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why doses my male tortoise keep biting my femal tortoise2007-11-24 2:05:02

they have been living together for 30 years, and this behaviour has just started about 1 week ago.

Answers:

We see this a lot in captive populations. Sudden aggressive courtship or territoriality. It may just be an excess of testosterone or just some odd manifestation of captive stress.

Double check your cares- cage size, lighitng, and diet especially. Sometimes, too much UV can trigger aggression. Small cages limit territory and induce stress. Poor diet, too much food, or diet with too much protein, etc. can cause aggression as well.

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because your not feeding them, and the jewish stomach is kicking in

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well the male wants to play

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Maybe Mr Tortoise is in his second childhood and is giving Mrs Tortoise love nips! Lose any Viagra lately?

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This is the only info I can find on him bitting her. Other than this, males only fight with other males. Good luck

A loose male dominance hierarchy is apparently established by aggression. Dominant males court and mate with females more often than other males. Courtship involves extensive head bobbing as the male attempts to nip and bite at the edges of the female's carapace and legs while circling her. If the female is receptive, she will allow the male to mount her from behind. At this point the female will remain still as the male probes with his tail while grunting and enthusiastically stamping his hind feet. The nuptial embrace continues until the female wanders away. The mating posture is facilitated by a strong depression in the male's plastron that fits neatly onto the convex carapace of the female. The males's longer tail enables the penis to penetrate the cloaca. The neatly upright copulatory position of the male is further aided by the inward curve at the rear of the male's carapace. The mature female differs in having a flat plastron, a shorter tail, and an outward curve at the rear of the carapace which probably provides a wider space for egg laying. The gular horn of the male is longer and more curved, the claws more massive.