Male turning over female.

[CarolM]

I have two females and one male who moved into my garden about 4 years ago. I have left them alone other than putting water out for them. I have started putting food out now as well because of the drought so the weeds which I have let grow in the garden for them are not as luscious as before. Anyway they have lived in peace for all these years but for some reason in the last two weeks I have found the older female on her back. The first time I didn't think anything about it. But today she was on her back again and he was next to her. When I put her right he started bumping her straight away, like he was trying to turn her over again. Does anybody know why he would be doing this to her all of a sudden? And what should I do? I think that I might have to build them seperate enclosures but I am hoping that, that won't be necessary as it will then cut their roaming space down, which I really would prefer not to have to do. However their health is more important so if that is the only way then that is what I will do. Anyway if anyone could possibly give a reason that would be great.

Carol

 

[wellington]

What species are we talking about and are you 100% positive it's a female he's turning?

 

[Tom]

Bowsprits right? They are known to be very aggressive. Especially the males. And its spring time there, so the male's hormones are raging for the breeding season. If these are wild tortoises that are free to come and go, then I don't know what you can do about it. If these are captive pets that live in your garden, then they should each have a separate enclosure. If he flips her on her back on a hot sunny day, she could die.

 

[CarolM]

What species are we talking about and are you 100% positive it's a female he's turning?

They are Bowsprites and yes 100% she is a female as she has laid eggs a couple of times. Unless of course they can change their sex.[emoji6]

 

[William Lee Kohler]

How blessed you are to have them move in.

 

[CarolM]

Bowsprits right? They are known to be very aggressive. Especially the males. And its spring time there, so the male's hormones are raging for the breeding season. If these are wild tortoises that are free to come and go, then I don't know what you can do about it. If these are captive pets that live in your garden, then they should each have a separate enclosure. If he flips her on her back on a hot sunny day, she could die.

Hi Tom

With the drought that we are experiencing here at the moment should I start giving the adults soaks as well to make sure they are getting enough water? I have tried it with the two females once or twice but they really don't like it. The male hides from me most of the time so I haven't tried giving him a soak yet. They have never been given soaks in all the time that they have been with me but then until now we haven't had such a problem with a water shortage. And I didn't know how important it was.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom

With the drought that we are experiencing here at the moment should I start giving the adults soaks as well to make sure they are getting enough water? I have tried it with the two females once or twice but they really don't like it. The male hides from me most of the time so I haven't tried giving him a soak yet. They have never been given soaks in all the time that they have been with me but then until now we haven't had such a problem with a water shortage. And I didn't know how important it was.

In general, soaking is VERY important. In dry conditions, it can literally mean the difference between life and death. Soak them all. 20-30 minutes in a tall sided opaque tub, and don't worry about whether or not they "like" it. Its good for them and it does no harm. Even the ones who act like they hate it get used to it in a few weeks.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

Hazarding an opinion if they don't like soaking perhaps you could water a planted shady area of your yard with a sprinkler daily and see if they like to hang out there. If putting out a water dish make sure it is shallow so they won't flip over getting in or out or drown if they get wrong side up in it. My reason for not suggesting soaking is that if they are not captive pets they may leave your place if forced to soak.

 

[CarolM]

Hazarding an opinion if they don't like soaking perhaps you could water a planted shady area of your yard with a sprinkler daily and see if they like to hang out there. If putting out a water dish make sure it is shallow so they won't flip over getting in or out or drown if they get wrong side up in it. My reason for not suggesting soaking is that if they are not captive pets they may leave your place if forced to soak.

At the moment we are not allowed to water anything due to drought rules in Cape Town. They have pretty much gotten used to me as they see me often. They have a cool spot under the hisbiscus tree. Whenever it has rained i have tried collecting the rain water from the gutters. So will use that to water under the tree and that combined with the shade should hopefully keep it a little bit moist. But I think that I will have to try risking soaking them as I don't think the rain water I have managed to collect will last very long. Maybe if I soak them everyday just to the point where they start not liking it, they will eventually get used to it and by starting off for a few minutes they won't leave. Something is better than nothing right. I will have to give this some thought to come up with a solution that will work and still stay within the water restrictions.

 

[Tom]

If you use a tub that is not much bigger than them, it will only take a liter or two to soak them. I think you'd only need to do it a couple times a week for the adults, and I'd soak the baby daily until it is over 100 grams.

 

[CarolM]

If you use a tub that is not much bigger than them, it will only take a liter or two to soak them. I think you'd only need to do it a couple times a week for the adults, and I'd soak the baby daily until it is over 100 grams.

Great. Baby gets a soak everyday. As I use bottled water that I buy. The adults I will give them a soak every few days. I will start off with only a few minutes hopefully they will get used to it. And not disappear. Although they are used to seeing me around. And I often say hi and give them a stroke.

 

[CarolM]

Just to give an update Blue the male was seriously harrassing the Female I called Yellow and kept on turning her over. So I am fairly confident this was the right move, however as I wanted to keep Blue around, I decided to rehome Yellow. I took her to my brothers farm and let her go there. The Farm is out Atlantis way and it is the ideal environment for tortoises. As it is next to open and undeveloped land with lots of weeds and scrub and bushes. I thought it would be wiser to rehome her out of Blue's way before something bad happens.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

I suspect that it might be her season to mate and he is doing the normal thing to beat her into submission before breeding. I understand your instinct and while her life might be more peaceful she'll have less chance to reproduce if she's alone. She might also miss the handouts you gave her and change in routine.

 

[CarolM]

I suspect that it might be her season to mate and he is doing the normal thing to beat her into submission before breeding. I understand your instinct and while her life might be more peaceful she'll have less chance to reproduce if she's alone. She might also miss the handouts you gave her and change in routine.

They are very used to foraging and she actually will have far more available to her there. The farm also has a borehole so there is by far more water available to her than I have due to the drought. I would also far rather she does not reproduce than I come home from work one day to find her dead because he turned her over and no-one was able to see in time and she dies because of over heating. I was very torn about it but decided it was the best way to seperate them.