Help with abandoned tortoises

[SamFred]

Hi all,

We’ve recently adopted two rescue tortoises, Fred and Sam. Initially, they seemed to get along fine Fred would occasionally head-butt Sam, but the interactions were brief and did not appear to be aggressive. We thought Sam was a female as she was docile and would burrow and dig.
After changing their sand substrate, however, Sam began aggressively head-butting, ramming, and even biting Fred’s legs, including mounting him with an open mouth in what might be a dominant posture. We separated them temporarily, but when reintroduced, the aggressive behaviour resumed almost immediately. Given space constraints, we can’t provide two separate enclosures and we're unsure how to proceed.

As we don’t know their age, sex, or species, any advice on managing this behavior or identifying their species would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Hope this helps:

Thread 'Signs of bullying in young tortoises'

Signs of bullying in young tortoises

'Following' is a form of "mad dogging". Cuddling and sleeping in the same area is a form of trying to crowd the other out of the territory. Does one or both sit on the food? That's another one. Outward, obvious hostility like biting, ramming, or flipping seldom happens with juveniles. The...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[SinLA]

I believe they are Herman’s tortoises but others who know better will reply. The key thing is a) you cannot have tortoises in pairs. You must adopt one out or provide two enclosures one will eventually bully the other to death.

b) read the FAQs here to ensure you have proper space even for one. They need more space than most pet stores or websites telll you

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I think Herman, or possibly Greek? Let me tag @Yvonne G

Bless you for taking them in! These two cannot be housed together, tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about, unfortunately breeders do this a lot.

Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio.

Another thing of pressing note is to not house them on sand, it can and has caused deadly impactions in tortoises. As these guys look to be relatively young, so they’d benefit from a closed chamber to maintain higher humidity which will aid in smoother growth as they get bigger.

Hopefully this thread I made will be useful to look over! It covers equipment, levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger tortoises(only way to maintain the humidity you need), appropriately maintaining the humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! Even if they’re Greek, this care information can still apply.

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes some different closed chamber options, some more efficient than others

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, probably the most important, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help! Always happy to try and answer any further questions! Welcome to the forum

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

If you can't make two enclosures, you are faced with the hard decisions of rehoming one of them. It does sounds like you can't keep them together much longer before something happens.

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome. I am sorry to say that here it is once again obvious that a pair of tortoises in the same enclosure will never be comfortable or healthy. You'll have to keep them separated. Permanently.

 

[SamFred]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the feedback. We have since confirmed that they are male and female. We have taken the advice on board and are now looking for a new home. We are hoping they will be transferred to an area where the weather is mild throughout the year and they can roam around outdoors with ample space. Wish us luck in finding a happy home where they are stressfree.