Question about mating

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bllauben

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Sonya never did lay eggs. Within the last week to week and a half, Boris' life has revolved around three things: eating, sleeping and mating. I was under the impression that females will fight off advances made during mating. In fact, everything I ever read stated that.

Boris is doing the typical mating dance: head bobbing, nipping, etc. When he mounts Sonya, Sonya just lays there and takes it. At one point, I witnessed Boris on top of Sonya for a good 10 minutes, not moving. Both of them had their eyes closed. Sonya had her head stretched up as far as possible. Boris had his head lowered.

I have two questions:
1) Isn't mating season in spring, not late summer?
2) Did I read wrong or do females usually fight off advances to mate?

Thanks!
--Beth
 

dmmj

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for male russians with access to females it is always mating season.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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Not much a female steppe tortoise can do to fight off an advance. All she can do is withdraw into her shell, in which case she is likely to get bitten. The only other alternatives are to run off, or else go ahead and mate.
 

GBtortoises

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Yes, mating season under normal conditions (in the wild) is in the spring and early summer. No, females do not "fight off advances" of the male, they run and/or hide.
While you may see "mating" taking place it probably isn't from the description that you give. Unless you witness actual copulation they aren't really mating. While the male may try continuously, it's up to the female when they will copulate. The male will court her by head bobbing, biting and ramming until she submits. When he mounts her and actual copulation takes place she will usually raise her rear slightly to allow easier access along with pulling her head and legs in while he mates with her. True mating normally takes place in the spring and early summer often with another round in the early fall. But, under captive circumstances they will often successfully mate at several different times of the year. Males will constantly mount females in an attempt to mate with them. This is especially true of Testudo species and particularly T. horsfieldi. The males can be relentless in their quest to mate. Long term this can be unhealthy for both the male and the female. Males can litterally run themselves ragged attempting to pursue females. For the females the constant male aggression can be far worse causing undue stress and even physical injury.
The solutions to lessen or prevent the above are to either seperate them from each other completely and place them together for a few days at a time only when you want them to breed. To provide a much larger enclosure with lots of hiding areas and physical barriers for the female to escape to a hide. Or to increase the number of females being kept together to at least three to every male. This will also still require a larger area with barriers and hiding spots. The best solution if you want to stay small is to keep them seperate.
 
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