Kitten's not quite sure what to make of them, originally uploaded by estacey.

Surprisingly, it wasn't a disappointment. When I set them down together, they both completely froze and stared at each other. Then began the head.. well, how to say? It's not bobbing. Let's just say that they were both moving their heads at each other much the way a fiddler crab moves his big claw over his head. Like slow-motion shaking. They did that at each other for 20 seconds or so, then Wailey started to walk away. Bjorn followed quickly. It was really cute.

I tried to figure out today what that could mean, but all the information I find on tortoise behavior only mentions head bobbing. Head bobbing is both a courting and an aggressive behavior. The only way you can tell it's an attempt to mate is that the head bobbing is not followed by attempts to flip the other tortoise. Oh, so romantic! Then again, the females are not exactly examples of hopeless romantics either: "Females show their willingness to mate by staying still. Otherwise, they just walk away."

Bjorn (who I am not sure is actually a boy) is about the size of Wailey's leg, so I don't know if it was really either; obviously Wailey could take Bjorn if he wanted to, and obviously Bjorn is not at the age where s/he is able to lay eggs. So, the head-shaking will have to remain a mystery for now.

¶ 10:56 AM