Uh, oh, got two boys

[sharlan]

Our 2 tortoises are 17 yrs old this summer. They were about the size of a 50cent piece when we got them. I WAS positive that I had a male and a female. The larger one has a very concave underside, the little one was a lot flatter last year.

I was worried last summer because the big one only had one thing on his mind and I didn't want eggs. The little one would just walk away and ignore him. Now the little one only has one thing on his mind this year. I just checked, I am positive that "she" is really a "he". His underside is much more concave this year than last.

These two are nest mates, litter mates, brothers, or whatever you want to call them. They have always been together. Generally where one is, the other is close by. They eat together, sleep together, and generally just wander together.

I am really hoping that teenaged /puberty/hormones doesn't destroy their friendship and make me have to seperate them.

 

[Laura]

Keep an eye on them. If no females are in the area you might be ok without them fighting.. If the area is large enough and they have thier own space if wanted.
To be sure.. you can post pics of thier underside and people here can confirm...

 

[sharlan]

I do have a fairly good sized back yard. They have lots of nooks and crannies that they hide out in.

There aren't any other tortoises in the neighborhood.

 

[Yvonne G]

Its just the luck of the draw. Last year I took in two brother CDTs that just got along perfectly. They slept in the same place and ate from the same feed dish. They were about 10 years old.

A few weeks later I took in two more CDT brothers. These were only 6 years old and the fellow had to find them a new home because they were fighting all the time. The guy said when he came home from work every day one or the other of the tortoises was on its back. He raised them from hatchlings and they lived together for the whole 6 years.

So if your guys are getting along lets hope it will always stay that way.

Yvonne

 

[sharlan]

Neither one has ever shown any agression towards the other. Now, cats and dogs are a different story. The larger one loves to chase our little rabbit and thinks a cat's tail hanging down from a chair is fair game. He will spend forever trying to chomp at the cat's tail.

The poor cat has to sit on a patio chair because the rabbit terrorizes her. He loves to chase her all over the back yard, he's 1/3 her size.

My daughter has brought her Great Pyrenees over and the larger tortoise wouldn't let her lay down. He kept trying to chomp at her tail and paws. They were closely monitored and the dog had no interest in the tortoises, but the tortoises had a lot of interest in them.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I have a couple males and they have never fought - so you never know... I know others who have several males and no problems.

 

[desertsss]

My little guys are still juveniles and I can already see signs of bullying. It is getting to the point where I have to feed them in separate areas. If you haven't seen anything yet I wouldn't be too concerned. You definitely have to monitor though.