Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend, I received a disturbing report from an owner of multiple species of tortoises. His 6 Indotestudo elongata apparently cornered, killed and devoured a Geochelone pardalis. Indotestudo elongata had been seen doing this in the past with baby chicks in the yard (cornering as a group, killing and eating). I keep this species (1.1.1), but have never seen aggressive behavior toward other turtle species that share the yard or even toward Geochelone hatchlings that I allow to forage through the yard for a few supervised hours at a time. Has anyone else witnessed this kind of behavior by this species?

It would seem that once a feeding response is triggered some tortoises can act like sharks.

It also seems that if the tortoise under attack is too weak to flee it obviously becomes an easy target.

I've seen this in Redfoots and Chacos. They can be brutal. I don't think that it's a stretch that elongatas to act in the same manner considering their similarities.

>>This weekend, I received a disturbing report from an owner of multiple species of tortoises. His 6 Indotestudo elongata apparently cornered, killed and devoured a Geochelone pardalis. Indotestudo elongata had been seen doing this in the past with baby chicks in the yard (cornering as a group, killing and eating). I keep this species (1.1.1), but have never seen aggressive behavior toward other turtle species that share the yard or even toward Geochelone hatchlings that I allow to forage through the yard for a few supervised hours at a time. Has anyone else witnessed this kind of behavior by this species?
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Thank you for the response. I was warned about reported bites out of the shells of semi-aquatic turtles by I. elongata, but this was the first time I have heard of such behavior towards Geochelone.

I have many very young Geochelone species and the thought of them being attacked by native tortoises when they are allowed to forage in the yard worries me.

A leading tortoise dealer here and I were discussing inadequate diet being a potential cause of this behavior. The owner fed leafy vegetables and let them forage on grass; I need to mix leafy vegetables with squash, fruit and flowers to get them to eat those- they appear to hate eating leafy greens. Could this have also triggered this behavior?

That's absolutely believable....A friend of mind has tried breeding elongateds twice and each time has ended up in injuries and even death of the male killing the female. I've had foresten's (similar) in the past and put them in a cage with some box turtles just for a couple minutes while I cleaned, and I turned around only to see a forestens biting a box turtle on the foot and not letting go......

Barry