Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!
I live in Northern Europe and I am the happy owner of 3 Sri Lankan Star tortoises - 2,1. I got them 10 years ago as hatchlings. The female now weighs more than 2,7 kilos and she is still growing. In the winter months I keep them inside all the time. In the summer I sometimes put them outside in the greenhouse when the sun is shining. In the middle of the day I sprinkle with water to imitate rain. I always bring the tortoises inside early in the evening. When the weather on a rare occasion is very hot they are allowed to get outside for some hours.
3 years ago the female produced 2 unviable eggs but since then nothing has happened. Besides from sniffing her out the males are not interested in the female at all. But sometimes they "pair" each other - very passionately and loud!! I would of course like to breed my tortoises. Especially since the female has a very attractive pattern. So I would like to know if some of you guys have a "foolproof" way to do so?
First obstacle seems to be to turn the males interest towards the female instead of each other. Any suggestions why they prefer each other to the female? My own guess is that it is some kind of dominating behavior.
I have thought about isolating the males from the female in the winter months in the hope this will stimulate the males to become interested in the female. Does any of you have experiences with this? Perhaps I should even isolate the males from each other?
I am also quite interested in more information about the possibility of male tortoises becoming sterile from overheating. "zovick" mentioned this in a recent statement. I have kept my tortoises very warm over the years to avoid colds etc. This seems to have been very successful. They have never been sick. However if excessive heat can make them sterile I seem to have made a huge mistake. So - how much heat is too much? And is it permanent or reversible damage?
Kura

Here is a picture of my female and one of the males.

Kura

They really are nice. Congratulations on your good work.

Don't think excessive heat will effect fertility long term. Even if sterile, not going to stop breeding behavior. Just be shooting blanks.

These guys most likely breed on a wet/dry monsoon schedule. Slightly cooler and drier then warmer and wetter to induce breeding. Look up seasonal weather patterns from where they come from. Try to simulate that.

Just some thoughts. Honestly have no experience with them.

jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Hello Kura. Actually, you have misquoted or possibly misunderstood my statement. I said that it would NOT be likely that captive male tortoises could be made hot enough to make them become sterile. If they reached a temperature which would permanently sterilize them, I believe it would most likely also kill them (well, I suppose dead is almost equal to sterile), but hopefully you understand what I mean. Star Tortoises in my collection pile on top of each other under 250 watt infrared heat lamps twice daily. A temperature gun reading on the substrate under these lamps routinely shows a temperature of 114-116F. The tortoises are even warmer than the substrate, and I have never had any fertility issues.

When your two males are "having at it", remove one of them and quickly replace it with the female. This might do the trick for you. Even more effective, I would keep the two males totally apart. Keep one male with the female for a week at a time, and keep the other male by himself. Once a week, switch the males. You should see much-improved interest in breeding.