HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!

[garon]

Hi every one, I have got a russian tortoise and for some reasoon I wanted to get a nother one to house together so I did, my female I have had for a while is trying to bite the male I have just got! Will she stop or should I rehome the male????

 

[sibi]

Are you sure that your female is a she, and your male is a he?

 

[garon]

Yes am sure

 

[wellington]

Wish you would have more threads on TFO, you would have learned that tortoises don't need, not want a friend. Russians are one of the worst for housing together. No, they will always fight. When she's ready to breed, if one is male and one female, they will then breed, but will have to be separated. Unless you have them in a very, very large e closure and lots of sight barriers, you will need to keep them separate or get a bunch more, so there is more the one to be picked on.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Definitely seperate them IMMEDIATELY... Steppe tortoises are pretty territorial, and you need to (A) verify that they're not both males, and (B) if a mixed pair, turning into a trio by adding another female (more is even better...you really can't have too many females per male, as long as the enclosure is large enough!).

A 1/1 ratio is VERY unsafe for the female, because the male was constantly pester her for "reptile romance", which will very soon stress her out until she dies.

 

[mctlong]

Yep, Russians are kinda the jerks of the tortoise world. They often don't get along with each other and can get very territorial. Sounds like these two will need to be separated.

 

[sibi]

Well then, is there a way you can introduce them both to a new environment? The problem you're having is that your female has claimed the space as hers. If you want to introduce a male, you'll have to redo their enclosure and both be places at the same time. Now, this may stop the bullying, but it may not. If it does stop, you've gained another tort. If not, then it may be time to rehome the male. like others said above, getting more than one female is another route to take if you have the room.

 

[Jacqui]

Well then, is there a way you can introduce them both to a new environment? The problem you're having is that your female has claimed the space as hers. If you want to introduce a male, you'll have to redo their enclosure and both be places at the same time. Now, this may stop the bullying, but it may not. If it does stop, you've gained another tort. If not, then it may be time to regime the male.

This would be my advise too. I won't mention you should have quarantine the new one first BEFORE exposing your current one to possible disease, it's too late for that now. The larger the enclosure and the more visual barriers you have (ie hides, plants, land sloped, ect) the better you will be. Now unless she is doing serious damage, she may just be making sure he knows his place in the order of things (that she has first rights to the best food, best basking spot, ect) just give them some time and things may sort out on their own. Watch them close so it does not become serious...as in biting that draws blood.

Any time you get a new animal, as you have learned it's not wise to just dump it in with the current animal in his/her enclosure. Also any time you get a new animal, you need to have another enclosure ready to set up, if the two (or more) do not get along.