Normal for a 2 yr old Sulcata to "hump" things?

[tortoise_luvergirl]

Well i Discovered Willow is actually a MALE and not a female as I thought.. he decided to show himself a few times and has this bad habit of right as I am feeding him, Climb on his food dish and " hump" it while making squinty eyes and squeaky noises. he is only 2 yrs old and quite obsessed with humping anything he can find .. sometimes even my hand! if I pull away from him he tries to ram me and bite. Is this behavior normal for a 2 yr old male sulcata? Any way i can get him OUT of humping everything he sees?

 

[Gillian M]

Sorry about the "behaviour" of your tort.

How about posting pics of your tort as well as its enclosure?

 

[dmmj]

it's not really normal for that young but it's not unheard of. and no you can't stop a male tortoise from doing that no matter how hard you try. the excitement of it should wear off soon hopefully

 

[RayRay]

Various members say that they USUALLY grow out of it after several months and sometimes they don't ever. There was a thread a while back of a Russian tortoise I believe? That had high testosterone and so it was obsessed with trying to find a mate even tho it was solitary. It would hump random stuff and wasn't eating so they couldn't hibernate it. They put in some capsule that slow released and lowered its testoserone.

Its nothing to worry about unless he doesn't stop doing it.

 

[Speedy-1]

I would have thought that was a little young , but you never know !

 

[Tom]

Its unusual at that age, but not unheard of.

What size is he? Did you raise him from a hatchling?

 

[[email protected]]

Sooooooo normal. The only thing Frankie does more than poop, graze, sleep, or bask is hump. Everything you describe is part of the sexual behavior of the suclata male. Might take some time and look over Frankie Tortoise Tails.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

Various members say that they USUALLY grow out of it after several months and sometimes they don't ever. There was a thread a while back of a Russian tortoise I believe? That had high testosterone and so it was obsessed with trying to find a mate even tho it was solitary. It would hump random stuff and wasn't eating so they couldn't hibernate it. They put in some capsule that slow released and lowered its testoserone.

Its nothing to worry about unless he doesn't stop doing it.

it's been ongoing for many months and getting worse

 

[waretrop]

I give all animals more credit than that. Tell him "no no" , sternly and take that food dish away and give him a flatter one. What do you have to loose???

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

I give all animals more credit than that. Tell him "no no" , sternly and take that food dish away and give him a flatter one. What do you have to loose???

took the dish away and gave him a flat one .. He looked up at me like I was taking away his best freind,turned around and proceeded to kick up at me He was confused by the flat dish but not so much he turned down food! he did however go for my hand since I took his dish. Sigh.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

Sorry about the "behaviour" of your tort.

How about posting pics of your tort as well as its enclosure?

I had a video I tried posting.. not sure if it got approved or not.. My camera isnt working right now

 

[lighthiker2]

Those darned adolescents are all the same