Hermanns questions

[lou_martin]

Hi all, I am Louise from the UK and on here due to inheriting 2 hermanns who are about 6/7 years old, looks as though they have been fed all the wrong food up to now and given no stimulation whatsoever. They are in a vivarium for now while we build a 'proper' enclosure to suit their needs better. We have been told they are brother and sister and that the little one is the boy and the other much larger one is the girl, have measured and weighed and they do seem in proportion but i can see some pyramiding on the female. The male today has started mating the female - is this normal behaviour or should i seperate them due to their family connection??! Any help/suggestions much appreciated...
Thank you!

 

[GBtortoises]

Photos and measurements would help greatly. Yes, it's normal behavior for males to mate with females, that's how babies are made! LOL Seriously, Most male tortoises, especially Testudo species will mount females constantly. Usually a change of some sort triggers them to begin thinking about breeding. It could be an increase in heat and light, after slightly less intense light and heat. A general change in environment and surroundings will often trigger a male to mount a female. But just because a male is mounting a female constantly doesn't necessarily mean that the female is going to be receptive. Unless the female is ready to breed it isn't going to happen. This situation is where females can get injured and stressed by the males constant, often aggressive advances. If the aggressive advances continue I would consider seperating them so that the female doesn't become stressed or injured.
As far as breeding them, if they are positively known to be siblings I wouldn't encourage it just because of any negative traits that might be magnified by the close genetics. But, they undoubtably do so in the wild.

 

[lou_martin]

thanks GB, the female certainly didnt look too receptive or impressed lol! But at least i now know its normal behaviour... Will add some photos and measurements at some point so i can benefit from the wisdom of the forums as they've also never been hibernated so thats my next topic to cover!!
Thanks again