Self harming tortoise

[Akat]

Hi!

I’m posting on behalf of my mum. We’ve owned our 31 year old, male spur thigh tortoise for 20 years. Last year he started relentlessly ramming any solid object (concrete fence posts, rocks, slabs etc). He caused himself shell damage and was bleeding, we rushed him to the vets and had him treated. He healed up well and was able to hibernate (note: vet said apart from the shell injury, he was a very healthy tortoise). He came out of hibernation a couple of weeks ago and seemed well. However, within a couple of days, he was back to ramming into anything solid, he’s always had free roam of the established garden, so I don’t think it’s due to boredom! We then made him a large outdoor enclosure and padded the sides with foam. However, this evening when putting him to bed, my mums found him with an even worse injury (blood, shell cracked, breathing funny) and has rushed him to an emergency out of hours vet for treatment.

We’re hoping he will heal from this. But why is he ramming so hard and what can we do to protect him from himself? At this rate, he will have to have an empty enclosure with thickly padded sides. I feel this would be so sad for him? But we can’t allow him to injure himself either.

Please help!!!

[Akat]

Update: we’ve got him back from the vets with creams/ meds and the vets given him a good prognosis but only if he stops ramming to allow the injury to heal. We were surprised that the vet also mentioned behavioural euthanasia which we obviously shut down. We feel we need to explore this a lot more and try and get to the bottom of it before we’d ever consider something like that!!! The vet also spoke with an exotic/ specialist vet (we couldn’t find one open at 9pm so a vet with the guidance of an exotic vet is the best we could do last night!). When asked about the behaviour the exotic vet mentioned it could be due to a tumour on the testicle. This is speculation, but it might be something to explore.

I know male tortoises are known for ramming. But surely it’s not right that he rams himself so hard and consistently that he causes bad injuries to himself!!

[Nina]

Hi Akat,

Please accept our apologies for not responding earlier to your emails. We have been in the middle of moving our forum to a new host and for some reason the software that notifies us each time a new message is posted isn't working, so we didn't see your post.

It is very true that male tortoise are known for ramming/banging up against walls, etc., but your poor tortoise seems to have this problem in the extreme. I have not heard that a tumor on the testicle could cause such behaviour but it is certainly possible. You must be absolutely frantic with anxiety, and I wish I could come up with an easy solution. If the tortoise was in a table indoors I could understand that behaviour, but to bang up against everything in a good sized garden is unusual. I would certainly rule out euthanasia, and I wonder if consulting another exotics vet might help. We will ask people we know for advice and get back to you a.s.a.p. In the meantime, can you tell us where you live, just in case we can find a good exotics vet near you?


Nina

[Akat]

Thank you so much for your reply Nina! It’s certainly been stressful!!!

He’s currently in a pen in the garden with nothing in it and all walls (which are cage type metal) padded with pool noodle bumpers. He can not be trusted with anything and had already caused further damage to his injury. We think we’ll add some soft objects for him to make it less depressing…

We’re in Northampton (NN10). We’re thinking of traveling to the Oxford exotic vet clinic to get some blood tests and a scan done to try and rule a few things out?

We will keep you updated. We would be so grateful of any ideas of advice!

Thanks so much!

Abi

[lin]

Hi Abi.
I wonder if someone has moved in or got a tortoise somewhere in the vicinity. A male can sense a female from a great distance even if walls and fences are in the way and will try and get through preventative obstructions. Does the behaviour lessen as the seasons change?

Lin

[Nina]

Oh dear, I just wrote a long and informative email and it disappeared just before I hit 'submit'. I'll try and reconstruct it.

Thanks so much for giving us all the information. Can you tell us how big the pen is, and if there are any objects in there to break up the sightlines (plants, rocks, etc.)? It's supposed to be cold over the next few nights, so does he have any way to warm up in the mornings (actually the colder weather might dampen is energies somewhat).

Male tortoises are well known to be relentless when they feel randy, but you might be able to distract him, or refocus his efforts. Many tortoises will try and mate with an old trainer or a partially deflated rubber ball. Here's a link to a video what what I'm suggesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BwmQGVqmUg You could give it a try, and at least he would be less likely to damage himself on a trainer or rubber ball (I would try both, and give him a choice of desirable mates .

Regarding the vet, both practices listed on our website in Oxfordshire are excellent. Unfortunately, the address for the practice in Oxford itself is out of date and the vet, Bruce Maclean now operates out of another practice on the outskirts of Oxford (read the instructions carefully as it's a rather tricky turn off the A34). Here is a link to his website http://www.herpvet.co.uk/ It's not a very slick looking website but Bruce is an absolutely amazing vet, with a passion for tortoises and incredibly knowledgeable. He is also very personable and will spend ages with you and your tortoise. I live in Oxford and would recommend him most highly.

The other practice listed in Oxfordshire -- Chipping Norton Veterinary Hospital -- is also excellent. Martin Whitehead is very respected in the tortoise world. I have used him in the past and he would also be a really good choice.

I hope you find some solution to this, as it must be distressing for you as well as for your tortoise! Please let us know you get on.

Nina

[dianereesee]

Hi! This is not uncommon in male spur-thigh tortoises, especially in spring and early summer. Even without another tortoise present, some males will become overstimulated and direct their frustration at inanimate objects. The fact that it resumed right after hibernation suggests seasonal hormones might be playing a big role.

[Daniel]

Male spur thigh tortoises are well known for this type of behaviour, and as far as I know there is no way of really stopping this behaviour. I have read in the past that the more dark a spur thigh tortoises shell is the more aggressive they are, with the solid black Ibera tortoise being the worst offender.

I have no experience of this type of behaviour, but I do believe in encouraging natural behaviours in captivity. This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but if you could cut a extra large plastic flower pot in half and dig it in the ground and just leave the rim of the pot just slightly out of the ground, then hopefully the tortoise in question will make a burrow and spend most of the day in it, which won't completely stop the behaviour, but might reduce it.

In nature tortoises spend most of the day hiding under plants or in burrows, only walking around in the early mornings and late afternoons looking for food and a mate at certain times of the year. I think for the cost of a extra large flower pot is well worth a try.

Kind regards Daniel.