I have 1 male and 1 female tortoises. I'm not sure what type they are though. They have just come out of hibernation and they have started to eat like usual and walk around the garden fine. But they keep going close to each other and bobb their heads up and down! I have never seen them d it before and the female also keeps sniffing everwhere and putting her head on the ground for a few seconds! any idea what they are doing????

They're going through courtship rituals


How old are they? If you post some pics of them (top and plastron) on here then someone will be able to tell you what species you have.


Oh and to the forum.

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They are both about 28 years, i cant put pictures on the computer though.
What are courtship rituals????

Here's how you post pictures:

How To - Post pictures using Photobucket.

Courtship rituals are the rituals they perform before mating. How long have you had them?

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i Have had them for about 3 - 4 years, they used to belong to my mums friend. Can you tell me what are the rituals plz and i will try and post a photo!!!???

mating rituals depend on species. some courtships can look very aggressive and involve a great deal of shell bashing and vocal grunting from the male. Head bobbing is relatively common in many speciesacross the world, it is not just exclusive tortoises. The pictures would be necessary to tell the type of tortoise but at that age you should be able to tell the difference bewtween the male and female by the bottom of the shell. Flat in females and concave in males. males also have a bigger tail. Lots of mediteranean tortoises look very similar so a good picture of the shell and also of the underneath will help the others to identify it. You could look at the tortoise trust website, they have lots of pics of many differnt types.

My tortoises have been bashing shells and bobbing heads!!! is this after or before they mate? if its before i can take my tortoise to the vet to see if she has eggs?!

Can we see pics of your torts so we know exactly what species you have... this will help people give you advice in preparation for if your tortoises do mate and what you need to do regarding nesting and incubation.

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if they have mated then the best thing to do is just to wait and see. an xray is not recomended when gravid unless its absoloutely necesary. Radiation can damage the very sensitive tissues. You should make sure that she has a turned over raised soil/sand area in the sunshine. In the wild they often lay in raised areas to protect the eggs from floods, and if the soil is frshly turned over it will make the digging alot easier on her! some people find that adding a little warm water occassionally will encourage them to lay in that spot. Again, in nature they tend to urinate copiously to soften the earth. If they have been hibernated then they wont have been awake for too long so there is no great panic about them laying, if she is gravid it will be a while yet until 'layday' !

I did that photo thing you told me to do, but i dont have any photos on the computer at all so i dont know how to show you! i did the browse but if i have no photos i cant do it??!!