New behavior (Ramming)

Toddrickfl1

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This morning my 3 year old Redfoot Tortoise Murphy did something he's never done before. I cut open a mango a little and placed it in his enclosure, which I do often. He immediately went over to it, stuck his head in his shell and started violently ramming it around his enclosure. This went on for about 5 minutes until I removed it. My question is Does this mean he's probably not going to be able to live harmoniously in a group? Or is this just a puberty thing?IMG_20200323_104102451.jpg
 

Toddrickfl1

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You really have to show mangoes you mean business. Otherwise they take over everything.

Try again tomorrow, see if he acts casual, like he knew it was food all along...








And I warned you about this guy...
Haha you sure did lol. He's definitely a character.
 

Toddrickfl1

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It means he was being territorial, or just having some tortoise fun with the mango.

I don't know if you can extrapolate more from it than that at this point.
If he does it again should I just let him have his kicks doing his tortoise thing or do you think it's stressing him.
 

ZEROPILOT

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You may have the beginnings of a troublemaker.
My eldest female RF rams other tortoises. The key is keeping a group and having a lot of hides and plants. I have 4 females. They all stand clear of her. And she seems to tolerate them now.
She still charges and bites me. But she has done that since she was a baby.
She has her own pool. Her own shady bush and her own sleep house. The others pretty much stay out of her turf.
She's also the only one that likes to push a plastic ball around the enclosure.
 

Toddrickfl1

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You may have the beginnings of a troublemaker.
My eldest female RF rams other tortoises. The key is keeping a group and having a lot of hides and plants. I have 4 females. They all stand clear of her. And she seems to tolerate them now.
She still charges and bites me. But she has done that since she was a baby.
She has her own pool. Her own shady bush and her own sleep house. The others pretty much stay out of her turf.
She's also the only one that likes to push a plastic ball around the enclosure.
I've put him and my younger Redfoot together a few times supervised and he doesn't even seem to notice the other tort. I've never tried that in Murphys indoor enclosure though. I do intend to pick up a couple more females in a few years when these two are adults. I guess time will tell if Murphy ends up being a loner.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Well there must be something going on with him. I just experienced another first. Tonight there's weird noises coming from his enclosure. It almost sounds like he's clucking like a chicken.
 

Kipley

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Spring is slowly coming to Seattle so I've had Sheldon out for short periods in the direct sun. He has been clucking too. Not sure if it is because he is enjoying the sun or calling for a mate. I adopted him last August (8+ years old) and haven't seen him try to hump anything yet.
 

nightoff

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The only time I’ve heard my boy clucking is when he was trying to meet with my female. He has been trying to flip her over since he was about six months old. He succeeds every once in a while if I let them graze in the backyard together. But she has started trying to bite him lately if he gets too close. so I’m hoping she’s sticking up for herself.
 

Lyric

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Well there must be something going on with him. I just experienced another first. Tonight there's weird noises coming from his enclosure. It almost sounds like he's clucking like a chicken.
Mine also makes those quacking sounds. He does it mostly when I move him and he doesn't want to be moved.
 

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