redfoot social behavior

[pros81]

Hi,

I have two Cherryheads, one has an SCL of about 3.25" and the other about 2.5"; the smaller one is a recent addition.

Anyway, I recently have noticed some interesting behavior from the bigger redfoot and was curious if any one out there is familiar with what these behaviors mean.

The first thing I noticed that seems to have gone away, is that when the two were within a few inches away and face-to-face, the bigger one would rock its head back and forth at the small one. The small one appeared to be unfazed and unresponsive by this act. What exactly does the head swaying side to side mean, and any reason why that was only temporary?

Lastly, I've noticed that when its feeding time, the small one will not hesitate to come eat, but the big one will just sit back and watch. A lot of the big one's attention is on the food, and it seems like its amped and just ready to jump on the food, but somehow manages to "exercise control" and will wait until the little one is done eating. The moment the little one leaves the serving plate, the big one will then head to eat. What's up with this waiting its turn to eat? Neither of them appear to be afraid of the other, so I don't know what's up.

 

[Neohippy]

Sounds like the bigger one wants to show dominance, but the smaller one couldn't care less, thus making him alpha? My smallest one Woodrow (70ish grams), pushes Henry (490ish grams) around just because he can see food, and Henry is blocking his way. Their balance of apathy and curiosity make them entertaining to say the least.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm thinking that the bigger one is trying to figure out how this new tortoise came to be in HIS territory. He's probably just sitting back and adopting a wait and see attitude until he figures out if the new guy is a threat or not. Your bigger tortoise might not be a very dominant animal.

 

[dmmj]

It sounds like to me in this case size does def not matter. I am pretty sure your smaller one despite it's size will prob be a dominant one.

 

[pros81]

Yeah, I'm sure you guys are right.

Also, I know they're both still too small to determine, but based on the anal scute having a sharp angle at the apex, I'm temp-sexing both as females.

But yeah, the bigger one has been a scaredy cat since a hatchling, whereas the new one was a fearless explorer right from the start (also suffered from loose stool but that has slowly cleared up).

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I have two Redfoots and the older one is about twice the length of my newest addition. They get along great and really don't mind each other. (Of course every redfoot responds differently to new comers). At first my older one did the headbob for the first few days and was really coutious (and I made sure to keep a very close close watch), but now they just walk together and mind their own business. The little one even seems to look up to the bigger one and follow it around ^_^