Separating siblings?

[Tanyabobanya]

hello! I have sibling desert tortoises, a little over 3 years old and I believe are both female. I have an outdoor enclosure for them but bring them in at night because it’s been cooler temps. I put a heating pad in each of their hide away spaces but I still worry they’ll get cold. Indoors they’ve been sharing a habitat that I made out of a bookshelf. They are outgrowing this and I need to make something bigger. Question is- should I separate them? I was told that what I thought was cuddling was actually dominating behavior. Is this agressive behavior or sibling hang out time? My video would load where it shows one, with strawberry on her mouth climb down. I think she may have been blocking her sister from eating. And figuring out how to make 2 raised (this time) enclosures has been a challenge! I wish I took wood shop in school.

 

[wellington]

If you know they are for sure females, they may be able to learn be together. Sometimes female/female can work. Male/male or female/male almost never.
The best way to try and keep them together is separate hides, separate feeding locations, separate basking locations and having sight barriers.

 

[wellington]

The inside enclosure, because usually so much smaller then what can be done outside, might be best to have separate indoor.

 

[Tom]

Yes you should separate them. Tortoises should never be kept in pairs, and DTs are one of the most territorial and aggressive species. They will both be much happier, less stressed and healthier in their own enclosures.

And they look great, by the way!

 

[Yvonne G]

All desert tortoises look female as youngsters. This is one species that's hard to differentiate until the male starts to develop the scooped plastron. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they both turn out to be male as time wears on (simply because males are more common).