Worried.com

[not-short-of-a-tort]

i'm slightly worried.... need a bit of help, feeling quite down now!!

my eldest herman tort who is 4, bites my other torts leg/head/what ever he can get hold of! its been happenin for quite a while and now im really starting to worry!! i work 9-5 full time and i am DREADING coming home to find blood/ legs/ EVERYWHERE apart from attached to the tort!!!! i really dont think its to do with 'sex' as he bites everything!!! really aggressivly.

please please someone tell me im not cursed with bad luck and i need to do something urgently.........but ive never known of this before...

[Herpard]

Hi,

My Male does this with his Ornament...I'm pretty sure it's just normal breeding behaviour (Can't spell lol)

If You're worried i would seperate them.




I'm sure someone will be along soon!!!

[not-short-of-a-tort]

p.s i have read the thread 'aggressive torts' but i wanted to know re-herman torts and also not in regards to the different sexes....

[Beverley]

This is quite normal behaviour, your tortoise is probably becoming sexually mature or it's a dominance thing or both.
If he is being very aggressive you will need to separate him. He could cause damage. In the wild the other tortoise can run away but in enclosures it's not possible. You could try a bigger enclosure with plenty of plants and places to hide, it's up to you to decide. Some tortoises seem to get on but once the hormones set in it's a different story. Hermanns and horsfields seem to be the worst lol, but it's normal for them to do this. My male Hermann Bruce chases my two females at times but they are not too bothered by him if it's happening all the time now and your other tortoise is getting stressed then I'm afraid separation may be your only option for a while, in a month or two put him in again and try him. I know it means another enclosure to heat etc but sometimes it's the only way.

[justmeandmytortoise]

I agree with Beverley and keep mine separate

[not-short-of-a-tort]

oh.. is that the best thing to do then to keep them seperate?? arghh which means 2nd lighting and heating etc...... im thinking im going to have to re-think the whole thing............................................. ... i just want them to be safe!!!!

[not-short-of-a-tort]

thank you for your replies !!xxx

[joekent]

I'm afraid seperating is the only way to keep them both happy and healthy.

[EJ]

Personally I believe the best thing you can do is let them get on with their lives and sort it out... within limits. If you see any blood drawn then you might want to seperate them. If there is no damage you can just wait and see if nature takes it's course.

Originally Posted by not-short-of-a-tort

oh.. is that the best thing to do then to keep them seperate?? arghh which means 2nd lighting and heating etc...... im thinking im going to have to re-think the whole thing............................................. ... i just want them to be safe!!!!

[NATURALIS]

Originally Posted by EJ

Personally I believe the best thing you can do is let them get on with their lives and sort it out... within limits. If you see any blood drawn then you might want to seperate them. If there is no damage you can just wait and see if nature takes it's course.

I agree with this