Do female Galapagos tortoise bite?

cuc228

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Hi guys. I’m fascinated with Galapagos tortoise and I’m preparing the knowledge to get one or a pair. From what I read galapagos do bite each other when raised together, even when they are a few months old. I’m wondering does this apply to males only or even females will bit each other when they are young? Id like to know it to see if it’s possible to raise two together temporarily when they are young and small.
 

Markw84

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If you plan on having just one that will be alone the rest of its life, it would do fine that way. I would never recommend a pair. Three or more, raised together will do best.

IF raised together, the biting you refer to happens very little. Galapagos tortoises have developed "social" strategies to allow them to live in close proximity to each other - in groups. They develop a pecking order with a larger male normally the more dominant individual. When a stranger enters a group, there will be quite a bit of open mouth display that can lead to biting. Most dominance in a Galapagos group is decided by whomever can open their mouth and they raise their head the highest. That one wins! In a group that has lived together, that is the extent of the "battle"! Little biting. Just seeing whose "taller". With a stranger, and particularly a tortoise that has not learned social skills (raised alone) the battle can progress into biting and an attempt to turn one over. But I do not see this with tortoises raised together where they from an early age develop a social hierarchy.

As a result when starting an assurance colony, or adding new baby tortoises to later be added to a group, we will always do at least 3 tortoises to raise together their first few years to develop these social skills. Then later, when added to the group, they tend to do much better assimilating.

The testing of one another seems most pronounced with younger tortoises in the 2-5 year old range as well.
 

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