Should I seperate my new Male and Female Tortoises?

[Michael2112]

Hello everyone, I just got Two Russian Tortoises. The people at the store believed one was Male and the other Female. They were housed together for around Four months at the pet store, I made them a habitat out of a kiddie pool. It is a very decent size, I have the proper basking lamp, ect. I have Two of those log huts as well. Here is my question, I have seen the Male go after the Female and bite her from time to time. He has chased her away from the basking lamp at times. Most of the time they are right next to each other basking. I am questioning weather or not to separate them, I bought two slightly smaller kiddie pools. I was gona get another lamp and make them their own habitats. They do, however sleep in the same hut together every night. I am wondering if they really like each other and will be upset if I separate them. What do you guys think? Btw, it may be the Female who is bullying the male, I'm just assuming it's the male because I have read about their behavior towards the Females. Thanks!

 

[ascott]

Hello everyone, I just got Two Russian Tortoises. The people at the store believed one was Male and the other Female. They were housed together for around Four months at the pet store, I made them a habitat out of a kiddie pool. It is a very decent size, I have the proper basking lamp, ect. I have Two of those log huts as well. Here is my question, I have seen the Male go after the Female and bite her from time to time. He has chased her away from the basking lamp at times. Most of the time they are right next to each other basking. I am questioning weather or not to separate them, I bought two slightly smaller kiddie pools. I was gona get another lamp and make them their own habitats. They do, however sleep in the same hut together every night. I am wondering if they really like each other and will be upset if I separate them. What do you guys think? Btw, it may be the Female who is bullying the male, I'm just assuming it's the male because I have read about their behavior towards the Females. Thanks!

Separate them. Pairs do not usually do well. What we humans view as "really like each other" is simply us pressing human feelings on them....tortoise are pretty nomadic and seem to thrive much better in that King of my hill set up vs having to share....

 

[RosemaryDW]

Sleeping in the same hut means one is trying to bully the other out of the space. Sitting close to each other is the same, it’s dominating, bullying behavior.

Your tortoises see each other as competition for food and space; they would never be together in the wild.

Biting is reason enough to separate them but even if the signs are less obvious to humans, like above, they should never be kept in pairs. Especially Russians; they are very aggressive.

 

[Michael2112]

Ok I will get their habitats together today, Thanks so much guys!

 

[wellington]

You should post a pic of their bottom shell tail area and we can confirm their sex. Pet stores usually have no clue how to care for a tortoise let alone be able to sex them. Either way they would still need to be separated.