Interaction and other questions

[Titian the tortoise]

Today at 6:47 PM
Hello everyone, my name is Nolyn and I have an almost year-old Hermanns tort, his name is Titan. I was wondering if there was any sort of interaction or anything I can do to help exercise or be with my little guy more instead of letting him crawl alone all by himself in his pens. I also wondered if torts ever like it when they have a companion or a buddy, such as another tort. Any input you have about interaction or torts being with other torts would be great. Another one of my thoughts is if I was to get another tort to let them interact and just to have another, does the same breed have an effect?

Another one of my questions is when I looked at him after he got done eating his mix of kale and mustard greens, he had green film or "stuff" around his mouth and beak. I really don't like saying stuff but. I assume that is just from the greens that he ate. Will that come off when he gets his soak tomorrow?


My last question is what do you guys think about putting plants in the encloser? He is in a 50-gallon tub with a mix of a little repti bark and coconut coir. What about store-bought plants, can they be added straight to the encloser or do they need special preparation? And what plants to you recommend for an enclosure? Any and all feedback is great.


Nolyn

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings. Tortoises are pretty much very solitary creatures. They don’t need a friend or another tortoise to be happy. In fact, if you bought & introduced another they just might bully one another. Bite, bully, intimadte or worse fight to death. You definitely would NOT want to mix species.

Safe plants are good. They provide obstacles, sight barriers and food. Always be careful what kind of plant & don’t gdt one from a store & put it right in. There are lots of nasty pesticides and fertilizers & fungicides that are on and in plants to make them look good for sale. ,

 

[Titian the tortoise]

Greetings. Tortoises are pretty much very solitary creatures. They don’t need a friend or another tortoise to be happy. In fact, if you bought & introduced another they just might bully one another. Bite, bully, intimadte or worse fight to death. You definitely would NOT want to mix species.

Safe plants are good. They provide obstacles, sight barriers and food. Always be careful what kind of plant & don’t gdt one from a store & put it right in. There are lots of nasty pesticides and fertilizers & fungicides that are on and in plants to make them look good for sale. ,

I heard from another person that you want to re-pot and wait a couple of months... what could you repot the plant in? (My meaning what kind of different soil than the soil it comes in?)

 

[Tom]

I heard from another person that you want to re-pot and wait a couple of months... what could you repot the plant in? (My meaning what kind of different soil than the soil it comes in?)

Decorative plants bought at a store are grown with systemic pesticides. The plants take the poisons up into its tissues and it lasts for a year. You'll need to grow your own from seed or from cuttings of long established plants. You can use plants intended for human consumption right away, but those will need strong lighting to survive indoors.

Mark gave you the nice version about pairs. Tortoises don't like or want other tortoises around. They prefer to be the sole king or queen of their castle. Another tortoise would be seen as an intruder to be driven away, or an intruder trying to drive them away.

 

[KarenSoCal]

This was written by a member a few years ago, but some things don't change.

Why not to keep 2 tortoises together - a lesson learned the hard way

This is a copy/paste of an article I wrote on my blog last year. I've seen several new keepers ask the question of whether they should get a 'friend' for their tortoise, and so rather than keeping on linking to my blog (which feels kinda self-promoting, which is not my intent), I am creating a...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Titian the tortoise]

Decorative plants bought at a store are grown with systemic pesticides. The plants take the poisons up into its tissues and it lasts for a year. You'll need to grow your own from seed or from cuttings of long established plants. You can use plants intended for human consumption right away, but those will need strong lighting to survive indoors.

Mark gave you the nice version about pairs. Tortoises don't like or want other tortoises around. They prefer to be the sole king or queen of their castle. Another tortoise would be seen as an intruder to be driven away, or an intruder trying to drive them away.

Thanks for your advice I will be sure to use it! Have a good day.