Mating or fighting?

[Miranda-Jane]

Hello, please help.
I'm looking after my step brothers Herman's and I put him in with my female Herman's. they keep rubbing noses and then he keeps biting her face is this a sign of mating or are they fighting?

 

[dmmj]

Sounds like mating to me, but often there is a thin line between mating and fighting with tortoises.

 

[Zamric]

I thougt WalkingRock and RoShell where mating for quite some time till Roshell started Flashing and we renamed HIM Rocky. When he started flashing, life got real violent, real fast in our back yard...Now Rocky live a stress free life at a friends house where HE is the talk of the Hood! (just like his big Brother!)

 

[Miranda-Jane]

Should I separate them?

 

[GBtortoises]

Hello, please help.
I'm looking after my step brothers Herman's and I put him in with my female Herman's. they keep rubbing noses and then he keeps biting her face is this a sign of mating or are they fighting?

He's courting her. Their not really "rubbing noses" but smelling each other's scent. Males will bite at any parts of the female as part of courting including the legs, shell edges and face area. Most females will withdraw into their shell when being bitten about the face and front legs. At this point the male will often run around to the back of her body and attempt to mount her. If she attempts to run he will usually ram her side or rear in an attempt to get her to sit still. His response will usually be determined by her responses to his courting behavior.

They should not be kept together on a regular basis if the area they are in is too small for her to escape and/or hide from his advances. Most male Hermann's are relentless in their pursuit of a female. This can cause stress and even physical injury for a female if she cannot get a break from his advances. She must also be big enough to for him to breed with too. A female that is too young (small) should not be kept with a mature male. In most cases if it's just one male and one female they should be kept apart when not supervised anyway. When a male is kept with multiple females in an adequate size enclosure the male's focus is usually diverted from any one female which is better for the females.

 

[Miranda-Jane]

Thank you for your help, panicked a little then. She ran away from him and has gone into one of her hides now.

 

[JoesMum]

They should really be separated. A harassed tortoise becomes withdrawn and can become ill and die.

In the wild they are loners, meeting up to mate and moving on. They often don't handle sharing enclosures well as a pair. Outdoors, they can get away. Indoors the only thing to do is hide... and stop eating.

If you want them to breed, it is best to either have a group of tortoises... minimum 3 so that attention is deflected... or keep them separately and only introduce them briefly to mate before separating again.

 

[Miranda-Jane]

Yes that was the plan but unfortunately my step brothers female tortoise died last week I've separated them now

 

[tobyandlydia❤]

Oh no! what happened?

 

[Laura]

did the female die from harrassment? or was it sick? I'd be concerned for the health of yours now if that was the case..
Seperate.....