I was wondering what type of attention my 2 babies were getting when I was out of town and my daughter sent me these pics. I wish I could get hand feed while sitting in the pool. They have grown sooo fast. Almost an inch over the last month. I have to say though out of everything I have read about not keeping them together, these 2 love to be together. They sleep next to each other, eat together, I even try to move them away from each other and they come right back together. Fingers crossed they stay this way.
Spoiled Rotten
- Thread starter kHud
- Start date
They’re super cute! However, everything you just described is clear tortoise aggression. Them constantly being together, eating together, and sleeping together is one tortoise trying to push, shove, and stress the other tortoise out of their territory. As cute as it may look, it is the complete opposite of affection, and they absolutely need to be separated.
I know it sounds crazy, because I have seen aggression in other tortoise but this looks sooo different. They don’t push each other, they don’t climb on each other, they don’t try to steal food from each other, and when they are separated when we soak them they seem to be looking for each other. When we put them back together in the pin they just find each other and go sit in the grass together. I am going to keep watching them for a bit. I got them from a breeder and they have been together since birth.
Believe me, it’s not different. Tortoises are solitary animals, and they literally don’t have the ability to love or make friends. All it does is stress them out. They don’t have to be pushing each other for it to be aggression, and them being next to each other is them saying “this is my spot, get out!”
Them being together since birth changes absolutely nothing. They do not hold family bonds, so they are not “brothers”. Heck, even when the mother lays the eggs, she leaves them.
Believe me, this is obvious aggression, and they need to be separated ASAP. It is highly stressful for them both. They are not an outlier; they are an example.
And them “looking for eachother” while soaking absolutely is not the case. They’re just trying to get out of the soaking container.
