http://www.tortoise.freeservers.com/breeding.html
Tortoises in the wild usually have stronger mating urges
during the spring, after hibernation, through until mid-summer.
Although this is somewhat dependent on the animals' geographical
location. In some parts of the Mediterranean coastline, tortoises
can often be found mating at chance intervals throughout the
year.
The mating process begins with the male tortoise picking up a
female's scent trail and following it until he ultimately reaches
his target. Then the courtship begins.
Courtship techniques vary from species to species, but ,the common
denominating factor between all of the Mediterranean group is
aggresion. Unlike alot of the animal kingdom where partners are
effectionately wooed by attractive and colourful displays, female
tortoises are literally bullied into submission through relentless
ramming, biting and butting from their male counterparts. The type
of aggressive behaviour demonstrated by these amorous males varies
between differing species, from biting and strange head-bobbing
rituals of the Testudo Horsfieldii, to considerable and often wound
inflicting biting and shell-battering from Testudo Ibera. The
sickening thuds generated by this forceful butting can be heard
from several metres away. Eventually, the female, after enduring
bites on all of her limbs, will stop attemping to escape and
retract into her shell. This is the cue for the male to mount
her.
Male tortoises, when defending a territory from another male, will
resort to this "courtship" behaviour, even including "mounting",
but in this situation the ramming and biting is effectively used to
dominate and ward off the offending male. In captive situations
this behaviour is often misinterperated by the tortoises' owners,
wrongly assuming their males are trying to mate with each other
!
Once the male has climbed onto the females back, it succeeds in
keeping it's stance by a combination of balancing on it's rear legs
and by posessing a more concave plastron than the female.This
allows the the curvature of the female's humped carapace to sit
nicely underneath him. After finely adjusting his positioning, the
male shuffles and wiggles his cloaca (tail), until his "ventral-
opening" lines up with the females "opening." The male then erects
his penis (known as a hemi-penis). This pushes through his ventral
opening of the cloaca and enters hers. Ejaculation is followed
shortly after, simultaneously accompanied by high pitched
"squeaking" from the male. This is the only time that one will ever
hear vocalised sounds made by a tortoise (except for the occasional
discontented "hiss".) Interestingly each individual species
generates a sound which is unique to their own kind.
The male usually mates with a female several times before finally
letting her go free.
