Two males?

[ktsnuggles]

Can you house 2 male russians together if there is not a female around? I have a male, and i'm adopting one tomorrrow but the woman is not sure if it is male or female. I want to take it either way, but i just want to make sure it will be ok.

 

[barbie69]

Not sure about Russian's because I have hermann's, but I think it is the same with most, males cannot be housed together or they can and will hurt each other. It really sucks too because I now have 2 large males and 1 female and have to have 3 separate enclosures to keep them all safe.
I am giving one of the males to a friend to cut down on all the space. I would rather get more females but they are close to impossible to find. I did purchase one more baby and "she" is still teeny tiny and I am really hoping and praying she really is a she...not another boy.

oh yeah..CONGRATS on the new addition too!! =)

 

[barbie69]

Okay maybe it isn't all torts or it depends on the amount of space the two males have. I was just reading the forums here and saw where there are keepers who are able to keep two males together. They mentioned an increase in space to keep them apart though. My males are evil with each other. They have a solid wood divider and if I lift it they will put their heads up wherever they are and RUN towards each other to try and bite their faces and feet off. It is crazy! LOL
I could never leave them alone together and that is why one will have to go . I love them but he will be happy. My friend is so excited to be getting him, she has been begging for one for years.

 

[cvalda]

From what I've been told, you can keep two males together, you just might have to seperate them when they'd naturally be breeding, as they may be testier. But generally two males can be okay together. As soon as you introduce a female into the group, you need MORE females than males, so one female and one male is not ideal... again it can be done but you may need to seperate them when he's really giving her TOO much attention... ideally it'd be 2-3 females to one male.

 

[Jacqui]

Most of the time, two male Russians will be fine together. You do however sometimes have a male who doesn't even get along with females.

If you get the second animal, once the quarantine period is over, try them together. Watch how well they get along. If problems happen, separate and wait awhile then try again. If they still are harassing each other to where one is being injured or simply being bullied too much, then you will have to decide if you will keep both and have two pens or give away one of them.

To help your odds it's best if they are about the same size. Also as mentioned the larger the pen the better. Maybe even more important then size is having visual barriers. This allows the one being picked on to get out of sight and have a breather period. Visual barriers can be plants, hides, rocks, logs, even raised substrate areas. Also the availability of more then one hide is helpful too.

 

[wayne.bob]

i have my two males together and they are doing very well

 

[Crazy1]

I currently have the 4 male DT together. I was told they were all housed together before I got them. When I put them together again they all were fighting. I was on pins and needles and watched them like a hawk for the first 2 days. I increased the enclosure size and place a few walls within the enclosure so they have two rooms so to speak and that seemed to do the trick. They sleep side by side but the two smaller ones tend to spend time together. Not sure about other torts but that’s how mine are working out so far.

 

[T-P]

2 russians, male can live together.
if they were housed together as babies or before you had them they should be great.
Although, breeding seasons you can sometimes witness battling between 2 males.

 

[Jacqui]

I know we all focus on the males being aggresive, but always keep in mind, females can also have this problem toward other females or males. It's just something you always need to be prepared to handle, but hope you never have to.

 

[cvalda]

Ditto what Jacqui said, I am learning that the hard way... My girl Mithril is being a little brat to the other bigger girls. She has a monopoly on the food and basking spot (and my fingers, apparently). I'm in the process of making her an enclosure so the big girls can be rid of her. I'm going to make it large enough (hopefully) so that once Billy is off of quarantine, he can move in with her. I'm hoping she won't pester him so much, and that they'll have plenty of room to be seperate from one another when he needs a break, but we'll see... I'm thinking if they DO mate, she'll hold her own if he decides to get pushy! LOL!

 

[T-P]

Yes, females can be nasty towards other females and males.
And if they are carrying eggs, and ready to lay them...they can become very agressive.
the signs of being pregnant with eggs (i think i read from tortoisetrust.org) is the female becomes rather agressive to other house-mates, she rams them, bites them, tips them over and other stuff.