I was recently watching my tortoise swimming in his tank, and I started wandering, does he get lonely living there all by himself? So I was thinking of getting him a new friend, but before I did that I decided to do some research, and what I found out was very unexpected. Here are the results of my research.
No, tortoises are not social animals and as a result they don’t get lonely. Tortoises actually prefer to be alone, and not in the company of other tortoises or animals.
When I started doing the research, I was amazed to see that everybody, from scientists to other tortoise owners, said that tortoises don’t get lonely. But after continuing with my research and finding out the exact motives, I completely understand why It’s better for tortoises to be alone.
What Happens if You Have More Than One Tortoise in the Same Enclosure
The most common thing that can happen if you have more than one tortoise in the same enclosure is that they will fight. And there is little to nothing that you can do to stop this from happening.
There are a lot of reasons why they will start a fight. One of the reasons can be the food. Even if you give them enough food, they will still try to take each other’s food and this will result in fighting. There is no way to avoid this, at some point they will fight over this, if you feed them in the same enclosure. Placing food for each tortoise in separate sides of the tank might seem like a good idea, but at some point, one of the tortoises will try to go to the other side to take the food from there as well. The only way to solve this is to feed them one at a time in a separate container, unless you do this, they will fight at some point over food.
Another reason why they might fight is for territory. This is just the way animals are, there is no way to stop them from doing this. If you place them in different containers, then it doesn’t help them at all with the loneliness.
While I was researching I thought that placing one male and a female should solve the fighting problem, maybe this way the two tortoises will get along, but I was very wrong. If you have one adult male and one adult female in the same enclosure, the male will continuously try to mate with the female, and at some point the female will have enough of it, and they will start fighting. Placing two males, or two females in the same tank will also lead to fights. So gender doesn’t play any role in this.
On the other hand, juvenile and baby tortoises are actually very peaceful compared to adult tortoises. So there are smaller chances of them fighting, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. One of the biggest problems is that they are small, and as a result their tails can sometimes look like worms, or other small animals, and because of that they can sometimes bite each other’s tail. As a result of that, their tails can be nipped ant this will lead to permanent scars and to fight as well.
Placing an adult tortoise with a juvenile tortoise will basically result in the smaller tortoise being bullied by the bigger tortoise for every reason possible, so this is also not an option.
Another big problem is that one tortoise can assert its dominance over the others, this will mean that the others won’t get to eat as much food, and that they will also not get to bask as much, and over time this can lead to serious health problems.
Tortoises just like being alone, you won’t find a tortoise that likes to have company, instead you might find that there can be tortoises that are able to tolerate other tortoises. After all, every tortoise has a slightly different personality, and this can play a big role in how well they get with other tortoises.
I’m not trying to tell you that keeping more than one tortoise in the same enclosure is impossible, it’ possible, but you will need a very big enclosure so that your tortoises won’t have to interact with each other as much. But again, this kind of goes against the idea of having company.
So other tortoises aren’t a good idea, but what about other reptiles?
Placing a Tortoise With Another Reptile
Unfortunate, placing a tortoise with another reptile is also a bad idea. Even if reptiles as a whole can be very different in appearance and customs, they all share one personality trait, they like to be alone.
So everything that can happen with two tortoises can happen with a tortoise and a snake, or a gecko, or a gecko, or any kind of lizard. The only difference is that the fights will be more dangerous.
Even if they don’t seem like it, tortoises can defeat some snake species, and usually the wounds left behind can be very dangerous. And if a snake tries to eat a tortoise, the shell can present a lot of problems during the digestion. So it doesn’t matter who wins the fight, they will both have to suffer.
Unlike snakes and tortoises, lizards can be very different from species to species, so I can’t give you an exact example of what can happen if they fight, but let’s just say that it won’t end in a good way for either of them.
Having a tortoise and a snake, or a lizard, can actually be more dangerous than having two tortoises. When two tortoises fight, they don’t have any advantage or disadvantage over the other, so the fight usually ends after just a couple of scratches or bites. And that is not enough to make severe wounds. But if a snake and a tortoise fight, things can be very different because the fight is not balanced at all.
Tortoises Like to be Alone
Tortoises are solitary creatures. There is no exact reason for why they like to be alone, it’s just the way they are. And since they are one of the longest living species on earth, the fact that they survive on their own means that they know what they are doing.
So you shouldn’t worry that your tortoise might get lonely, they won’t. They actually like being on their own.
Related Questions
Do tortoises have feelings? Yes, tortoises have feelings, while they are not as developed as human feelings, they are still able to feel some basic emotions.
Do tortoises cry? No, tortoises don’t cry. People believe tortoises cry because sea tortoises have a gland near their eyes that eliminates excess salt, and the excess salt eliminated can be easily confused with salt.
Do tortoises talk? No, tortoises don’t talk, but they have other non-verbal ways of communicating with each other. And sometimes they can create sounds, but usually hose sounds are not a form of communication.
How do I keep my tortoise small? You can’t keep a tortoise small, any attempt to do so will only affect its health. If you want a small tortoise than you should get a tortoise species that stays small, here you can find a list of tortoise that stay small and don’t grow: Best Pet Tortoise That Stay Small and Don’t Grow
How can I make my tortoise grow faster? The only way that you can make a tortoise grow faster is to ensure that it has everything that it needs, a proper diet, a proper tank and a proper basking area.
Do tortoises grow to the size of their tank? No, how big a tortoise will grow depends on its species and the living conditions. If you have a very small tank, there is a good chance that your tortoise will outgrow it.
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