a little too small to sex reliably.