Bonding

[sammynj99]

I just got my second Russian tortoise. He is in a separate enclosure because he was following and annoying my other tortoise. My new one named Fred, is in our dining room area. He watches me eat all the time and will open and close his mouth while doing this. He even sometimes goes to his dish and will watch me. I've never seen the open and closing mouth before on a tortoise my other one, Trevor, doesn't do this. Is this something I should be worried about? Fred eats constantly he loves his food and is always demanding we fill his dish up by staring at it and then us. And we tried to take him out and spend time with him but he made a hissing noise to my husband. Yet he stares at my husband when he plays with his bearded dragons. Just trying to figure out these different behaviors compared to our other tortoise that acts completely different from this.

 

[wellington]

Hissing is the sound they make when they pull their head in. When his dish is empty, you should be giving him more. They should be able to graze off and on all day.
As for opening his mouth.
What are all the exact temps? Basking? Over all? Night?
Substrate?
Humidity?
Size of enclosure?
Type of lighting and heat you use?
Tortoises should never be housed in pairs so it's a good thing you seperated them. They each need a 4x8 minimum inside enclosure and bigger if possible outside.

 

[Tom]

I just got my second Russian tortoise. He is in a separate enclosure because he was following and annoying my other tortoise. My new one named Fred, is in our dining room area. He watches me eat all the time and will open and close his mouth while doing this. He even sometimes goes to his dish and will watch me. I've never seen the open and closing mouth before on a tortoise my other one, Trevor, doesn't do this. Is this something I should be worried about? Fred eats constantly he loves his food and is always demanding we fill his dish up by staring at it and then us. And we tried to take him out and spend time with him but he made a hissing noise to my husband. Yet he stares at my husband when he plays with his bearded dragons. Just trying to figure out these different behaviors compared to our other tortoise that acts completely different from this.

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They open and close their mouths when they are getting a respiratory infection. That is why Wellington is asking about the temperatures and enclosure.