Co-Habitation and Sex

[texscowgirl]

[/font][/size][size=medium]I need some help please. We have a 5 yr. old male (Mikey) and we recently aquired a supposed 2 year old. It is small for the age due to being kept in a tank its entire life and being stunted. I have 2 questions. #1, What do I look for to try to determine the sex of the new one? And #2, how do I get Mikey to cohabitate with the new one? We know Mikey is a male because he is already "Flashing". He wants to be VERY dominate where the little one is concerned and we are afraid he will hurt it.
Thank you in advance to anyone that can give me some advise.

 

[Tom]

Well first of all, hello and welcome to the forum.

Now for your question. Keep them separate. Male sulcatas can be very aggressive and violent. Friend #1 gave one to friend#2 who had a herd of them. Everything seemed fine until friend #2 came home after work one day to find one of his originals dead with the new male still ramming the dead body.
Weeks went by until original herd member #2 was found dead. Everything was fine for a couple of months and then, yet another male was killed. Finally the guy got a clue and separated the assassin.

My 3 year old female tried to get very aggressive with my 8 month old juveniles, when I introduced them for the first time. They had to be separated until the youngin's get some more size on them and then I'll try to reintroduce them in a neutral environment.

The point is, sometimes they get a long and sometimes they don't. If you've got a five year old male that is coming of age and "feeling his oats" you'd be seriously risking the life of a smaller one by putting it in there with him. If you are going to do it, make sure they are supervised 100% of the time they are together. If someone can't be there to watch, make the little one his own pen.

Sexing can range from "possible" to "just a guess" until they get older and bigger. If you see them flash, like your five year old, you know its a male. However, some males, like my Bert, don't show any characteristics of being a male until they are 8 or 9. There are a lot of factors to examine when determining sex. Shape of the anal scutes. Size and shape of tail. Position and appearance of the cloacal opening on the tail. Size and shape of the gular scutes. Concavity, or not, of the plastron. Size of the head. Behavior. Etc... What makes it really easy is if it flashes its penis, or lays eggs for you. In the latter two cases, one can always be 100% sure of the sex... haha

 

[jeffbens0n]

Post some nude pics of your new tort and hopefully someone will be able to identify his/her sex.

 

[Yvonne G]

Its always best to introduce tortoises in a different habitat. Mikey is protecting his personal range. Its nature for males to keep other tortoise out of their territory. But, you may never be able to keep them together.

 

[texscowgirl]

Thank you Tom! We are keeping the two seperate. They are in outdoor enclosures where they can see each other, but Mikey can not get to the little one. The one time we tried to introduce them, Mikey tried to charge the little one.[/size][/font]

 

[Tom]

Yeah that's what happened with mine too. Usually it will work out in time, but not always.

 

[texscowgirl]

I am trying to get some good pics of it, but not sure what areas to get close ups of.

 

[dmarcus]

Good photos of the anal scutes Plastron or bottom view will work but we all love just photo's in general doesn't matter the area...

 

[Tom]

Here's and example of the view we need:

 

[texscowgirl]

Okay, got some pics so I am going to try to post them.