Male or Female as single pet

[madmallow]

Hi there!

I'm getting a Western Hermann's tortoise in the spring from Garden State Tortoise (soo excited!), and am given the option to choose between a temp-sexed male or female. I know it's not a 100% guarantee, but I wanted some feedback anyways.

I will be only keeping one tortoise, and I am really stuck between male and female. I love the smaller size of the males, but am a bit worried about the rowdiness of the males. Do lone males tend to "flash" their owners quite a bit, as well as try to mate with things in their enclosure constantly? They will be indoors in the colder months (it gets too cold for too long where I am for brumation) and outdoors for the other half of the year and have a very large enclosure both indoors and outdoors.

Any anecdotes or advice would be great, thanks!

 

[SinLA]

Personally, I prefer not to have to worry about a female getting egg-bound, so if I had a choice for only one I'd choose a male, but others may disagree...

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I can only speak for Redfoot tortoises. But the most "engaging" ones have always been males

 

[madmallow]

Personally, I prefer not to have to worry about a female getting egg-bound, so if I had a choice for only one I'd choose a male, but others may disagree...

Thank you so much, didn't even think about the egg-bound aspect! Very helpful. I've just heard some stories of males that are always humping things in their enclosure and was a bit shell-shocked when I saw some videos and images lol!

 

[SinLA]

Thank you so much, didn't even think about the egg-bound aspect! Very helpful. I've just heard some stories of males that are always humping things in their enclosure and was a bit shell-shocked when I saw some videos and images lol!

I have a Russian so I can't say for sure about Hermans, but mine definitely does not do that...

 

[Tom]

Hi there!

I'm getting a Western Hermann's tortoise in the spring from Garden State Tortoise (soo excited!), and am given the option to choose between a temp-sexed male or female. I know it's not a 100% guarantee, but I wanted some feedback anyways.

I will be only keeping one tortoise, and I am really stuck between male and female. I love the smaller size of the males, but am a bit worried about the rowdiness of the males. Do lone males tend to "flash" their owners quite a bit, as well as try to mate with things in their enclosure constantly? They will be indoors in the colder months (it gets too cold for too long where I am for brumation) and outdoors for the other half of the year and have a very large enclosure both indoors and outdoors.

Any anecdotes or advice would be great, thanks!

Males tend to be more bold and outgoing. Females tend to be more shy and uninterested in interaction. Some of the males turn into what I call "super males" where they go on the attack and drive anyone and everything from their territory and also hump things. In my experience, this is less than 1 in a 50 that turns out this way. Most males are much milder mannered. I've also seen bold and assertive females, but the generalities still stand.

If it were me and I had to choose one or the other, I'd get a male.

Also, its a shame to get something so rare and so precious and not reproduce it. Westerns are so few and far between. The world would be a better place with more of them in it. I hope you'll reconsider this down the line some time.

 

[madmallow]

Males tend to be more bold and outgoing. Females tend to be more shy and uninterested in interaction. Some of the males turn into what I call "super males" where they go on the attack and drive anyone and everything from their territory and also hump things. In my experience, this is less than 1 in a 50 that turns out this way. Most males are much milder mannered. I've also seen bold and assertive females, but the generalities still stand.

If it were me and I had to choose one or the other, I'd get a male.

Also, its a shame to get something so rare and so precious and not reproduce it. Westerns are so few and far between. The world would be a better place with more of them in it. I hope you'll reconsider this down the line some time.

Thanks so much for the response! I would definitely like to breed them in the future, but am a first time tortoise owner, so I didn't want to bite off more than I can chew for the time being. Such as amazing species and would really love to bring more of them into the world as their native populations dwindle.

 

[Sarah2020]

I have a male Russian and very happy with him. He has character and so far so good... Tortoise need lots of care correct light, heat, diet, excercise, soaks, etc.this all contribute to a healthy and happy shelled warrior. My view is either sex will give you joy.