violent tortoise - HELP!

[hetivernon]

Hi there!
We have two 2 year old greek spur thighed tortoises that we purchased at the same time and are siblings. the vet says they are both female but i dispute this and think only one may be female (the largest).
The larger one has, for the past few months, been ramming the smaller one with her shell and the smaller one does not retaliate, but tries to run away. we know this is normal behaviour but more recently the larger one has begun to bite the legs and face of the smaller one and we are concerned can anyone please offer any advice?
Many thanks,
Heather and John
xxx

 

[moswen]

biting legs sounds like something that males do to females before mating, but that's not the situation here if they're only two years old... how big is your enclosure? you should probably separate them anyways, but their enclosure may be too small and the bigger one wants the smaller one out of her territory! (they may also both be males, as males will try to kill each other to eliminate competition... like a lot of animals in the wild) you should have lots of hides and lots of thick plants or breaks in scenery that the smaller tort can hide behind when he's being pursued until you can get them separated. if it's getting more aggressive, you definately don't want to come home to a chipped shell or worse! this is just my opinion, but i really think the best thing for you to do is create two separate enclosures for them now. if the bullying continues, and you're lucky enough to have no chipped shells or worse, your smaller tort may even stop eating because of mental intimidation from the bigger tort. whatever you decide to do, good luck with your little ones!!

 

[Tom]

You need to separate them permanently. They each need their own enclosure from here on out. Tortoises are not social creatures, generally speaking, but we get away with a lot in captivity. In your case (and mine) the days of getting away with it are over.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Heather and John:

Yes, your bigger tortoise is telling the smaller one to get out of her territory. And since the smaller one CAN'T get out of the territory, she will be stressed out and probably stop eating, hiding a lot more.

In nature, tortoises are solitary animals. They don't get together at all except by accident, and then it would be a fight or a breeding.

Looks like you're going to have to set up another habitat, like Tom said. You might be able to have them in the same space outside, if its big enough with lots of sight barriers, but indoors, in a small space? No.