behavior question

[Alethea]

I have a 6.5" tort and a 6" tort both females. The bigger one will put her front legs on the back of the smaller one or ram her head into the smaller ones side. The smaller one is minding her own business and allows the other one to do this without even walking away. It does not appear to be a sexual mounting or an actual fight or anything. Is it a show of dominance? We seperate them when we catch it but we are not with 24 hours a day. They have a 10' x 10' space so I doubt it is frustration from being too close. Any thoughts?

 

[Tortus]

What species do you have?

Keeping 2 together can be a bad idea since most are solitary and can be territorial. Most people here recommend 3 or more if keeping them together.

 

[mctlong]

You're right, it is a show of dominance. That type of behavior is unfortunately common in tortoises and can cause alot of stress on the smaller animal. The solution would be to keep the two in separate enclosures.

 

[Tom]

The more dominant one is trying to drive the other one out of her territory. The smaller one would like to leave, but can't because she's confined in your enclosure. This causes tremendous long term chronic stress which can eventually lead to sickness or death. They NEED to be separated.

Another solution would be to double or triple the enclosure size, add another female and a single male, add lots of hiding areas, and then hope for the best. Sometimes a good male will "keep the peace" among the females and with three females, usually a single one won't be singled out for too much sexual attention.

In any case, as you are seeing, pairs almost never work out in most species, regardless of sexes.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

My greeks do this from time to time. I kind of let them work in out (with supervision) and they usually stop after a day or two.