Hermann's housing together?

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Repti82

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my fiance and i are planning on getting 2 tortoises in a few months and we really like Hermann's as a choice so far.
but i was wondering if you can house them together? or are they bad to put together?
should we get male/male, female/female, or male/female...
should they be from the same clutch of eggs?
or as long as they are the same size?
and say we do get two separate ones how do we introduce them together if we can co-habitat them?
Thanks! :D
 

wellington

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Hello and WELCOME. the sex can not be determined at a young age. Some will hatch them at a different temp for female, etc, but it is no gurantee they will be female. You can house two hatchlings together however, that does not mean they will always be able to live in the same enclosure. Two females would probably be better then two males or one of each. But again, the sex of them can not be determined until they are a lot older and bigger. Be prepared to separated them and keep an eye out for one not thriving as well as the other or for obvious bullying. If this happens they will need to be separated.
 

Repti82

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wellington said:
Hello and WELCOME. the sex can not be determined at a young age. Some will hatch them at a different temp for female, etc, but it is no gurantee they will be female. You can house two hatchlings together however, that does not mean they will always be able to live in the same enclosure. Two females would probably be better then two males or one of each. But again, the sex of them can not be determined until they are a lot older and bigger. Be prepared to separated them and keep an eye out for one not thriving as well as the other or for obvious bullying. If this happens they will need to be separated.

good to know! what about like 2 females and one male? is that a bad combo?
 

Repti82

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wellington said:
Most say two to three females to one male.

is there any other way to tell sex other than the tail thing...

also, off topic, but what is pyramiding?
 

Tom

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In the second link in my signature is a thread called "Pairs". Check that out. It will explain why you should not get just a pair in greater detail.

You can start with three, but you won't know their sex for sure until they are older. At that point they may all have to be separated, or they might still get along if you are lucky. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. If breeding is not a high priority for you, having just one is MUCH simpler.

And if they come from different sources, they will need to be quarantined and housed separately for several months too.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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Repti82 said:
wellington said:
Hello and WELCOME. the sex can not be determined at a young age. Some will hatch them at a different temp for female, etc, but it is no gurantee they will be female. You can house two hatchlings together however, that does not mean they will always be able to live in the same enclosure. Two females would probably be better then two males or one of each. But again, the sex of them can not be determined until they are a lot older and bigger. Be prepared to separated them and keep an eye out for one not thriving as well as the other or for obvious bullying. If this happens they will need to be separated.

good to know! what about like 2 females and one male? is that a bad combo?

1m/2f is good, 1m/3f is even better, depending on how much room you can give them...eventually, I plan to have 1m/10f (I suspect Ptolemy will approve! :p) and get serious aout breeding up a herd!

Are you planning on babies or young adults? Young adults will be much easier to sex accurately, as well as being hardier (sometimes hatchlings grow sickly and die, no matter what you do, while a somewhat older one, properly kept, will likely outlive it's keeper).
 

TortoiseBoy1999

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Repti82 said:
is there any other way to tell sex other than the tail thing...

also, off topic, but what is pyramiding?

Pyramiding is when they get big bump's on the back of there shell like this:

TortoiseBoy1999 said:
Pyramiding is when they get big bump's on the back of there shell like this:
 
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