Are male tortoises more active than females?

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I've noticed that our male Russian tortoise wanders around a lot more than our female, who tends to just find a spot and stay there. Indoors, the male walks around his pen more often. Outdoors, although they both pause to eat, the male walks far and wide before finally resting, while the female rests a lot sooner. Is this just a difference in the behavior of these particular individuals, or is it gender based?

 

[68merc]

My pair is the same as yours. They are outside in the same enclosure, the male is out of his hide just after sun is up to find a warm spot. He will go to the food pile as soon as I drop it in. The female jut sits in her hide till after he eats. Then she will walk 2 feet and bask. The male does laps around the enclosure before he basks.
When I get home from work I give them more to eat, most of the time she doesn't come out but he sprints!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Okay, I'm glad to hear that. Yes, it's amazing how much earlier our male gets up, and how much more time the female spends hiding. The male also tends to react more quickly and energetically when I give him food, although I think the female has become more enthusiastic about feeding time lately, too, now that she knows us and when to expect meals. I've heard it is much the same way with sulcatas, with the male being more active than the female, so maybe this is the rule with tortoises in general.

NOTE: The female used to eat more than the male, and the male used to spend more time in the hot spot. Now, however, after more than a month of having them, they both eat a lot and spend a lot of time basking, which is good. However, I still think the female spends more time in her cave than the male does in his. As I've mentioned in other posts, they used to live in the same pen, but now they each have their own. I think this is good for the female, since it allows her to eat in peace.

 

[bikerchicspain]

As I am self taught on reptile behavior, I have found that males tend to be more active than females especially in mating season,

The males will walk long distances looking for a female to mate,

Saying that all mine are lazy apart from mini and Henri, he chases mini, she gets pissy, when he sleeps she goes and climbs on top to get him to chase her again,

 

[GBtortoises]

I agree with Yvonne. I think the main reason for this is that males typically have a territory that they patrol on a regular basis searching for food, females to potentially breed with and to protect their "turf" from other intruding males. The females don't normally have that type of dominant behavior and more likely roam from one male territory to another within an area searching for food more casually.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Looks like male Russian tortoises also have longer legs, walk faster, and can right themselves more quickly than females:

Bonnet, X., F. Lagarde, B.T. Henen, J. Corbin, K.A. Nagy, G. Naulleau, K. Balhoul, O. Chasetel, A. Legrand, and R. Cambag. 2001. Sexual dimorphism in steppe tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii): influence of the environment and sexual selection on body shape and mobility. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 72(3): 357–372.

Abstract:
Selective forces shape sexes differently, with male body proportions facing strong selection to enhance mate searching and male-to-male combat traits, and female fitness being influenced by the ability to assimilate large amounts of nutrients necessary for vitellogenesis (and/or gestation), and their ability to carry the eggs or embryos. We evaluated the sexual dimorphism of body proportion of more than 800 wild steppe tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii) in Uzbekistan. The thick, well-developed shell offers protection from predators but pronounced digging habits probably also constrain body shape (e.g. a shell that is dorso-ventrally flattened, although round from a dorsal view helps to penetrate into, and move within the soil). Thus, in this species, natural selection might favour a heavy and flat shell that is ‘closed’ with small openings for appendages. In males, these environmental influences appear to be countered by sexual selection. Compared to females, they weigh less (absolutely and relative to shell dimensions), have longer legs, have shell structure allowing wider movements for their legs, and they walk faster. Males were also able to right themselves more quickly than females did in experimental tests. This quick righting ability is critical because intra-sexual combats frequently result in males being flipped onto their backs and becoming prone to hyperthermia or predation. Females are heavily built, with wide shells (relative to male shells), which may provide space for carrying eggs. From our results, a number of simple hypotheses can be tested on a wide range of chelonian species.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

BTW - Here is a copy of Lagarde et al. (2001), attached to this post.

 

[Laura]

my male drives me nuts with the pacing and running around! oh, and trying to escape.. which he did the other day.. pushed his 'roofing' off and over to a corner and up and over he went! He ended up in the sulcata pen.. he is lucky he wasnt injured or worse.. i found him dug down for the night in a corner.

 

[grogansilver]

Yes! Defiantly.