Hello fellow tortoise lovers & owners

[woodenshoes]

Hi everyone,

My partner currently has a five year old year tortoise and were looking to get him (aka toru) a friend. He's a hermanns tortoise and i'm unsure if I should get a male or female?? Do males get along, are females likely to be impregnated as soon as their eyes meet across the room? My partners tortoise is our first but we've had him a few years now. He can be a very adventurous tortoise and loves to climb stones, bark etc and we love him very much and would like to get him a companion.

The only thing is i'm moving back to my parents for a year and i'm a little concerned about how it will go down. Lookin at it Toru hasn't seen another tortoise since he came to live with us. If I get another tortoise and they meet for a few days (while i'm staying with my partner) and he/she comes back with me to my parents will they be upset, in a tortoise sort of away, if you know what I mean? Would it be cruel to let them meet intermittedly, should i just not let them meet until they can share the same house?

Should I get a boy or a girl? Does it matter if there's an age difference?

Any advice would be useful,

Thank you

[kkenny]

Is your definately male? If you get another male, they may fight but may not. If it is female, get another female in my opinion.

I dont think it will be a problem for a short time stint to meet, that might be better than a permanent thing.

See what someone more experienced says next. Good luck

[alley cat]

Tortoises should not be introduced to each other until the new one has undergone a long quaranteen period, this means a minimum of 6 months observation time. If you just buy a new one and put them together you will be putting the one you already have at high risk of serious illness.

[suttysue]

Hi and welcome to SW you are in the correct place for all the information you are likely to need we are all here to help you so all you have to do is to ask the question and you will get lots of expert help.

[Bindi]

As the others have said, a quarranteen of at least 6 months is advisable when introducing a new tortoise. Torts can harbour disease for many years undetected, and it's possible that the stress of a change of environment and or the introduction of a new tortoise (especially if it's been a long time since they've seen another) can bring those diseases to the surface. Torts can be stressy creatures and do not take kindly to change.

If you were to get another tort I would wait until your circumstances are settled, and you can introduce them after qauarranteen on a permanent basis.

Then there's the sex...males can and do fight, some grow up living harmoniously together but you always need to be prepared to separate. One male to one female wouldn't be fair on the female as he would constantly harass her ( they are copious maters) so one male one female and you again need to be prepared to separate.

There are usually no problems one female to one female

[EJ]

From your rational... why would 6 months be a magic number when a disease can be hidden for years?

Originally Posted by Bindi

As the others have said, a quarranteen of at least 6 months is advisable when introducing a new tortoise. Torts can harbour disease for many years undetected, and it's possible that the stress of a change of environment and or the introduction of a new tortoise (especially if it's been a long time since they've seen another) can bring those diseases to the surface. Torts can be stressy creatures and do not take kindly to change.

If you were to get another tort I would wait until your circumstances are settled, and you can introduce them after qauarranteen on a permanent basis.

Then there's the sex...males can and do fight, some grow up living harmoniously together but you always need to be prepared to separate. One male to one female wouldn't be fair on the female as he would constantly harass her ( they are copious maters) so one male one female and you again need to be prepared to separate.

There are usually no problems one female to one female

[pagan queen]

Originally Posted by EJ

From your rational... why would 6 months be a magic number when a disease can be hidden for years?

I thought that EJ, then I figured that the stress would bring out any illness in that 6 months. Could that be the case?

I also wondered how much illness a hatchling could have when it is so young. The mother has little or nothing to do with the babies and if they are hatched in an incubator and kept seperate from the adults they, in theory, should be bug free.

[TortBabe]

Hello and welcome

[EJ]

If stress is going to bring out an illness it is going to happen in the first few days are couple of weeks. We all know where the 6 month rule comes from and it is pretty much a number that was pulled out... lets say thin air.

Again... the risks are dramatically reduced when dealing with captive bred animals.

You understand correctly.

Originally Posted by pagan queen

I thought that EJ, then I figured that the stress would bring out any illness in that 6 months. Could that be the case?

I also wondered how much illness a hatchling could have when it is so young. The mother has little or nothing to do with the babies and if they are hatched in an incubator and kept seperate from the adults they, in theory, should be bug free.

[pagan queen]

Originally Posted by EJ

If stress is going to bring out an illness it is going to happen in the first few days are couple of weeks. We all know where the 6 month rule comes from and it is pretty much a number that was pulled out... lets say thin air.

Again... the risks are dramatically reduced when dealing with captive bred animals.

You understand correctly.

So, for older torts EJ, what would you recommend in terms of an "isolation" period?