One Eyed Tortoise

[CandiceB]

Hello. Ive never posted on here before but am looking for some advise. I have a 5 year old Hermanns Tortoise and have never had any issues. I just bought a new baby who is also perfectly fine. However while I was buying the baby their was one with one eye and a bit of a wonky patterned shell which I felt sorry for and decided to take on. When I got home and looked at my paper work the one eyed Tortoise is 3 months younger than the baby. Even though she is almost double the size? Is this ok or should I be concerned about the paper work or even anything else? I will attach a picture so you can see her size against the baby and my 5 year old.

 

[JoesMum]

First things first. These three should not be kept together.

The newcomers need to be kept in quarantine, entirely separately from your own tortoise, for at least six months to ensure that they don’t make each other sick.

Tortoises all grow at different rates depending on their genes, their start in life and and their ongoing care... so different sizes is not unusual.

And here we come to the “but”. While groups of three or more tortoises may succeed, any kind of difference in size is an invitation for bullying to start, especially when they are new and establishing their territory. Your one-eyed titch may already be a victim of bullying and that does affect their appetite and their growth. So, I am afraid these three need to be kept entirely separately until they are more equal in size.

Each tortoise needs a 4’x8’ (32 sq feet) of space, so for three you will require three times that floor area (12’x24’) minimum when they are at a stage where they can be considered for living together as a herd.

Your enclosure looks very dry. Those wood shavings are not a suitable substrate as they cannot be kept moist to raise humidity. I recommend you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup.

They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care (Care of Hermann’s is similar)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

First things first. These three should not be kept together.

The newcomers need to be kept in quarantine, entirely separately from your own tortoise, for at least six months to ensure that they don’t make each other sick.

Tortoises all grow at different rates depending on their genes, their start in life and and their ongoing care... so different sizes is not unusual.

And here we come to the “but”. While groups of three or more tortoises may succeed, any kind of difference in size is an invitation for bullying to start, especially when they are new and establishing their territory. Your one-eyed titch may already be a victim of bullying and that does affect their appetite and their growth. So, I am afraid these three need to be kept entirely separately until they are more equal in size.

Each tortoise needs a 4’x8’ (32 sq feet) of space, so for three you will require three times that floor area (12’x24’) minimum when they are at a stage where they can be considered for living together as a herd.

Your enclosure looks very dry. Those wood shavings are not a suitable substrate as they cannot be kept moist to raise humidity. I recommend you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup.

They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care (Care of Hermann’s is similar)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

That's actually 9x the size, but other than that, good advice.
BTW I've always wondered why keeping 3 or more together wouldn't be a problem. I do understand why 2 would cause issues, but yeah.

 

[Lyn W]

That's actually 9x the size, but other than that, good advice.
BTW I've always wondered why keeping 3 or more together wouldn't be a problem. I do understand why 2 would cause issues, but yeah.

As I understand it 3+ might be Ok in a huge space where they could avoid each other and have their own space, but in a restricted area there could be problems.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome Candice.

 

[JoesMum]

That's actually 9x the size, but other than that, good advice.
BTW I've always wondered why keeping 3 or more together wouldn't be a problem. I do understand why 2 would cause issues, but yeah.

Oops on the maths :redface: (12’ x 8’ is three times [emoji849])

Groups of three or more with no more than one male can work, because attention is divided. If you have a pair there is only one other tortoise as a rival and so you clearly have a dominant and subordinate tortoise (or bully and victim whichever way you look at it)

With a three or more, the dominant tortoise has to divide its attentions between the others so it is less likely that a single tortoise is constantly being victimised.

Having a very large enclosure... and the nine times would be better than the three times... with plenty of sight barriers so the tortoises can easily avoid each other also helps the subordinate tortoises stay out of trouble.

Many species of tortoises are extremely territorial and people don’t realise this. In the wild they are loaners that roam miles, meet up to mate and move on. They don’t want, need, or like company the rest of the time.