Strange behaviour

[Bird7]

Lately my 6 year old, female, Russian tortoise has been a thing really strange. She keeps climbing on top of a wooden rock and looks like she is trying to have sex with it?

The pet shop told me she was a girl but now I'm wondering if she is really a he!

I have another female tortoise and she has also been standing on her back as if she is humping her?

 

[Jodie]

Are these 2 in the same enclosure? Females will mount other females, I believe. It is a show of aggression and dominance. If you post pictures of their tails, someone will be able to tell you sex. It is certainly possible they are male.

 

[puffy137]

My females like climbing on rocks to get the first rays of the sun, they don't mount each other , tut tut. So if its not an exercise in mountaineering I suspect you have a male or 2 on your hands , After saying all that , my torts are all Greeks & very well adjusted.

 

[leigti]

Whether they are males or females they need to be separated. Tortoises don't need friends, they don't like company. They only get together to mate or fight so two tortoises in the same enclosure is not a good idea. One will be dominant and the other one will decline slowly and possibly even die. Sometimes Russians can be kept in groups in large enclosures, such as a 123 male to female ratio. But sometimes that doesn't even work.

 

[Bird7]

She climbed on the other tortoises back once, I do have a spare set up incase on bullies another.

Again she is humping the wooden rock but now is making new a sort of panting noise.

Here is a picture of her underneath and tail, could someone sex this tortoise

 

[Bird7]

....

 

[leigti]

Well, I'm not sure but that looks female to me. Let's see what some more experienced people have to say.

 

[crimson_lotus]

Looks female to me, too, but I'm also not very experienced.

Are you using a red bulb? I would suggest purchasing either a ceramic heat emitter for night time use because it emits no light. If you're using it for day time use, definitely get a regular basking lamp instead. Red bulbs confuse some tortoises into eating their substrate, and they need it dark in order to sleep. Don't forget they need a UVB light or they will get metabolic bone disease.

If you are not using a red bulb, awesome. Maybe your room is just red or the pictures are showing up red, I don't know

 

[Yvonne G]

She may be ready to lay eggs. This sometimes makes them exhibit the behaviour you're seeing.