Little food bully

[ryan57]

After moving Stump to his spot in the office, this little one about 4lbs or so walks straight onto Stump's spot yesterday and begins to eat his lunch in front of him. Last week, he wedged the big one out of the way to sit under the light. We have a little bully and it's NOT the big one. Stump can no longer turn around in the tub and when he stretches his front arms they are touching both sides of the tub. 2yrs. and almost 9months.

Gotta love this weather. They were both outside for many hours in their enclosures today and it's November!! The big one has walked 1.2 miles in 3 hours on Monday and .7 miles today. I'm trying to get a day with no wind so I can post some drone footage of where he goes with distances on the image.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Have you thought about having to eventually separate them?

 

[ryan57]

Have you thought about having to eventually separate them?

They are separated with separate enclosures both indoor and outdoors except for these transfer/activity times. I brought the big one to the office before going to work and at that time Figgy - s/he was just out of a morning soak, adding water and cleaning his enclosure, set him/her down for a moment about 15 feet away and it just walked over to Stump like the boss. I was shocked! Don't know the sex of the smaller one but either way they cannot confront each other. Not allowed. No touching. It's just that the ginormous one is sooooo laid back as you see here...

Weird dynamic that it's not the big one that is the bully and obviously neither are stressed as evidenced by their growth and behavior. No shortage of food, in or out, or space probably has a lot to do with that.

Notice the smaller one, slow growth... a lot smoother shell. Same general humidity as the larger one. Stump just grew so sticking fast and is growing visibly by the week still at over 21" long. Think about that... 2yrs almost 9mo on the 1st of December and just over 21 1/8" long. Gular to rear of carapace.

60-70% grass/weeds, new thing is beet greens fresh from the corn field, 20-30% salad greens with cactus/moringa, mulberry, etc.

They both still drink water, the big one gets 2 45 minute soaks in the evening and I've added water vapor/humidity devices to both of their enclosures. 80deg - 86deg 70% humidity. 105 basking.

I've seen a lot of large sulcatas online and Stump does not walk like many of them. His rear legs are directly UNDER the shell that they are supporting rather than spread to the outside as so many large ones are. Probably attributed to the amount of walking that he has always done. Both of mine are like this.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

They are separated with separate enclosures both indoor and outdoors except for these transfer/activity times. I brought the big one to the office before going to work and at that time Figgy - s/he was just out of a morning soak, adding water and cleaning his enclosure, set him/her down for a moment about 15 feet away and it just walked over to Stump like the boss. I was shocked! Don't know the sex of the smaller one but either way they cannot confront each other. Not allowed. No touching. It's just that the ginormous one is sooooo laid back as you see here...

Sounds like you have to keep an eye on the little one Maybe one day they can't be together even during transfer

 

[Big Charlie]

I don't think you would necessarily recognize stress in a tortoise. The way they exhibit it wouldn't be the same as other creatures might. When Charlie feels someone is invading his territory, he sits very close to them. That's the only indication.

It's best if they don't even know about each other.

I'm curious as to his walking stance. I don't notice Charlie's back legs spreading out to the sides very much when he walks. Some of it depends on how fast he is moving.