girl/boy

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netc

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hello everyone , im new to this site ,i have 2 spur thighs and was told they were a boy and girl, i just wanted to know whether girl tortoises ever do the butting,biting and mounting as my (girl) has started to do this or do you think she is a he ?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi netc:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

Without seeing your tortoises' picture, all we would be doing is guessing. Besides the male/female breeding thing, the antics you've described can be aggression and bullying between same or opposite sexes.

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?
 

Tom

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Yes females can do that, and pairs should not be kept together in most situations. I recommend you separate them. The one who is being bullied is not happy right now. Over the long term the chronic stress could lead to sickness or death. If you wish to keep more than one, it should be at least two or three females to one male and in a very large interesting outdoor enclosure.
 

JoesMum

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Tom is right. Both males and females will fight for dominance like this.

In the wild, tortoises are largely solitary; they meet up to mate and move on. They don't get lonely or need company.

In the confined spaces of captivity, as they grow they become jealous of both food and territory and both males and females start indulging in the behaviour you describe.

The loser in these scraps becomes withdrawn and ill and could die if they are not separated quickly.

Groups of 3 or more can work in large outdoor enclosures where there is plenty of stuff to break sight lines and for a single tortoise to avoid being the focus of attention.

I too recommend that you separate your tortoises as soon as possible.

If you were to get a third, it would need to be roughly the same size and would have to be kept in quarantine entirely separately from yours for a good 6-12 months to ensure that none of them makes the others sick. There would still be no guarantees that your two would tolerate the incomer unfortunately.
 

Jacqui

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First step would be to show us some pictures, so we can attempt to guess what gender they both are. Then you can go from there with deciding what you might want to do to handle the situation.
 

netc

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emysemys said:
Hi netc:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

Without seeing your tortoises' picture, all we would be doing is guessing. Besides the male/female breeding thing, the antics you've described can be aggression and bullying between same or opposite sexes.

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

hi thanks for your reply , my name is net , im in portsmouth ,uk
 

JoesMum

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How big are your tortoises?

We can sex them from a good clear photograph of the plastron (undershell) and tail if they are big enough.
 

netc

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hi my name is net , and i live in hampshire uk thanks for your replies , i am going to try and post some pictures tonight , the tortoises sleep in a tortoise table at night and get on fine , its only been the last couple of days when they have been in their outside run that the he/she has started doing this , it says on the paper work they were hatched in 2009 they have been together since we got them in august 2011
 

JoesMum

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netc said:
hi my name is net , and i live in hampshire uk thanks for your replies , i am going to try and post some pictures tonight , the tortoises sleep in a tortoise table at night and get on fine , its only been the last couple of days when they have been in their outside run that the he/she has started doing this , it says on the paper work they were hatched in 2009 they have been together since we got them in august 2011

At just 3 years old, they are too young to sex with any accuracy. They can be sexed from about 5-10 years. They can 'be bred to be' a particular gender by controlling incubation temperatures, but it is an inexact science. You have a pair of tortoises of uncertain gender until they are older.

I refer you to my earlier answer regarding separation. What you are seeing is two tortoises growing up and trying to establish dominance. The loser may not come off well out of this if you leave them together.
 

netc

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JoesMum said:
netc said:
hi my name is net , and i live in hampshire uk thanks for your replies , i am going to try and post some pictures tonight , the tortoises sleep in a tortoise table at night and get on fine , its only been the last couple of days when they have been in their outside run that the he/she has started doing this , it says on the paper work they were hatched in 2009 they have been together since we got them in august 2011

At just 3 years old, they are too young to sex with any accuracy. They can be sexed from about 5-10 years. They can 'be bred to be' a particular gender by controlling incubation temperatures, but it is an inexact science. You have a pair of tortoises of uncertain gender until they are older.

I refer you to my earlier answer regarding separation. What you are seeing is two tortoises growing up and trying to establish dominance. The loser may not come off well out of this if you leave them together.

hi only saw your message after i tried to post the pictures , dont know where they ended up , i will keep an eye on them and see if it happens next time they go out , thanks
 

Yvonne G

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I'm not an expert on the Greek tortoises, but they both look male to me.
 

netc

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emysemys said:
I'm not an expert on the Greek tortoises, but they both look male to me.

hi im not sure why this has been moved to greek tortoises , i put it in general discussion , it says on the paperwork their origin is turkey .
 
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