My female two year old herman tortoise is ramming her shell into things, what could this be?

Question

I have a female herman tortoise which is two years old although i have only had her since she turned one. She has ocassionaly done it a couple of times throughout the year, but she has been ramming her shell into the walls of her enclosure more and more often at the moment, and shes also been ramming her shell into some objects like cupboards when outside her enclosure. We often let her out in the garden for a few hours when its sunny so i dont think its through bordem. I have read that around this time of year is when they usually mate and her behaviour is very simular to the behaviours i have read about, although we do not own any other tortoises. Her health is fine, and the enclosure is set up exactly how the vets reccomended us to set it up.

Do you have any ideas on why she is ramming her shell into things?

Answer 1

take her to the vet

Answer 2

She's definitely hitting sexual maturity. She's just a little ticked off because her hormones are going wild, she's trying to find a male mate, it will pass after a long time. Maybe it's time 2 buy her a boyfriend. Hope i helped

Check out this site

http://www.sulcata-station.org/housing.h...

it tells all about tortoises. =D

Answer 3

Hermanns tortoises don't reach maturity until they are at least 8 years of age, so it is not a desire to breed. The only time I have ever observed this behavior is with tortoises ramming into other tortoises.

Answer 4

get her a play toy

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

PLEASE HELP IT HURTS SO BADLY!

Answer 5

are you sure you have a female, as the males usually do this sort of behavior when they are coming up to sexual maturity and it is a sign of them saying they are the dominant one, Herman's usually reach maturity at about 5 years of age, check the tail on your tortoise, if it is short and dumpy then you defiantly have a female if it is long and is put to the side when your tortoise walks then you have a male, you won't be able to tell from the bottom shell yet as it does not start to dip in until they reach full maturity, but i would say you have a male who is practicing their dominance and mating rituals, if your set up is correct and your tortoise is healthy then i would not be worried you have the equivalent of a teenager just practicing being a grown up so don't worry too much, best of luck honey

Answer 6

maybe she needs a man

Answer 7

I'd take her to the vet to get checked out, she sounds like she has a bit of a problem, i hope nothing dropped on her?? Get her checked out and see what they say.

Answer 8

It sounds like she is trying to find a mate. I heard that tortoises will do this when they are looking for a mate. Or, when they want to court a mate. I would just ignore it. Unless, you want to go through the trouble of breeding. It is best not to breed her unless you see her actually lay eggs. Maybe put a small cat toy ball in with her so she can ram that around the cage. Or get her another tortoise, like another female so they don't breed.