New Member

sandifer6

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2015
Messages
3
Hello we are new to the site! My boys have 3 tortoises. A female russian, a female hingeback and a male eastern hermans. We have had the russian for over a year but got the hingeback and hermans a month ago. We are having an issue with "henry" our hermans. We don't know if he got in the ants or what but he has sores and homes all over his skin. He is going to the vet tomorrow. We put a little hydrocortisone on him after reading that on another site. He s very active and eating. No issues with shell, eyes or mouth. Any help would be appreciated! Boys are worried about him!



image-jpg.143483


image-jpg.143482
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 39
  • image.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 36
Last edited by a moderator:

SarahChelonoidis

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
1,895
Location (City and/or State)
Toronto, Canada
That looks awful. Poor thing. Are your other tortoises housed similarly and potentially at risk from ants too?
 

Careym13

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2015
Messages
1,604
Location (City and/or State)
Northern Virginia
Welcome to TFO!!:tort: Let us know what the vet says. Some members here have lost tortoises to ants...are your tortoises housed outside?
 

sandifer6

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2015
Messages
3
That looks awful. Poor thing. Are your other tortoises housed similarly and potentially at risk from ants too?
They are all housed together in a 10 x 5 enclosure with sandy areas as well as grass. Its completely dig out proof but we did notice behind their house was a bed of ants and henry is always getting back there! We removed everything including them from the enclosure and killed the ants. They are now back in there and we havent noticed that the other two tortoises have any bites. We actually never saw henry with ants on him. He eats like a horse and doesnt seem to have slowed down....but it looks like it would hurt bcuz the areas are so raw and have little holes!
 

johnsonnboswell

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2012
Messages
2,238
Welcome.

They should not be living together. Mixing species is dangerous to them. They don't have the same body language and can be aggressive, especially russian tortoises, nor the same pathogens. Even though Russians and hermann's have the same requirements, they should not be together.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
Welcome.

They should not be living together. Mixing species is dangerous to them. They don't have the same body language and can be aggressive, especially russian tortoises, nor the same pathogens. Even though Russians and hermann's have the same requirements, they should not be together.
This is gray advise and to add to it if you see ants get some Diatomacous Earth " food grade " put a teaspoon of it in a little plastic container ( like they put hot sauce in at the restrant ) punch a hole in the top cap and put a single piece of dry cat food in the container with the DT . One reason for the container if the DT gets wet it don't work , and it keeps the cat food away from the tort . The cat food is only bait for the ants !
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Those look like tortoise bites. I'll bet your russian is biting him.

Species should never be mixed. You need to separate these guys immediately. They are not behaviorally compatible in any way, and your hingeback has totally different diet and environmental needs.
 

Tidgy's Dad

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
48,236
Location (City and/or State)
Fes, Morocco
Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Russians are very scrappy and territorial.
Your female Russian was there first and was quite happy living alone in her nice home.
Tortoises don't like or require company, they are mostly solitary animals.
Then two intruders arrive on the territory.
I'm afraid all three need to be separated, mixing species is never a good idea as explained above.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,388
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Oh, wow...that doesn't look good. I'm with Tom. It looks like that scrappy Russian is telling him to get out of the territory.

Besides the injuries you're seeing, another reason to not mix species in the same enclosure is that the hingeback requires a totally different type of habitat and environment from the two Testudos.
 

pam

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Messages
5,191
Location (City and/or State)
Minnesota
Welcome Please separate as soon as possible
 

New Posts

Top