I have a question (tortoises in groups)

[dds7155]

Not being smart ,but just would like to know ,, I just saw a barn that was loaded with Aldabras ,,in the media section, do they not fight?,, I won't put my 2 leopards together cause I know it's not right for the tortoises,, are Aldabras not like every of tortoise? is space unimportant for Aldabra, ,I guess the only requirement to own a herd is to buy a fork lift so they can be stacked maybe ,,

 

[leigti]

Those belong to @ALDABRAMAN I assume. They seem to be more social than other types of tortoises. He has a pretty good chunk of land to keep them on. If you look at all his posts you will see it. and he lives in the right climate. Warm and humid.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

@ALDABRAMAN has that barn. His torts have an acre"ish" size yard and that is just their heated barn.

Groups are different than pairs but now that I've tagged him, he'll be along to share more details. I do enjoy following along with his info so I do know some of his stuff...It's just limited to what he shares! Lol

 

[dmmj]

I am not an expert, but aldabs seem to get along in colonies. Just my observation.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

@ALDABRAMAN

~ Aldabras truly get along with one another for the most part. They do not have the same territorial or food related disputes that some of the tortoise species display.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

is space unimportant for Aldabra

~ Ample space is vital!

 

[dmmj]

It's a good thing they are not territorial, at their size, it could cause a lot of damage. They must be real mellow.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you'll notice when you see pictures of wild aldabran tortoises and wild galapagos tortoises, they are communal. Pictures of them in the wild usually always include a picture where you can see many, many tortoises huddled together under the only shade tree around.

My two male Aldabran tortoises have lived together since hatchling size, for 14 years. I've never seen any evidence of bullying or domination.

I also have groups of leopard tortoises and they seem to get along just fine in groups.

Here on the Forum, we give out information to help new tortoise-keepers take care of their animals. Once those same keepers have some experience under their belts, it's perfectly fine for them to start experimenting with keeping groups together. Once you have the know-how to recognize when the tortoises are in trouble, its ok, but a new keeper should stick to one tortoise per habitat.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

~ Ample space is vital!

View attachment 107085

I LOVE YOUR YARDS. Nothing better, really!

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I like Yvonne's point... but I also think some torts are just more communal by nature. I definitely don't think we'll be seeing a big, social and harmonious russian herd anytime soon!

 

[Tyanna]

I like Yvonne's point... but I also think some torts are just more communal by nature. I definitely don't think we'll be seeing a big, social and harmonious russian herd anytime soon!

On that note..are Russian's really hard to keep in groups, even with the correct ratio of male to female? Is that why we see few hatchlings?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

On that note..are Russian's really hard to keep in groups, even with the correct ratio of male to female? Is that why we see few hatchlings?

I think they're just a more aggressive species.
I asked this- http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/why-dont-we-see-many-russian-tortoise-hatchlings.104880/ -and got some interesting theories!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

On that note..are Russian's really hard to keep in groups, even with the correct ratio of male to female? Is that why we see few hatchlings?

I had a hard time keeping a Russian group.

Lived in SoCal (great tort weather) and they were housed outdoors 24/7. The pen was 20ft long and 6ft wide. Fully planted and natural. The inhabitants were 1male, 3 females. The male harassed them to the point that 2 girls started to suffer.
I removed the male. Then 1 female dominated the other 2...It was to much for me. I wanted to keep them as a group or not at all. So the 3 girls went back to their previous owner (it was a friend) and I kept the male for a while.

My leopards in groups never had problems like that but I noticed different behaviors when alone/paired or grouped.

It's so much easier now being single torted..lol