i have a question. why is it harder to find female Russian tortoises? i can only find males and the females i do find are all wild caught. ugh. the females might be at a higher demand to offset the male population (with breeding).

I think there are a few reasons. One is, as you said, females (especially breeding size) ARE at a higher demand and will get snatched up quickly. For those wishing to breed, males aren't as "needed" as you only need one male to "service" many females.

Also I believe that many of the importers of WC torts will hold out any breeding sized females to see if they are gravid, or to use for breeding themselves, instead of selling them.

Not sure if I'm actually right, but that's what I think! LOL!

I recently bought two CB Russian hatchlings (still waiting on them to be shipped because of Cleveland's cold weather). The breeder, a hobbyist from the Yahoo Group, incubated them in the high 80s: this usually determines their sex. So, more than likely, they will be female. So, for the captive breeders of Russians- which there are very few- she may produce females more than males because it will help spread the CB lines.

Buying CB is well worth it because it cancels out the WC sales from pet stores and other venues.

Additionally, this will be the 1st or 2nd generation of CB from this line So, thats a bit exciting.