Do male radiated make better pets?

Radiata1971

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I had a 4 month old radiated male that I got from Tom Motlow out of Dallas Texas and sold him when he turned a year old and noticed he was a pretty Good captive radiata and would do the rain dance when under my water sprinkler, Now in 2017 I have a 5 month old Radiata temp sexed female from Jay Russo out of houston Texas and its personality is not as outgoing as the little male I used to have and was wondering if male radiata are more outgoing than females?
 

wellington

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I don't know about the Rads, but my male leopards are more personable and more active and barely pulls in. Much more out going then the females. I also remember many times Aldabraman saying that the male aldabras are more out going and personable then the females. I'm guessing it's probably the same in most species of tortoises.
 

MPRC

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My female redfoots tolerate handling, my males seem to love attention.
 

tglazie

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I think this simply varies according to individual. I have five of Jay Russo's rads, all temp sexed female (whatever that means; I mean, they say it matters, but that is definitely an area requiring of more study) and they all vary considerably concerning their behavioral characteristics. Some are quite dominant and outgoing, others are extremely shy. The first one I got, nicknamed The Ancient or "Ain't" for short, is extremely outgoing and is full of personality. The second and third ones I got, Crunch and Munch, are diametrically opposed. Crunch has a rear scute shell deformity and she couldn't be more gregarious. Munch, on the other hand, is extremely shy and spends more time in his shelter than he does moving about. The third and fourth ones I got, Lumpkins and Littlins, are both quite gregarious, feeding and drinking with gusto and approaching any time I near their enclosures. The fifth one that I got from Chris H. in Houston, Giganticus, of a different bloodline than Jay's animals, is fairly reserved and shy, though he/she is quite active during the course of the day when I'm not hovering over the enclosure.

Concerning my margies, Lady Gino and Big Gino are equally robust and social, following me around any time I enter their respective paddocks. Marge and Little Gino, on the other hand, are incredibly anti social (better than they were when I acquired them, but still fairly unfriendly). All of the youngsters I've produced from Big Gino and Marge and Little Gino and Lady Gino are all anti social jerks, but I've never known a baby margie that wasn't a flighty little fartface in a shell, so, I don't know. Biggins, a young marginated I got from Gary B, is starting to grow into a very personable adult, but his/her sister/brother Whitens is the complete opposite. Two margies I got from Chris that are growing into young adults are two temp sexed females (that turned out to be males) Larry and Joey, who are both antisocial, but in particular ways that are very strange. Joey won't eat in front of me, but he will approach me when I enter his paddock. He will sit in front of a rose of sharon bloom or a cactus pad or bunch of mulberry leaves, and he just sits there until I leave. Should I return to watch him eat, he stops eating and waits for me to give him some space. Larry, on the other hand, never eats in front of me, unless I sneak up on him. But he isn't afraid. He's upset that I'm in the paddock, and he charges me. The same goes for my eastern Hermann's tortoise Mr. Lucky. He charges at me like a madman, then he reaches my foot and just doesn't know what to do. But the moment I move away from him, he resumes his charge. Does that count as personable? I mean, I have to wonder if he actually hates me and doesn't put two and two together concerning the fact that I am the human provider of food. Any food I drop into his enclosure he will get around to eating, but only when I've ducked beneath the horizon. My oldest Graecus, a Turkish ibera I've had since I was in elementary school, is ridiculously aggressive and will eat vigorously on anything I toss into his enclosure, which is crazy, given that he generally spends any moment within his Goldilocks zone grazing on the dandies, chickory, dichondra, clover, lamb's lettuce, collards, sow thistle, and mallows growing in his place.

Honestly, given my wide ranging experience with tortoises, perhaps I would be amenable to the argument that males are more gregarious than females, but I've encountered so many outgoing, many hyper aggressive females. My uncle has two large female sulcatas that are absolute puppy dogs. Both of them even challenge the resident male to combat on a fairly regular basis at the height of summer, despite having a quarter acre enclosure to crawl over. My uncle also has three large female redfoots that rule their respective parts of the redfoot roost. They shove the other foots around following any significant rain, and they passive aggressively sit on the food pile when dinner is served, because they are outgoing jerks. And my majestic Lady Gino is also a giant jerk toward any other tortoise in her enclosure. Her displays of craven aggression were the final straw that ultimately inspired me to keep every tortoise in my collection singly, with occasional introductions to other animals for breeding/fight conditioning purposes. But yes, Lady Gino is very outgoing and exceedingly aggressive, so much so that any time I introduce Lady Gino into Little Gino's enclosure, I have to watch to make sure Lady Gino doesn't turn around and decide to reply to Little Gino's romantic overtures with a series of bites to the legs and face. She gets pretty testy when she isn't in the mood, and she isn't afraid to express herself.

Also, I wouldn't be too concerned if your little one is somewhat anti social. Some tortoises are just this way. Perhaps it was a mistake to give up the other rad, but it definitely wasn't a mistake to get your new rad. But hey, that's always been my philosophy. Getting rid of animals has always been a problem for me, even more so since I moved to the outskirts of town on a bigger piece of land. Getting tortoises, though, that's often an easy decision. It's why I went from getting a single rad as a gift to getting five more of them.

T.G.
 

Yvonne G

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I agree with T.G. In my opinion, if you give the tortoise a whole lot of individual attention it responds in kind.
 

kingsley

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I have two old studbook males that are like two pet dogs!!! absolutey stunning personalities.
 

zovick

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As one who has been keeping Radiated Tortoises since the mid-1960's, I can say that it has been my experience that males are more friendly than females as a general rule. However, you won't notice that friendliness coming out in a 5 month old baby. In a 5 year old, though, you should begin to see it.
 

LJL1982

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I had a 4 month old radiated male that I got from Tom Motlow out of Dallas Texas and sold him when he turned a year old and noticed he was a pretty Good captive radiata and would do the rain dance when under my water sprinkler, Now in 2017 I have a 5 month old Radiata temp sexed female from Jay Russo out of houston Texas and its personality is not as outgoing as the little male I used to have and was wondering if male radiata are more outgoing than females?
I only have one radiated, and my experience is with Turkish Ibera that are outgoing boisterous tanks, but my female is a very sweet, slow peaceful thing.

She doesn't behave terrified, but she doesn't request attention. If I plonk food down in front of her she won't flinch, but she also behaves like she has no purpose in life...I don't always see her move, she will bumble up one end of her enclosure and then a couple hours later she's at the other but I often don't see her move...she will use any of a few hides, and sleeps under plants preferably.

In comparison to my male Ibera who I can hear whenever he is awake, she is definitely a sweet dwtty thing
 

TammyJ

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Hmmm. At the risk of seeming anti-feminist, I might actually venture to mildly suggest that it may just be possible that the female of any species tends generally to display a bit less aggressive or boisterous behavior than the male...🤭🤪
 

TammyJ

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Hmmm. At the risk of seeming anti-feminist, I might actually venture to mildly suggest that it may just be possible that the female of any species tends generally to display a bit less aggressive or boisterous behavior than the male...🤭🤪
Tammy. Please.
 

LJL1982

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Hmmm. At the risk of seeming anti-feminist, I might actually venture to mildly suggest that it may just be possible that the female of any species tends generally to display a bit less aggressive or boisterous behavior than the male...🤭🤪
😆😆😆
 

ZEROPILOT

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My female redfoots tolerate handling, my males seem to love attention.
I'm just now reading this old post. But I agree that male RF are much more interactive with humans than females.
AND Alpha males are not as aggressive towards me as Alpha females. They're super curious. But not threatened by me.
If you are to have only one tortoise and you want a Redfoot. Get a male. They're almost always less expensive to boot.
This may or may not have anything to do with Radiated tortoise behavior
 
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