tortoises needing company

[Billybrown20]

I have a 4 year old Hermann's tortoise and he seems to constantly hang round mirrors reaching his eye height. He also will never leave my dog alone.

I'm thinking maybe he's wanting a little tortoise companion...along with me wanting another.
He used to live with about 10 other tortoises until he was 18 months old when i bought him from the breeder.
I dont want to get him a friend and then have him not happy with the new company. I've asked 3 different reptile specialist vets and they've all given me different suggestions.

Anyone got any advice please?
Or any previous experience of the same?

 

[african cake queen]

HI, HE WANTS A FRIEND OKAY, A FEMALE FRIEND!
LOL' LINDY

 

[GBtortoises]

It's sounds like he has probably reached sexual maturity. He's not looking for a "friend", it's spring and he's looking for something (preferrably a female tortoise) to mate with! A sexually mature female Hermann's tortoise would do the trick. But before finding one of them there are other things to consider. With a mature male and female Hermann's you will now have the issue of probably having to keep them seperate much, if not all of the time except when they're put together to breed. Male Hermann's can be very physically aggressive and relentless in their attempts to mate a female. To the point that the female can be physically injured and/or stressed to the point that all she will want to do is hide constantly. This can be solved by either keeping them seperate most of the or providing a very large enclosure with plenty of hiding spots and physical barriers. Actual breeding will satisfy his desire for a short time. That desire may also subside occasionally based on seasonal changes, but he will most likely always continue to pursue the female whenever they come in sight distance of each other. So getting a female isn't necessarily solving the problem. But it's not really a problem, at least not in the tortoise's mind. Tortoises don't really need companions to be content, they are to a degree, solitary animals by nature.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

I agree with GBtortoises on this issue, I believe they are in need of no companionship.

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Our tortoise was given to us because she did not do well with any company. Now she is alone and happy.

 

[dmarcus]

My older tort has not been around another tort since he was a hatchling, so I am hoping for a good result when we introduce him to our new one.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi BillyBrown20:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name and where you are?

Its ok for your tortoise to live alone. Don't put human emotions onto the tortoise. He's perfectly happy alone. Just remove the mirrors. That would be frustrating to him. Living alone he doesn't have to compete for the best hiding places or compete for the food. Once he gets past the initial "coming of age" stage in his life, he'll settle down.

 

[dmmj]

could the mirrors make him think there is another one in there?

 

[GBtortoises]

"could the mirrors make him think there is another one in there?"

Absolutely! It is a cause of unnecessary aggression. I doubt very much that tortoises grasp the concept of a mirror! All they see is another tortoise. In the case of a male, probably the first thing that goes through his mind is that he needs to identify whether it's another male enroaching on his territory that he will have to chase away or is it a female that he can breed.