The head butting is getting excessive...

McKayla

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Hello,

I have a 13 year old herman tort who’s headbutting is getting out of control and I am genuinely very worried about him injuring himself.

Last year we built him a new outdoor enclosure (Approx 50sqft) and for the first few weeks he would headbutt his way around it, we were advised that this was just territorial and that it would die down. It did eventually die down (although never stopped completely) but not before he managed to cut his head open on a brick wall...twice.

Due to some pretty unfortunate weather he has spent a few days indoors recently, where he has the run of the entire downstairs of the house (approx 330sqft and not new to him he’s been doing that for nearly 2 years), but all of a sudden the extreme headbutting has started up again, I know it’s probably a seasonal thing but I’m so afraid of him hurting himself again. Is there anything I can do to help him?
 

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wellington

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Too bad there isnt a tortoise helmet for their head, they have one on their backs lol.
Can you possibly put something up that is softer and less likely to cause damage?
I'm not sure what, maybe some kind of larger diameter rubber hose?
 

McKayla

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Too bad there isnt a tortoise helmet for their head, they have one on their backs lol.
Can you possibly put something up that is softer and less likely to cause damage?
I'm not sure what, maybe some kind of larger diameter rubber hose?

I would have to put it rounded every surface in my house, skirting boards, kick boards, chair legs, table legs, door frames, everything! He once even managed to get himself in the downstairs loo and started headbutting the sink pillar.
 

wellington

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I would have to put it rounded every surface in my house, skirting boards, kick boards, chair legs, table legs, door frames, everything! He once even managed to get himself in the downstairs loo and started headbutting the sink pillar.
A tortoise should not be roaming your house.they need their own proper enclosure. Give him the proper enclosure and you might see the problem go away. Too dangerous for a tortoise to roam your house. To cold too on the floor. We have seen many tortoises get hurt or killed being out on the floor and not in a proper enclosure.
 

Tom

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What do you mean "head butting"? They don't normally hit things with their head. Normally when they ram things, they retract their head as they hit the object with their shell. Is that what is happening?

In any case, your tortoise needs to be in a safe enclosure. Roaming loose is an accident waiting to happen. There are too many hazards and we see injury and death from this practice on a regular basis. I know, I know... You made it safe and you supervise closely, right? That's what everyone says, and then one day, they finally learn the hard way.
 

dmmj

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I don't mean all the time I mean it sounds like he wants a female.
I want a female as well. But I do not smack my head against everything. Your tortoise needs a secure enclosure.
 

McKayla

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A tortoise should not be roaming your house.they need their own proper enclosure. Give him the proper enclosure and you might see the problem go away. Too dangerous for a tortoise to roam your house. To cold too on the floor. We have seen many tortoises get hurt or killed being out on the floor and not in a proper enclosure.

As I said, he does have a “proper enclosure” as you call it, outside. But the weather hasn’t been good enough for him to be out there, he has a small enclosure inside but he was hurting himself in there in attempt to escape which is why we allowed him to free roam when we are home. He’s far from neglected.
 

McKayla

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What do you mean "head butting"? They don't normally hit things with their head. Normally when they ram things, they retract their head as they hit the object with their shell. Is that what is happening?

In any case, your tortoise needs to be in a safe enclosure. Roaming loose is an accident waiting to happen. There are too many hazards and we see injury and death from this practice on a regular basis. I know, I know... You made it safe and you supervise closely, right? That's what everyone says, and then one day, they finally learn the hard way.

As I said, he does have a “proper enclosure” as you call it, outside. But the weather hasn’t been good enough for him to be out there, he has a small enclosure inside but he was hurting himself in there in attempt to escape which is why we allowed him to free roam when we are home. He’s far from neglected. And yes he has been ramming with his shell but so rapidly that he isn’t retracting his head quick enough.
 

McKayla

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I want a female as well. But I do not smack my head against everything. Your tortoise needs a secure enclosure.

The headbutting isn’t exclusive to free roaming, he does it in his inside enclosure and his outside enclosure too
 

wellington

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As I said, he does have a “proper enclosure” as you call it, outside. But the weather hasn’t been good enough for him to be out there, he has a small enclosure inside but he was hurting himself in there in attempt to escape which is why we allowed him to free roam when we are home. He’s far from neglected.
I never said anything about being neglected.
How big are the enclosures?
They need a minimum of a 4x8 foot, larger of course is better. They cover lots of ground in the wild so even though they are a smaller tort they need lots of room.
Can he see through the walls of the enclosure? If do make it so he can't.
 

Tom

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As I said, he does have a “proper enclosure” as you call it, outside. But the weather hasn’t been good enough for him to be out there, he has a small enclosure inside but he was hurting himself in there in attempt to escape which is why we allowed him to free roam when we are home. He’s far from neglected. And yes he has been ramming with his shell but so rapidly that he isn’t retracting his head quick enough.
Nobody ever said the word "neglected". Don't know why you've chosen that word to focus on. I also didn't say anything about a "proper" enclosure. I said your tortoise needs a "safe" enclosure. Loose on the floor indoors is not safe.

Everyone has bad weather some of the time. We need to be able to correctly house our tortoises regardless of the weather. For me this means a correct outdoor enclosure for fair weather and a correct indoor enclosure for poor weather. A small enclosure indoors isn't suitable. Tortoises need large enclosures and room to roam. When they are housed in something too small it can affect their digestion, their mood, and their overall well-being. The solution is not to turn them loose on the floor where their life is literally in jeopardy. The solution is to make sure their indoor enclosure is large enough, correctly lit and heated and has all the proper elements for them to hide, explore, and roam around.

I'd still like to help you, but I need to understand what you mean by head butting. Here again is my question from above that wasn't answered:
What do you mean "head butting"? They don't normally hit things with their head. Normally when they ram things, they retract their head as they hit the object with their shell. Is that what is happening? Or is the tortoise trying to dig or climb out?

Also, what type of lighting is in the indoor enclosure? What type of UV bulb? A picture of the enclosure would give us more info to help your tortoise, which is our sole intention and goal here. We are trying to help you help your tortoise and figure this problem out. We are not attacking or insulting you in any way. We are merely dispensing tortoise care info. We have to ask some questions to help figure out the problem. The questions are not an attack on your character or an accusation about your ability as a tortoise keeper. The questions are to help us figure out what is wrong with your tortoise and help make things better.
 
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