I have 5 adult tortoises which I have had for over twenty-five years.

For an adult male to be happy he likes access to as many females as he can find. An ideal ratio would be about one male to ten females!  It is not recommended that you keep one male and one female as the male will not leave the female alone and she can become stressed which can lead to illness, as well as being badly damaged.  Neither should you keep two males together as they will fight or be constntly looking for escape routes as they reach sexual maturity at approx. eight years old. 

My adults are allowed to roam part of my garden which is walled off and out of sight from the road. They can come and go into a greenhouse for warmth with U.V. heatlamp. I grow my own seeds of appropriate foods etc for them. They are creatures of habbit and put themselves to bed in their nighttime box which is full of packed shredded newspaper.

My tortoises start each year with a post-hibernation check-up by John Chitty, my tortoise vet, and are weighed and wormed. They start to feed well, put on weight, and then mate; and then usually by May the females start to lay their eggs. I watch the females carefully at this time. I very carefully dig the eggs up once dug-in by the female and then place them in the incubator where they remain unmoved for about two months until they hatch of their own accord. This is always a very exciting time and the babies are so sweet when they pip the egg and appear ready to go! They look like decorative walnut brouches!