Sulcatas being together

[pumita07]

Hello I own a baby sulcata tortoise but I'm taking care of my cousins sulcata tortoises as well so I have three little baby's in my tank is it bad to keep them all together. Any I should know about keeping them together

 

[T33's Torts]

Bad! Sulcatas dont do well in multiples.

 

[pumita07]

What should I do? ?

 

[Tom]

I find that they do okay in trios most of the time, just not in pairs, but what about quarantine? Did they all come from the same source at the same time? If not you have taken a big risk with their health by putting them together.

Can you get your cousin's enclosure set up at your house?

 

[pumita07]

Yea we all bought them at the same pet store. We bought 2 together and other the next day. So I should set up another enclosure or an enclosure for each one or is it ok to leave them until my cousins come back??

 

[Tom]

Well if they came from the same place at the same time and have not been exposed to any other tortoises, then you are probably fine as far as disease risk goes. I also think that the three of them are better off together than as a pair and a single.

I think your cousin needs two separate enclosures whenever he or she takes them back.

 

[pumita07]

Ok thank you Tom

 

[TortoiseRN]

I also think that the three of them are better off together than as a pair and a single.

Awesome! Now I can quote reputable source when my wife asks me why I'm getting another sully. Lol!!!

 

[bouaboua]

I also think that the three of them are better off together than as a pair and a single.

Awesome! Now I can quote reputable source when my wife asks me why I'm getting another sully. Lol!!!

Well, You not the first one............................

 

[TortoiseRN]

[FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE]

 

[kinney8277]

I find that they do okay in trios most of the time, just not in pairs, but what about quarantine? Did they all come from the same source at the same time? If not you have taken a big risk with their health by putting them together.

Can you get your cousin's enclosure set up at your house?

I have a 1yr. old male and a 8 mos .female that I purchased from a breeder. Both torts came from the same clutch. They both get along fine. No signs of aggression. However the male will push the smaller tort around when she is in the way and push her aside when feeding. Best of friends. Each tort has their own separate personality.

 

[Dizisdalife]

I have a 1yr. old male and a 8 mos .female that I purchased from a breeder. Both torts came from the same clutch. They both get along fine. No signs of aggression. However the male will push the smaller tort around when she is in the way and push her aside when feeding. Best of friends. Each tort has their own separate personality.

The bigger tort pushing the smaller tort around or out of the way is aggression. Most aggressive behavior is more subtle when they are that age. The larger, or more aggressive tortoise, will get the best basking spot, the best sleeping spot, the first choice of the food, and the most of the food. The difference in personality you see is that one is the aggressor and one is submissive. At their age the sex is not obvious. Most of us could not be certain of their sex by looking at them. You might have two males.

 

[Laura]

it might also take a few years to get bad...
how can they be from the same clutch and be 4 months apart in age?

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Laura poses a good question.
On an unscientific side note, of 7 rescue sulcata that have come through the ranch, the 4 I received as pairs ALWAYS had a large one and a small one. The smaller, (submissive) of the two takes longer to, “catch up" in size once separated, and the larger, (dominate) has always been an aggressor when put out with others. And I'm talking about months with zero interaction with another tortoise. This has been demonstrated here with males as well as females.
With these observations, I am of the opinion, that sulcata raised as pairs leads to heartbreak, with one needing to be rehomed. And remember, the bulling for a tortoise is on a level we don't always see.


Cowboy Ken

6 Sulcata
11 russian
3 Pancakes
1 Uro
7 Cats Still
1 Syko Dog
1 Wonderful Wife
A Huge Pile of Fish

 

[Dizisdalife]

They really don't want to have another tortoise in their territory. I had a incident a while back that illustrated this point to me. I visited a client that had a sulcata that was housed outside. While there I didn't handle the tortoise at all, but I did walk through its pen several times and stood in the pen and watched the tortoise. It didn't seem like a very long time, maybe 10 minutes. When I got home my sulcata was immediately all over my shoes. Sniffing every inch of my shoes. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was smelling the other tortoise. It had never occurred to me that their sense of smell was that good. I looked for any sign that I had stepped in some feces while I was in the other tortoise's pen. None on either shoe. Finally, when my tortoise wouldn't stop his sniffing (he did nip at my shoe once, something he never does) I took them off and set them down on the ground. My tortoise immediately rammed them and pushed them off the patio into the yard. He sniffed one of them again and then rammed it again. I could see his anger. He didn't stop this until I picked them up. Then he seemed to go looking for those shoes. The next day I wore those same shoes into his pen. He came and sniffed, but didn't attack them. I was watching the whole time. Ready to move before being rammed. I was so anxious that I went in and changed shoes. On the third day I wore the "scented" shoes and my tortoise just sniffed them once and was done. I guessed that the scent was gone and he was satisfied that he had cleared his world of the intruder. From this I learned that they have a great sense of smell and they don't want a playmate.

 

[Tom]

I have a 1yr. old male and a 8 mos .female that I purchased from a breeder. Both torts came from the same clutch. They both get along fine. No signs of aggression. However the male will push the smaller tort around when she is in the way and push her aside when feeding. Best of friends. Each tort has their own separate personality.

Mind boggling...

A 12 month old and an 8 month old... from the SAME clutch. Huh?

They get along fine, but the male pushes the smaller tort around and pushes her aside when feeding. What?

"Best of friends".

Let me tell you a few things:
1. They aren't from the same clutch if they are not the same age.
2. They are not getting along if there is overt pushing and shoving.
3. I don't push my best friends out of the way, or knock them off their food either. Tortoises don't have "friends". That is a human construct and what you are doing is called "anthropomorphism". Tortoises view other tortoises as competitors, intruders, and several other unfavorable titles. They don't share and they don't "like" each other.

4. You are having LOTS of signs of aggression, you have chosen chosen to not see it, not understand it, or you are just in denial. Many times tortoises don't even show the obvious overt aggression you are seeing. Many times its very subtle, and I can understand how the average person would miss it. Most of us are used to dogs. Dogs make noise, exhibit obvious body posture and facial expression, and frankly when they fight, the whole world knows it. Tortoises are much more subtle and quiet about it. They can't make facial expressions, and if they assumed a "stiffened" posture inside that shell, we wouldn't know it. It is up to each of us to LEARN about how the animals we keep behave and communicate. Please take the time to learn this for the sake of YOUR two tortoises.

5. No one can reliably predict the sex of a sulcata that young, unless they do endoscopic surgery and physically view the internal sex organs. Please take this in to account as you subject them to living in your very high stress unpleasant environment where they are unnaturally forced to deal which each other 24/7. What you are doing is not good for either of your tortoises. If given the choice, one would leave the area. Forcing them to remain together in a small enclosure all day everyday is a cause of great chronic stress.

6. Why would you intentionally put a lone male with a lone female? You clearly do not understand how sulcata social dynamics work, and your tortoises are headed for disaster because of it.

Please let us help you and your tortoises.

 

[ArtieNShelley]

Mind boggling...

A 12 month old and an 8 month old... from the SAME clutch. Huh?

They get along fine, but the male pushes the smaller tort around and pushes her aside when feeding. What?

"Best of friends".

Let me tell you a few things:
1. They aren't from the same clutch if they are not the same age.
2. They are not getting along if there is overt pushing and shoving.
3. I don't push my best friends out of the way, or knock them off their food either. Tortoises don't have "friends". That is a human construct and what you are doing is called "anthropomorphism". Tortoises view other tortoises as competitors, intruders, and several other unfavorable titles. They don't share and they don't "like" each other.

4. You are having LOTS of signs of aggression, you have chosen chosen to not see it, not understand it, or you are just in denial. Many times tortoises don't even show the obvious overt aggression you are seeing. Many times its very subtle, and I can understand how the average person would miss it. Most of us are used to dogs. Dogs make noise, exhibit obvious body posture and facial expression, and frankly when they fight, the whole world knows it. Tortoises are much more subtle and quiet about it. They can't make facial expressions, and if they assumed a "stiffened" posture inside that shell, we wouldn't know it. It is up to each of us to LEARN about how the animals we keep behave and communicate. Please take the time to learn this for the sake of YOUR two tortoises.

5. No one can reliably predict the sex of a sulcata that young, unless they do endoscopic surgery and physically view the internal sex organs. Please take this in to account as you subject them to living in your very high stress unpleasant environment where they are unnaturally forced to deal which each other 24/7. What you are doing is not good for either of your tortoises. If given the choice, one would leave the area. Forcing them to remain together in a small enclosure all day everyday is a cause of great chronic stress.

6. Why would you intentionally put a lone male with a lone female? You clearly do not understand how sulcata social dynamics work, and your tortoises are headed for disaster because of it.

Please let us help you and your tortoises.

 

[ArtieNShelley]

You seem to be the tortoise master. People are telling you what their personal experiences are and you are dead set on discounting what they have witnessed with their own eyes.

I have the same set up with two tortoises that were legitimately hatched from the same clutch. Both are eating more than I can even keep up with and straight up have a schedule on how they do things. Just to give you an idea, they both burrow in the same hide together. One in each corner.

Also, another way I know what you’re saying is a complete fallacy is because some of the most famous tortoise hatcheries and caretakers have plenty of Sulcatas living in the same immediate area. If the stress from one other tortoise causes a problem how is it that 10 tortoises can live in a confined area together, brought together and not have any issues?

You should stick to doing what works best for you and let other people do what’s best for them based on what they observe in their own enclosures. 👍

 

[Yvonne G]

This is a very old thread.