Reptile & Amphibian Forums

These are my Redfoots. 3 males on the left and the rest are females. I have had them for a little over a year now and finally got some eggs this year. One of my females has been acting very strange. The one walking towards the camera trys to mount the other females after it rains. She even makes the "clucking" noise. Anyone else ever experience this?

i don't have redfoots but my female indian star tortoise did this a couple of weeks before she laid her eggs. i've read on tortoisetrust.com that this is common behavior for breeding females. good luck.

My redfoots exhibit this behavior. On one afternoon, I had four confirmed females chasing each other around the habitat, bobbing heads, mounting and emitting muffled clucks.

This behavior has been observed in many tort species.

Paul

This behavior in tortoises is primarily for establishing dominance, however gravid females will also display this behavior. It's less likely to occur in gravid females if the pen is large enough that each female has her own "territory" for laying her eggs.
My Russian's females do it, whether they're gravid or not.

Must be a "territory" issue.. mine have room.. (not as much as the dogs.. of course) but they do have their own fenced in area.. so dominance is not their concern. Only my males cluck.. seems like everyday!

You gotta love 'em!

Terry

I have spoke with more than one redfoot owner who has experienced this. I don't know much about tortoise "dominance" and such, but maybe you have some sort of alpha female that is just doing what nature is telling her. I can't see it being anything else. Even with other types of reptiles, (monitors, lizards, etc.) there has to be some form of compatibility and maybe she is just doing what she's supposed to. I don't think I'd worry about it really.....Good luck.

Barry

It must be the Alpha Female thing. She is the largest female I have. Also by far the friendliest. She pretty much follows me where ever I go. The photo is of her putting the move on my largest male. I wish my males were this aggressive.