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I have three 5-6.5" marginated tortoises that I believed were all females. Today, much to my chagrin, I caught the smallest of the three tortoises in a mounted position to one of the larger specimens. Its mouth was open and it was making fait vocalizations. I picked it up to see if a hemipenes was evident and I saw nothing. Is there ANY possibility that female Testudo marginata can behave in such a manner? Thanks in advance. -Larry in NYC

This sort of behavior is not uncommon in Torts, especially if the female was incubated at lower temperatures. Having no Y chromosomes, torts, female or male, display a wide range of behaviorial variance we would typically assume associated with one sex or the other. If your tort is a female, the behavior is likely a manifestation of a more aggressive personality.

Probably nothing to worry about if that is the extent of the dominating behavior. Ensure your other tort has equal access to food, water, hiding, and it'll all be good.

>>I have three 5-6.5" marginated tortoises that I believed were all females. Today, much to my chagrin, I caught the smallest of the three tortoises in a mounted position to one of the larger specimens. Its mouth was open and it was making fait vocalizations. I picked it up to see if a hemipenes was evident and I saw nothing. Is there ANY possibility that female Testudo marginata can behave in such a manner? Thanks in advance. -Larry in NYC

I found this to be very common behavior in all Testudos in general.

>>I have three 5-6.5" marginated tortoises that I believed were all females. Today, much to my chagrin, I caught the smallest of the three tortoises in a mounted position to one of the larger specimens. Its mouth was open and it was making fait vocalizations. I picked it up to see if a hemipenes was evident and I saw nothing. Is there ANY possibility that female Testudo marginata can behave in such a manner? Thanks in advance. -Larry in NYC
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

"I have three 5-6.5" marginated tortoises that I believed were all females. Today, much to my chagrin, I caught the smallest of the three tortoises in a mounted position to one of the larger specimens. Its mouth was open and it was making fait vocalizations. I picked it up to see if a hemipenes was evident and I saw nothing. Is there ANY possibility that female Testudo marginata can behave in such a manner?"

hi larry,

one possible explanation might be that you have a male undergoing sexual maturation. however, my russian adult females do this all the time, especially near time of ovulation (timed backward from oviposition). pseudocopulatory behavior is common in several reptile species. contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do, directly, with sex chromosomes, and everything to do with sex steroids. both testosterone and progesterone have been shown to elicit male-like courtship and copulatory behavior in females from a variety reptile species.

also, you will not see hemipenes in a tortoise. this is a characteristic of squamates (snakes and lizards). even if you have a male, you're not necessarily going to see the penis when you look, it only transiently appears.

keep watching,

matt

hey; i posted a while ago about whether tortoises could be gay! funny to see this come up now. from what i've been reading, like everyone says, it's normal. if you scroll down to the gay tortoise question, mrand put forth some really good explanations and observations!

Thank you all for your very interesting responses! -Larry in NYC