Co-habitation

[Raymo2477]

Have a male/female pair of Hermann's. I've had them a year and they get along okay. The female is much larger than the male... And I've never seen any aggression. In fact the smaller male eats more than the larger female. The male is 5.5" in length and the female 7.5". Should I separate? The previous owner had the as a pair for 3 years and said they got along.

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Btw the female is hercegovenis and male is boettgeri.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

If they've really lived together for 4 years with no problems I can't see why it would be an issue, except if they try to breed, I'm sure you will have a lot of enemies if you breed two subspecies together

If they start fighting, then obviously they'd need to be seperated, but that's even within the same subspecies. Hermann's in general have been known to get along with others okay, though.

 

[GBtortoises]

Have a male/female pair of Hermann's. I've had them a year and they get along okay. The female is much larger than the male... And I've never seen any aggression. In fact the smaller male eats more than the larger female. The male is 5.5" in length and the female 7.5". Should I separate? The previous owner had the as a pair for 3 years and said they got along.

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Btw the female is hercegovenis and male is boettgeri.

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As pairs Hermann's can often live together until suddenly one day when a seasonal variation (light, heat, day length, etc...) triggers the male to become sexually aggressive. From this point on the female can be injured and/or highly stressed to the point of her health being in jepordy. It is best to keep mature male and female Hermann's seperate from each other or keep at least 2 females (3-4 being better) with a single male. By doing this you take the constant aggression off any one particular female. But more tortoises also need much larger accomodations.

Based on the fact alone the one is a Dalmatian and one is an Eastern it's best to not keep them together and allow them to interbreed. The Dalmatian race is overall the less dominant of the two and by interbreeding them one would be further diluting the Dalmatian race in captivity. Are you certain that your female is a Dalmatian? 7.5" is unusually large for the race. Can you post some photos of her?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Have a male/female pair of Hermann's. I've had them a year and they get along okay. The female is much larger than the male... And I've never seen any aggression. In fact the smaller male eats more than the larger female. The male is 5.5" in length and the female 7.5". Should I separate? The previous owner had the as a pair for 3 years and said they got along.

---

Btw the female is hercegovenis and male is boettgeri.

---

As pairs Hermann's can often live together until suddenly one day when a seasonal variation (light, heat, day length, etc...) triggers the male to become sexually aggressive. From this point on the female can be injured and/or highly stressed to the point of her health being in jepordy. It is best to keep mature male and female Hermann's seperate from each other or keep at least 2 females (3-4 being better) with a single male. By doing this you take the constant aggression off any one particular female. But more tortoises also need much larger accomodations.

Based on the fact alone the one is a Dalmatian and one is an Eastern it's best to not keep them together and allow them to interbreed. The Dalmatian race is overall the less dominant of the two and by interbreeding them one would be further diluting the Dalmatian race in captivity. Are you certain that your female is a Dalmatian? 7.5" is unusually large for the race. Can you post some photos of her?

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2nd this...a 1/1 combination will eventually become a problem.

Besides, if she is, indeed, a Dalmatian, you should reserve her breeding potential for a Dalmatian male and find your Eastern male a female (or several)...

Think of it as an excellent reason to get more Hermann's tortoises!

 

[Raymo2477]

This is my female...any idea of race?

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sorry this was the second pic.

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Forgot the plastron pic

 

[CactusVinnie]

Definitely Boettgeri.

 

[GBtortoises]

I agree with Fabian. Definitely Boettgeri.

 

[Raymo2477]

Thanks! I was told she was herzegovenis but was never sure. Now I need to find another female boettgeri to go with my male.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Thanks! I was told she was herzegovenis but was never sure. Now I need to find another female boettgeri to go with my male.

Try Kingsnakes Classifieds if you can't find any in our forum classifieds...this is the right time of year to be looking (I'm about to get 3 more females, myself! )

 

[Raymo2477]

Well before I go off half **** I'll post some pics of my male just to be sure of his race.

 

[Raymo2477]

this is the male in question

 

[CactusVinnie]

this is the male in question

Oops! I asked you pics on other topic.
It is a Boettgeri too; very small, but present inguinals, and Boettgeri coloration overall.

I don't know... they are too perfect and smooth to be wild-caughts, but also they are so perfect, that only WC can be ...

 

[Raymo2477]

The dealer said they were captive raised but you never know. Now that I know about this forum I wouldn't by wild caught again.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

The dealer said they were captive raised but you never know. Now that I know about this forum I wouldn't by wild caught again.

Likely "farmed"...not exactly wild caught. Wild tortoise are gathered and when they lay eggs, the eggs are cultivated and the hatchlings raised until of a sellable size.

3 of my 4 were "farmed", only Jennifer was captive bred.