My 1 and a half year old Horsefield

LeanneSapphire

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So I got my boy Milo last December, he is now 1 and a half years old. And 2 weeks ago I brought him a friend, baby meelah. I believe she is a girl, she is only 7 months old and half of his size. He has never shown signs of mating however he recently (since meelah settled in) has been trying to get on top of her! I take him away and he understands I believe as he doesn’t go back.. he just sort of .. humps the floor.. he is well behaved with her apart from the attempt humping ! He Sleeps with his head on her shell, is there anything I can do to keep him from climbing on top of her ? She is way too little and they’re both too young !

E7B522B3-4B70-461D-B020-5B13FF7FF694.jpeg
 

LeanneSapphire

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Do you think that’s the best option? I have a huge tank so easily done!
However they get on really well, they both burry together and sleep at night, he sleeps on her she’ll, she rubs noses with him, they share food perfectly, it’s just every now and then I’d say once every other day he tries to climb on her however when I take him off immediately he doesn’t go back. He is really well behaved with her apart from that
 

LeanneSapphire

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Also when I take them out to have a little
Roam around the living room, as soon as I put them down she runs over to him and follows him around, I feel like they have a little bond, so do you think separating is my best option ?
 

Sleppo

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Please heed the advice and separate immediately. I have 2 Russians and made the same mistake you did, now I have 2 indoor and outdoor enclosures, my goal is that they don't know each other exists. What you deem as cute behavior is bullying, it is very stressful to both of them. Please take time to read the information contained in the link below. I had this all wrong too so please don't take this as a mean post, it's a learning process and there is a lot of bad information out there.

Care information : https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
 

Bindalot

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I’m glad you have decided to separate , he’s definitely bullying her , I have 4 tortoises all kept separate. I read on this forum a little while ago of 2 cute tortoises kept together & the bigger one bit the others head off . I can’t imagine how awful it must of been for the owner to find her baby killed. So please keep separate
 

Lyn W

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Great that you are separating them - torts are solitary creatures and don't like company, they will seriously injure or kill another tort in their territory so in a limited space where they can't get away from each other, the risks of this are very high. I've seen your pics in the gallery and you should also keep them away from the cat. It only takes a sudden movement to spook the cat and he could scratch the torts eyes and blind him or could pierce the shell with his teeth and cause infection which could result or in a very expensive vet bill or kill the tort.
Same for any dogs if you have them - even the trusted pet dogs of some members have seriously injured and killed torts.
 

LeanneSapphire

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I have separated them now, they both seem relatively happy, however big tortie is still humping the floor *face palm* haha!
As he’s only 1 and a half is this normal at his age ?
 

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