Will a male RT ever calm down from bugging the female?

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Debbie

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He will not stop from chasing and nodding his head and trying to bite her. I know he wants to "do his thing", but will this stop? I'm considering trading him for a female. I really don't want babies and I really want company for my female, but he bugs her.
 

Yvonne G

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I can't speak to only having one of each, because I have about 15 including both sexes. The majority of the year, the colony is very peaceful, just wandering the pen looking for food. When they first wake up from hibernation, the males are very aggressive and always interested in breeding, but it tapers off after a few weeks.

In your case, I have a couple things for you to think about:

Is your pen big enough that the female can get away from the male
Are there lots of sight barriers so she can get out of his sight
Is there more than one hiding place


Yvonne
 

Super_Snapper

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As the previous poster said, a male/female couple requires extra space and more hiding places. If you have enough room, it helps to keep a trio of 1 male and 2 females. That way, the females have his attention distributed, rather than sharply focused on one.
 

Jacqui

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Have to agree with everything the first two have to say. Also a lot is dependent on the male's personality. Some males more quickly loose interest and some never seem to slow down.

Can I ask a question, you say you don't want babies. If the female lays eggs are you planning to destroy them? If you really don't want babies or don't want to destroy any eggs she lays, you really might want to either go with another female or just even keep her by herself. Problem with a new female friend, is you have the quarantine time and extra enclosure, plus you may end up with one female still being very aggressive toward the other. Not as common, but always a chance.
 

Crazy1

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I do not have Russians but Greeks and I have a pair. My male simply put, hounds my female to the point I have them now in seperate pens until I get another female or two and the quarenteen period has passed. I had lots of site barriers and several hide areas in their 64 sq. foot pen but he is rather insistant-continually. And I do not want her stressed out. Last year he was not this bad but since I have aquired another male (also housed seperate and in quarenteen) he has gotten a lot more active.

So I must agree with the above statements.
 

jasso2

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have 4 male russians and they seem to be chill, except for 1. hes a horn dog and bugs the females even the males, he tries to hump anything.
 

Diana Stone

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Can you keep all males together? Would they fight each other?
 

jasso2

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i keep all my males together withthe females and they dont seem to fight. every now and then the one horn dog i have will go off on a rampage and bit all the males too but not often. i heard its normal. they live in a 11'*7'. is that big enough?
 

Jacqui

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torts4me said:
Can you keep all males together? Would they fight each other?

Once more it depends on your males and the enclosure (if it's large enough and enough site barriers). "Normally" they will do fine. It's when you add a female to the mix, that things really start going on.
 

techiegrl

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Jacqui said:
torts4me said:
Can you keep all males together? Would they fight each other?

Once more it depends on your males and the enclosure (if it's large enough and enough site barriers). "Normally" they will do fine. It's when you add a female to the mix, that things really start going on.

I am having the same issue, I have had my tort's all together for years except a newly out of quarantine introduced Marginated adult male. My Male Russian is biting everyone, female russians, greeks m & f and my new Marginated. He has never done this before and seems to bite them very hard. I have them in a very large area with lot's of hides, I am in the same position if he continues to bite and draw blood I will have to find him a better home as all my other tort's are not aggressive.
 

Jacqui

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adding a new male, even if not the same species, could have been what got your male behaving so aggressively. Hopefully with a little time he will calm down. He's not doing any major damage yet, correct?
 

techiegrl

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Jacqui said:
adding a new male, even if not the same species, could have been what got your male behaving so aggressively. Hopefully with a little time he will calm down. He's not doing any major damage yet, correct?

Hi Jacqui,

No damage just being a little pill, he is biting everyone :) hopefully he will chill out. I will give him a little time. I have them in a very large area with several hides.

Thanks for the input
 

tasha3711

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I have two male russians, one is very dominating & kept chasing & biting the other so i've had to separate them. They are between 3 & 4 years old. Wish i had only bought one in the first place, but got two for company. I am looking to rehome the one who was being bullied, as i feel he would live quite happierly with others but i will keep the bossy boots!... so he can stay living on his own...plus he was the first one i bought.
 

tasha3711

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Just a thought but are you sure the other one is female, because i thought the less dominating one of mine was female & thats why sheldon was chasing her. Turns out its another male. But what you described with the head nodding, chasing & biting is what i experienced with my two males. The tortoise trust sexed mine for me by photos via e-mail.
 
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