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

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