Strange female behavior, uninterested male (sort of long)

[ehopkins12]

Ever Since I moved my female into my male's enclosure they have gotten along very well. This is primarily because my male hasn't been very interested in the female. But my female on the other hand has been interested in the male the entire time. She follows him around, lays with him and eats only with him (I try to separate them but that rarely works. She typically goes to his pile anyway). Recently however she has been bobbing her head at him. It doesn't seem normal though. Her head bobbing is very twitchy and all over the place. it will bob in circular motions. Today she did the head bobbing and followed up by starting to climb up on him. He just sat there like he usually does. She didn't do anything but lay on him for a couple seconds then she came down and walked away. Seems strange. Does this mean she wants to mate? Or can females be territorial?

 

[GBtortoises]

It's not unusual for a female to go through the motions of a male when she is ready to breed. There is also a possibility that she is the dominant of two but that is a much more rare situation with a male actually present. True dominance is usually more aggressive with biting, ramming and almost constant aggression, not just mounting. The head bobbing is more of an introduction that can take place between two females, two males or male and female. It has less to do with dominance and more to do with identification between two tortoises.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Well, regardless of the reason she does it, it's a funny story.

She should learn how to play hard to get.

 

[GBtortoises]

"She should learn how to play hard to get."

Come on Stephanie, don't ruin a good thing for the guy (the tortoise that is)! LOL