The Texas Tortoise is considered one of the smallest out 4 Native Tortoises. Since the Texas Tortoise is a cold blooded animal they hibernate until their is a warm spell in the air that allows the tortoise to come out in venture around. The Texas Tortoise is unique compared to other tortoise's because they make pallets in the ground that are usually next to a cactus or scrub. Since this is where the plants is where they get their water source from they tend to pallet down until it warms down.

Since male tortoise are very territorial the males tend to battle until one dies. If one of the males gets the other one flipped over and on it's back then the tortoise flipped on it's back can die from over heating and getting hyperthermia.

The way you can tell if a tortoise is a male or not is by looking to see which tortoise is bigger. Also the male will have a concave plastron found on the lower shell that is easier for the male during mating season whereas the female is just flat. Females lay their eggs during April to September. It takes a tortoise up to 3 to 5 years until finally maturing.


Reference:
http://www.gctts.org/node/45