Tortoise "in rut"??

[tortoise_luvergirl]

WIllow I guess Must be a male ( yes he/she made it.. window is now fixed if you've followed my posts).. The plastron is starting to grow concave and "he" is starting to do some pretty weird things.. Like rubbing itself on rocks,food and water dish. "squeaking with mouth open" and at times chasing my hand and trying to NIP me Willow also eats constantly dispite the fact diet has not been changed and not losing weight or sick. He/she still only defecates once a week but see No parasites.. The room is kept at 79/81 degrees at all times. "he" makes that noise almost all night despite the red infrared light,as well as rubbing on things. "extruding" it's cloaca and pulling it back in. If not fed when willow wants he/she will show displeasure by ramming the enclosure then hissing ( yes mouth open) at me if I go to pet her/him. Willow is about 16 months old.. is't this abit young for this kind of behavior??? If my niece say.. Rubbed willows shell with my estrogen cream by mistake instead of his/her vitashell could THIS explain the wierd and agressive behavior? I'd hate to rehome my pet I had specifically asked the place for a female but have heard that some breeders will purposely "cook" the eggs to make them male so you can't breed them. Seems to me he/she has some wacky hormones.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

The behavior is pretty constant and seems to have started shortly after the "sick bout" willow had when my room was cold and I had to take her/him to a neighbor's house.. Now I can't get out of my pets sight without the ramming/scratching behavior. When I showed willow a picture of another sulcata from my tortoise calendar he/she went nuts with head bobbing/slanting eyes and looking like it was rather excited. WHAT gives????

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I don't know if estrogen cream can be absorbed through the shell or what effect if anything it could have on a tortoise. Also, there would be no "parasites" visible in a torts poo. The adults remain inside the tortoise host and only the eggs get passed, to be eaten by another animal....You'll only see dead parasites that are being passed after a round of treatment and even then they'd be very hard to see. I only have Red Foot tortoises, so I'm not very familiar with the behavior of a Sulcata, but it sounds like a male that can see a female nearby and that's not the case, right?

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

I don't know if estrogen cream can be absorbed through the shell or what effect if anything it could have on a tortoise. Also, there would be no "parasites" visible in a torts poo. The adults remain inside the tortoise host and only the eggs get passed, to be eaten by another animal....You'll only see dead parasites that are being passed after a round of treatment and even then they'd be very hard to see. I only have Red Foot tortoises, so I'm not very familiar with the behavior of a Sulcata, but it sounds like a male that can see a female nearby and that's not the case, right?

no Live females no.. only pictures and a Statue near it's enclosure.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sorry to say, it sounds like Willow is a boy. What you're describing is typical male behaviour at the start of "puberty." He'll cool off a bit as time goes on.

What you misunderstood about cooking the eggs: Tortoise eggs incubated at the high end of the temperature range will turn out female, at the low end, male. It does NOT affect their ability to breed or produce offspring.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

At least you don't need a new name. Willow is still fine.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

At least you don't need a new name. Willow is still fine.

I thought of changing it to either William or Wendell.. a dear freind of mine.

 

[tortoise_luvergirl]

I'm sorry to say, it sounds like Willow is a boy. What you're describing is typical male behaviour at the start of "puberty." He'll cool off a bit as time goes on.

What you misunderstood about cooking the eggs: Tortoise eggs incubated at the high end of the temperature range will turn out female, at the low end, male. It does NOT affect their ability to breed or produce offspring.

LOL I guess I mistyped that.. No I didn't mean literally cook the eggs.. I meant incubate them at a higher temp on purpose to make them males but I guess it's backwards of alligators. I thought you got females with cooler incubation and males with higher temps?

 

[ascott]

I would simply suggest being quicker than him (or actually letting him catch the "hand" invader from time to time by ramming and pushing and then giving a bit more resistance for his benefit--you can also scratch the back of the tort shell and he will likely do the tortoise wiggle in response)....you can also get some smooth river rock a touch flatter and smaller than he and place them in "sexy" enclosure locations and let him have his fun......there is no way to stop him from being a male and you should rather encourage and praise his manly self.....