He stopped eating...

[Gloria Ohland]

Hello. I very much appreciate this forum and am grateful that you answer so many questions! Here's mine: I have a 50/60 year old very large desert tortoise (Romeo) and a small girl tortoise (Mojave) who refuses Romeo and runs from him every chance she has. We've lived up in the high desert mesa with these 2 tortoises for 6 years. They live outdoors in a very large, safe yard with several burrows (including one that is very deep and large and intended for winter) and trees and bushes that provide lots of places to hide. But Romeo has stopped eating the past 3 weeks—he'll take just a bite or two of something he likes—and then he goes all around the yard trying to find the girl and/or trying to get out. Is this a problem? She still eats quite a bit but she runs and hides every time she sees him. Is this a problem? There are some things in the yard that are edible but I think the food that I feed them is better. Should I be concerned? Thank you for replying!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Hopefully @Yvonne G can help you.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I would permanently separate them, it sounds like your male is in mating mode and it’s reducing his appetite, and I imagine the chasing is stressing your female, pair dynamics don’t work for tortoises

 

[Tom]

Hello. I very much appreciate this forum and am grateful that you answer so many questions! Here's mine: I have a 50/60 year old very large desert tortoise (Romeo) and a small girl tortoise (Mojave) who refuses Romeo and runs from him every chance she has. We've lived up in the high desert mesa with these 2 tortoises for 6 years. They live outdoors in a very large, safe yard with several burrows (including one that is very deep and large and intended for winter) and trees and bushes that provide lots of places to hide. But Romeo has stopped eating the past 3 weeks—he'll take just a bite or two of something he likes—and then he goes all around the yard trying to find the girl and/or trying to get out. Is this a problem? She still eats quite a bit but she runs and hides every time she sees him. Is this a problem? There are some things in the yard that are edible but I think the food that I feed them is better. Should I be concerned? Thank you for replying!

They should never be kept in pairs. Groups can work in some cases, but never pairs.

Yes, you should be very concerned, and they should be separated ASAP.

Also, although I 100% disagree with the law, you are not allowed to breed them and males and females cannot legally be housed together in this species.

Check out this thread and look at the night houses in particular. These make it much better and easier to get into brumation and then come out of brumation successfully:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Gloria Ohland]

So I should give away one of the two tortoises? And both can be all alone? I got them from a woman who was dying. The two were together with her in her house and/or outside. I could give the girl to a friend but then Romeo would be alone. Wouldn't they be lonely? I am trying to be a good tortoise handler! Thank you for your advice!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

So I should give away one of the two tortoises? And both can be all alone? I got them from a woman who was dying. The two were together with her in her house and/or outside. I could give the girl to a friend but then Romeo would be alone. Wouldn't they be lonely? I am trying to be a good tortoise handler! Thank you for your advice!

If you’ve got enough space you could build a barrier between them to keep them permanently separate, or yes pass one on to someone you know will be an equally good home
Don’t worry about either being lonely, they’re naturally very solitary animals and much prefer living alone.
One thing that might happen is an initial transition period where they seem a bit ‘off’, might go off food etc, this isn’t because they’ll be missing one another, it’s because tortoises are the kind of animals that hate any kind of change, if a pair dynamic is what they’ve know for many years, it could take a few weeks for them to adjust, the male will still likely be pacing looking for the female, don’t let it discourage the separation. They might even take it in their stride right away

 

[Yvonne G]

So I should give away one of the two tortoises? And both can be all alone? I got them from a woman who was dying. The two were together with her in her house and/or outside. I could give the girl to a friend but then Romeo would be alone. Wouldn't they be lonely? I am trying to be a good tortoise handler! Thank you for your advice!

Tortoises are solitary animals. They neither want nor need companionship. If you give the female away he will look for her for a while because of the breeding thing, but he'll get over it.

In my opinion, he's stopped eating because of the time of year. He may be trying to clear out his digestive tract so it's empty for brumation. That's normal.

 

[EppsDynasty]

I agree with Yvonne.... We have just had a very cold spell and it has prompted the Desert Torts to 'prepare' for the cold. We have dozens of CA desert Torts and they all have changed their behaviors in just this last week.
I also agree with the others, these 2 NEED to be separated. You live in their natural habitat so a question for you..... How often do you see 2 Desert Torts together? Never right ... well your yard is no different, they do not want to be together. We have multiple torts from your area we are the local rescue for that area (we are just 200 miles away) and are very familiar with the weather you are experiencing right now.

 

[Gloria Ohland]

Hello. I very much appreciate this forum and am grateful that you answer so many questions! Here's mine: I have a 50/60 year old very large desert tortoise (Romeo) and a small girl tortoise (Mojave) who refuses Romeo and runs from him every chance she has. We've lived up in the high desert mesa with these 2 tortoises for 6 years. They live outdoors in a very large, safe yard with several burrows (including one that is very deep and large and intended for winter) and trees and bushes that provide lots of places to hide. But Romeo has stopped eating the past 3 weeks—he'll take just a bite or two of something he likes—and then he goes all around the yard trying to find the girl and/or trying to get out. Is this a problem? She still eats quite a bit but she runs and hides every time she sees him. Is this a problem? There are some things in the yard that are edible but I think the food that I feed them is better. Should I be concerned? Thank you for replying!