Friends for George

[George's Mum]

Hi
I have George who has been id'd as a male Hermanni Herc on here by Danny. We have had George for a couple of years now and feel we are confident enough and have the right set up to think about getting a friend or 2 for him. I know they need to be separate for at least 6 months before introducing them to each other, but my question is, do I need to find another Herc or can he be with any Hermanns. Also what sex should I get, males can fight, he may pester a female all the time. Would 2 females be ok if I could get them?

Advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks

Georges Mum

[emma_mcraf]

You're right that two males would probably fight and he'd be better off with at least three females. Bearing in mind that you may very well end up with some eggs if he's housed with some ladies.
My males all live in their own tables and have their individual outdoor enclosures. They seem quite happy on their own, so George would be quite fine on his own. However if you have fallen victim to moretorts disease, like so many of us on here, females are the way to go.

[George's Mum]

Thanks, I think we will end up getting some girls as I have definately got the bug! Are there any breeders of Hercs?

[emma_mcraf]

HelsBels on here breeds hercs. I got three of my tortoises from her and they're lovely. She's based in Southampton, though you'd have to contact her to see if she has hercs available at the moment. I'm sure there are a couple of other herc breeders too, so perhaps put out a wanted post in the classified section. Remember that even if they're incubated to be female, there's no guarantees.
How old is George?

[George's Mum]

George is 4.

[Hanako]

The problem is also that George will be sexually active within a few years (maybe 2-3 years), whereas the babies will be about 4 years behind. I am not an expert but I would imagine that you would have to keep them separate until the babies mature into nearly adults or adults. Also, the size will be a problem for the first few years. I wouldn't put hatchlings with a 4 year old tortoise. So you will need another set up for now.

[emma_mcraf]

My young males are all very randy at 3 years old. I agree that George wouldn't be the best company for hatchlings. You'd be better to look for older females.

[Pussygalore]

whatever you get remember that you must have the space to keep them apart if needed and like its been said you really need to find older females to make sure they are female, also make sure they have their papers and that they are chipped when big enough and that applies to your male. Without this you can't sell any offspring, it took me several years of having my female Ibera lay eggs before we started getting fertile ones so its not a fast thing.

[George's Mum]

Thanks for the advice, we have the facility to separate them as George has run of the garden, but we also have a run outside for when we need it. Indoors we will have a 2nd table. We are not thinking about incubating any eggs at the moment, I assume you can just discard them. Baby's are something we may think about in the future. Really I have just fallen in love with torts and would like some more, and it would be easier if it was possible that they could live together so that they could all roam the garden when the weather is good.

[long-lost-love]

You might be lucky and find some adults that need rehoming you will just have to keep looking