Planning on getting another tort!
 

Hi All,

So, since building tommy's enclosure and the fact that he is on his own, I have been giving some serious consideration to getting another tort.

Tommy is roughly 4 (age approximated from another thread) and I was thinking that I would get him a female companion. Should I look at getting a tort of approximately the same age (if possible).

Would it be wise to have 1 female or would this stress tommy out with constant nagging to tidy up his enclosure, do the dishes etc etc :)

Thanks in advance for suggestions :)

Don't forget a new arrival needs to be quarantined for at least 6 months.

1 male to 1 female often results in a stressed female from the harassment of the male, do you have room to separate them if the female is being harassed?

Thanks Tilly, I didn't know they had to be quarantined for that long!

If there was a harrassment issue, I would be able to seperate them or amend the enclosure to ensure they had enough space.

Tortoises don't need company, they are fine on their own. If you want more it would be better to get at least 3 females and more if possible. That way Tommy can spread his harassment around.
Another thing to consider is that you can't be sure that you are getting a female unless it's an adult, many people have made that mistake and had to separate or rehome one of the torts.

Yep, over the years I've acquired young males described as females. They have since grown up and have had to be separated from the 'actual' females, so I have four separated males each with their own enclosure, which is what I didn't really want. That said, one or two of my large females are being such bullies at the moment. Once they've been out in the garden for a few weeks, if they are still being unbearable, it looks like I may have another couple of separate enclosures :-( I think it's because they are a bit cooped up at the moment. I might try a couple of the males together this summer, and see if they can sort out their heirarchy without killing each other (not literally), if they can't, hey ho, I'll just keep them separate.
Karen