Houston...we have a problem

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Macheteslaststep

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Ok, so I thought I had one of each - male, female. Seemed great, simple, easy...hmfm! My little "Doza" turned back into a Dozer today. I don't know what went wrong. He's about 5 inches now, never saw a "mini me" during bath time, and the scutes are in a perfect U...completely opposite of Tank who showed himself at 3"!!

Ok, so now what? Can they still live together for a few years at least? I haven't seen any aggression, but I do believe Tank has proven dominance (he's about 3-4" larger than Dozer). Do I have to re-home one of my babies?? :(:(:(

Right now building two seperate enclosures is out of the question due to space issues. The one that they are in is 3' x 6' though and if I have to I will make it a joint enclosure of 3' x 3'. Once we find a farm then they can each have their own space if needed. Is there anyway that they may be able to co-habitate for life? I don't plan on introducing a new leopard now (I was going to look for a second female when I figured out Dozer was a "girl"), but I'll just keep the two boys then.

Thanks for any advice you may have!!!

Saranna
 

Stephanie Logan

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I have read on this forum that they can co-habitate till they reach sexual maturity if they don't fight.
 

Laura

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Just dont tell them!.. they might get along just fine, or....if you bring a female into the area, you will have a problem...
 

Macheteslaststep

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Lol. I think they may figure it out eventually :p I am definately not adding another one now. I don't want to take the chance of either having 1 female and 2 males or having 3 males. I will continue to just keep and eye on them I guess as they get older. I was so shocked when Dozer showed today...I was like "What the F! You're supposed to be a girl!!" I seriously couldn't believe what I was seeing. I realize now that there is not a positive size to sex a tortoise...you just have to keep watching the area for a visitor lol.

Saranna
 

Tom

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Did they start out the same size? If so, then I'd separate them as Tank is clearly hogging the lion's share of the resources. If that's the case then they are NOT getting along well even if you don't SEE outright bullying.
 

Macheteslaststep

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Tom said:
Did they start out the same size? If so, then I'd separate them as Tank is clearly hogging the lion's share of the resources. If that's the case then they are NOT getting along well even if you don't SEE outright bullying.

They did not start the same size. Tank is 2-3 years older than Dozer and both have new (large) growth lines at the moment. I've begun placing food in different locations and have seen Dozer eat a fair share of it lol. They sleep together most of the time, they do eat together sometimes also...I just noticed one day when Tank came over to the food - Dozer walked away (with a leaf, but that's besides the point lol). That's when I started making more than one feeding station.

Is that ok then since he's older? Dozer was half of Tank's size and now he's actually starting to catch up a bit. I weighed them yesterday and Tank is at 1138 G, Dozer at 806 G. O.O I remember when they were barely 90 G :(

Saranna
 

Tom

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Its a judgement call. Keep an eye out for trouble, as you have been, and you'll be fine. The multiple feeding stations helps. I also like to use really big pens with lots of visual barriers. Leopards tend to be more "peaceful" than some others, but not always.
 

reptylefreek

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You could also feed them seperately. Soak one while one is eating and vise versa.... or bring one out and have a little one on one time while the other is eating. Just so they have equal oppurtunity to eat. Obviously if one is bigger he needs to probably eat more also.
 

Macheteslaststep

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Well, I'm seperating the enclosure Tuesday hopefully. I caught Tank on top of Dozer trying to do the nasty :rolleyes: Good thing I have extra dishes and hides lol.
 

Macheteslaststep

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OK well...I made the board and everything to seperate them. That counts right? Lol. I just can't do it...I only saw it that once and when I want down there today to put the board in, they were sleeping together :( So....

I put in 3 feeding stations now, 4 hides, 2 water/soaking dishes, and 2 MVB bulbs for seperate basking. There's no reason to fight over anything now and if I see it again then the boyfriend's going to have to put the board in for me.

Saranna
 
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