Looking for a little advice (the female hides)

[Lori Mc]

They should be separated, the male ( naturally), is bullying, size matters not. If they were mine, I would def. separate.

Thank you..... we did divide the enclosure yesterday and she's almost back to her normal self...

 

[Lori Mc]

Bullying is not always fighting or outward aggression. Dominance doesn't leave marks (except when it does.) It's too easy to see the results of bullying but ascribe it to a different cause. When one is basking & the other is hiding, thats the result of what we call it bullying. The submissive one can't get away to get warmth & light & food and gets stressed and ill & can die.

Thank you....... we separated them yesterday and adjusted all the lights, food and water... she's almost back to herself. I couldn't seem to figure out the Bullying thing... it looked like my female was the stalker the first day. She was following him around the enclosure and it looked like she was smelling him. Thanks for this info. Hard lesson to learn, but hopefully no lasting harm done.

 

[Jacqui]

we've had our Lulu for 5 years.... she was given to us by a friends family member who had a house fire. How she survived, I'm not really sure but she wasn't a very healthy tort.( underweight, very small , an infection. low on vitamin D & A, her shell was a mess) I could go on and on........I took her to her vet and he did what he did...... when I called the following spring to make a well visit appt. he was shocked that she survived the winter. needless to say this past summer she doubled her size from 5.3 pounds to almost 11 lbs. She just loves the outdoor enclosure and this spring we will be modifying it to accommodating it to our new addition..... not sure if I want to get another female.... babies are great, but not for me. lol and my luck, I would end up with a few hundred.

What a great story!