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Old 18-03-2009, 01:42 PM   #1
aerofine
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I have 2 Horsfield's and since they have woken from hibernation the larger of the 2, Hoji, bites the smaller, Lurpak, when they eat. He has bit him on the head and legs. (I say he for Hoji but I think he may be a she!)

Whats the reasoning behind it? Its only when they eat, as the rest of the time they don't pay much attention to each other.
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Old 18-03-2009, 04:49 PM   #2
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You either have a male and female or two males.
Obviously male and female its the mating thing. If two males then the dominace thing.
Have you tried to have them sexed?
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Old 18-03-2009, 04:54 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandy View Post
You either have a male and female or two males.
Obviously male and female its the mating thing. If two males then the dominace thing.
Have you tried to have them sexed?
They are not even 2 yet so I wouldn't have thought they could be sexed yet.

Should I take pics and ost them on here?

Are there any signs I can look for, like size of torts etc?
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Old 19-03-2009, 09:30 AM   #4
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I have a male and female horsfield and have had to separate them because the male was biting the female. It got to the point that Charlie
was going to do some serious damage to Ruby, so they are now in separate tort tables and have also split up their outside enclosure!
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Old 19-03-2009, 09:44 AM   #5
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Someone could have an educated guess, but cannot be accurate at that age.
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Old 19-03-2009, 09:48 AM   #6
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I don't think its anything to do with any mating ritual etc. It only happens when they feed, when they are both at the food slate. Any other time they don't even bother with each other!
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Old 19-03-2009, 06:11 PM   #7
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Hi
If you're at all concerned that they are going to injure each other then I'd separate as i've done with mine, as it's a cheaper alternative to a vets bill!. I couldn't bear seeing them do it any longer, but if they're not biting any other time than feeding, perhaps you could change feeding time. You could try 2 slates so they can have one each to eat at, or maybe bath one while one eats and then change over.
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Old 19-03-2009, 07:21 PM   #8
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Hi
If you're at all concerned that they are going to injure each other then I'd separate as i've done with mine, as it's a cheaper alternative to a vets bill!. I couldn't bear seeing them do it any longer, but if they're not biting any other time than feeding, perhaps you could change feeding time. You could try 2 slates so they can have one each to eat at, or maybe bath one while one eats and then change over.
Hi thanks for the advice

Currently I feed them before I go to work, so they are unsupervised and after I get in from work, where usually I am in the room with them. I think I am going to try 2 pieces of slate when they are inside. Obviously though I can't be with them all the time to see if they each use their own piece!! Like I said, I am hoping that once outside they will have more feeding options as I will have several pieces of slate and they will have more room

When I see them doing it, it does seem to be a dominance thing. Hoji seems to want all the food, and not let Lurpak eat. If they are at seperate ends of the slate when eating they are fine but sometimes Hoji moves closer to Lurpak just to bite him!
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