I'm new to this forum and would like to purchase a female sulcata for my 13" male sulcata. His name is Igor and he is very sweet. My wife and I have raised him since he was a newborn. We want him to enjoy the company of a female. I have been told that a male should not be as large as a female. We have been searching for quite some time and hope that we've come to the right place. During the winter we live in Louisiana and are leaving to go for the rest of this year to Colorado and we take Igor each time we travel. My name is Bob and I'm glad to have found you tortoise lovers, aren't they great!
Looking for female sulcata 14'' or larger
- Thread starter rwt9454
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Hi Bob, and welcome to the Forum!
In my opinion, you would be making a big mistake to introduce your "sweet" tortoise to a female. Once he has been with a female, and gotten that testosterone all worked up, he will never be the same, sweet tortoise again. Male sulcatas just pester females all the time. I mean, ALL THE TIME!! It gets so bad that the female usually stays hiding most of the day.
A "pair" situation seldom works out well for anyone...not the keepers, and not the tortoises. If you truly want to breed your sulcata then get a couple of females. I advise against that too, though. There are many baby sulcatas for sale and it is pretty hard for a back yard breeder to find good homes for around 75 or so baby tortoises per year.
In my opinion, you would be making a big mistake to introduce your "sweet" tortoise to a female. Once he has been with a female, and gotten that testosterone all worked up, he will never be the same, sweet tortoise again. Male sulcatas just pester females all the time. I mean, ALL THE TIME!! It gets so bad that the female usually stays hiding most of the day.
A "pair" situation seldom works out well for anyone...not the keepers, and not the tortoises. If you truly want to breed your sulcata then get a couple of females. I advise against that too, though. There are many baby sulcatas for sale and it is pretty hard for a back yard breeder to find good homes for around 75 or so baby tortoises per year.
Yvonne is right. Given your situation with the moving back and forth, I think the best thing you could do would be just keep your one tortoise and enjoy him as a fantastic pet.
Your male will not "enjoy the company of a female". He will relentlessly follow her around and attempt to breed her all day long. If she's not compliant he will bully her into stopping so he can mount her. It don't wish to sound overly dramatic, but for most tortoise species breeding is basically rape. He will do this all day long and likely ignore you. It's a bad situation. I've attempted it myself in a huge outdoor enclosure with all sorts of sight barriers, alcoves and buildings in it for her to hide. My male would literally march up and down the 7000 sq. ft. pen all day long hunting for her. She would just hide in the sleeping box all day long. If I brought her out for some food and sun, she'd dash back into the box before he saw her. The addition of three more females settled him down and divided his attention somewhat, but that female would rather have been alone. When there was just one female he was crazed. He would breed her 10-15 times a day if he could find her. When I added more females it actually distracted or pacified him some what. He had less of a sense of urgency, since he was surrounded by females. Instead of breeding a total of 10-15 times a day, he cut it down to 2-3 times a day total. this meant that some days a female might escape breeding entirely. As it turned out, I moved my male to the other side of the ranch to his own big pen all alone, and he has lived there quite happily for the last couple of years. He turned back into his curious personable self again too.
Sulcatas just do not usually do well in pairs. The older they are the worse it is, generally.
Your male will not "enjoy the company of a female". He will relentlessly follow her around and attempt to breed her all day long. If she's not compliant he will bully her into stopping so he can mount her. It don't wish to sound overly dramatic, but for most tortoise species breeding is basically rape. He will do this all day long and likely ignore you. It's a bad situation. I've attempted it myself in a huge outdoor enclosure with all sorts of sight barriers, alcoves and buildings in it for her to hide. My male would literally march up and down the 7000 sq. ft. pen all day long hunting for her. She would just hide in the sleeping box all day long. If I brought her out for some food and sun, she'd dash back into the box before he saw her. The addition of three more females settled him down and divided his attention somewhat, but that female would rather have been alone. When there was just one female he was crazed. He would breed her 10-15 times a day if he could find her. When I added more females it actually distracted or pacified him some what. He had less of a sense of urgency, since he was surrounded by females. Instead of breeding a total of 10-15 times a day, he cut it down to 2-3 times a day total. this meant that some days a female might escape breeding entirely. As it turned out, I moved my male to the other side of the ranch to his own big pen all alone, and he has lived there quite happily for the last couple of years. He turned back into his curious personable self again too.
Sulcatas just do not usually do well in pairs. The older they are the worse it is, generally.
What part of Louisiana are you from?
Hello and Welcome
Two of the very knowledgeable members we have, Tom and Yvonne has given you the best advice. If I were you, I'd listen.
Two of the very knowledgeable members we have, Tom and Yvonne has given you the best advice. If I were you, I'd listen.- Status
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