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Re: HELP Will my sulcatas ever get along?


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Posted by Georgia on July 20, 2001 at 21:00:09:

In Reply to: HELP Will my sulcatas ever get along? posted by Esther on July 20, 2001 at 11:58:52:

: My mother called from Angel's southern summer camp to tell me that my little girl is no longer a little girl. Apparently, once Chanel was taken out of Angel's daily life, Angel felt like the Alpha-tortoise and very comfortably has exposed HIMSELF to be a MALE. Now my main concern is: can I raise two male sulcatas, both who seem to definitely have aggressive tendencies when around each other (but who are sweet as lambs when by themselves?). I am very worried about this and want to keep my Angel Baby. I can't fathom giving her I MEAN HIM to friends or relatives in the South and I want to keep him by my side, but will keeping Chanel and Angel together invite surefire stress and disaster to their individual development? They are both 20 pounders, Angel is 3 1/2 and Chanel is 4 1/2. In their NYC apartment, the two are separated, but they have become more and more insistant on provoking clashes and breaking down their pre-set barriers in order to ram and flip each other over. What is your recommendations with these two energetic torts, the loves of my life who are expecting a new arrival of the human variety come Christmas? I really love them and want to keep both of them with me in NYC and give them the best possible care as they enjoy now (until my husband and I can move to a house with a yard). Are there ways to more thouroughly barricade the apartment (1 bedroom) indoors so that they will both be happy? Will they still be stressed and tense if they are kept apart?

Ahhhh Esther....congrates to you and hubby. A Christmas baby...what a wonderful gift. Now down to the boys. BOY do I know what you are facing and ours are outside 24/7. When we got Tonka last year we knew him to be male. For quarantine purpose we divided our patio in two with large wooden beams until we knew that Tonka was healthy. There was one side that had access to the main lawn area and the other side that had access to the no longer used by dogs dogrun. When the quarantine time was over we put them together and Tonka was always trying to mount Buzzy (thought then by our vet to be female) so we couldn't keep them together without supervision do to the constant attempts to mount and worried that Buzzy, whose original name was and now is back to Buster, might get hurt. Well then just a couple of months ago Buzzy decided to show us that his name was and should always be Buster. Now when we put them together it is Buster that rams, not mounts, Tonka. Buster being half Tonka's size is really something and has the advantage by being smaller to go under and flip Tonka. Sooooo a year later we still have a divided patio and two males who are loved dearly but do not get along. We also worry about the stress. There are certain days when Tonka is really rowdy and pushes things around, that are no longer kept in his area. We've observed that there are days Buster paces the fence line, that he can't see through, like he wants to cross over and do who knows what to Tonka. Then there are days where both are peaceful and sweet with us. I've often wondered if they are both putting out a scent that makes the other crazy. Now Tonka has always been a rammer since we brought him home, Buster has yet to become one. But in an earlier post someone wrote they heard it was common with larger torts, soooo who knows what Buster will do in the future. It is really hard. When we bought Buster, we knew what we were getting into and committed ourselves, our children too. Then we ran across Tonka and fell in love with him. Hoping the vet was right about Buster being female we thought eventually it would all work out. Not so.....but we are committed BUT we also have them out side 24/7 in a fairly large lawn area that gets eaten as fast as it grows. I have nothing to say to you that will make it all better, especially in an apartment. I can't picture your two in another year being in the same aprtment as I can't picture our patio ever being one large open area again. It breaks my heart that you are going through this. I have always enjoyed your posts, your stories and comments to all. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. I know it won't be easy. You must remember your upcoming gift...try not to stress yourself about your torts...easier said than done...I know. G



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