# Advice on Russian tortoise breeding



## lionheartHC (Sep 16, 2019)

Hello all! I've always had a huge interest regarding breeding torts. I recently purchased my first house that fortunately has all the land I'll need for at least a 30ftx30ft enclosure. As of now, I have a room indoors dedicated to my 3 girls that live happily (no aggression). I know a 1:3 ratio is going to work best and I plan to wait until spring to acquire my male. Moving forward from there, I'll probably hibernate them over winter (Ohio) rather than keeping them up indoors. I've read hours and hours of literature learning everything I possibly can. But.. I know there's always more to learn. 

What would you say are going to be the biggest factors to give me a higher success rate? Should I try and find another female to have a 1:4 ratio? I'm working on the outdoor enclosure but are there any major keys to the layout I'm not aware of?

I'll attach a photo of my current indoor table just so you can see what they're living in now. Thanks for reading!

Ben


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## nandusnandus (Sep 20, 2019)

Ben, I can't speak to breeding your Russians, but wanted to comment on your enclosure. It looks like you've put a good deal of time and energy into it. I really enjoy creating great habitats for my torts, as well. Having said that, my Russians seem to generally steam-roll anything I do to their enclosure. They are veritable wrecking balls. Hopefully, you have as much fun with your outdoor project.


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## Jodie (Sep 20, 2019)

Hi Ben, Glad to see you here. We have talked, so I happen to know your plans are great. The one thing I will tell you is to expect the unexpected. I have found that no matter how hard I try and think, and plan an enclosure, my tortoises will find the weak spot, the thing I did not think of, and they will exploit it. Enclosures are always a work in progress. This is a great place to get solutions and help though when that happens.
The biggest mistake you can probably make is to underestimate a Russians tortoise ability to escape. They can climb like you would not believe. Make sure your walls are smooth, or cap them. Capping the corners is always a good idea.


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## Tom (Sep 21, 2019)

My preference with most species is to leave the males and females separate most of the time and introduce them for breeding periodically.

I like your enclosure except for the clamp lamps. The clamps can't be trusted, and the fixtures made of the plastic bakelite stuff always fail eventually. You need ceramic based fixtures and they need to be hung from over head the same way as your florescent bulbs.


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## lionheartHC (Sep 21, 2019)

nandusnandus said:


> Ben, I can't speak to breeding your Russians, but wanted to comment on your enclosure. It looks like you've put a good deal of time and energy into it. I really enjoy creating great habitats for my torts, as well. Having said that, my Russians seem to generally steam-roll anything I do to their enclosure. They are veritable wrecking balls. Hopefully, you have as much fun with your outdoor project.



Thank you! It's been a fun project and I can't wait to do the outdoor one.


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## lionheartHC (Sep 21, 2019)

Tom said:


> My preference with most species is to leave the males and females separate most of the time and introduce them for breeding periodically.
> 
> I like your enclosure except for the clamp lamps. The clamps can't be trusted, and the fixtures made of the plastic bakelite stuff always fail eventually. You need ceramic based fixtures and they need to be hung from over head the same way as your florescent bulbs.




Thanks for your input! Regarding your comment on only introducing your males for breeding, how long would you typically keep them together? The clamp lamps have a bracket screwed to the underside that makes it impossible for them to fall off, thanks for your concerns though. 

Ben


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## lionheartHC (Sep 21, 2019)

Jodie said:


> Hi Ben, Glad to see you here. We have talked, so I happen to know your plans are great. The one thing I will tell you is to expect the unexpected. I have found that no matter how hard I try and think, and plan an enclosure, my tortoises will find the weak spot, the thing I did not think of, and they will exploit it. Enclosures are always a work in progress. This is a great place to get solutions and help though when that happens.
> The biggest mistake you can probably make is to underestimate a Russians tortoise ability to escape. They can climb like you would not believe. Make sure your walls are smooth, or cap them. Capping the corners is always a good idea.



Good to hear from you! Thanks again for all the information you provided. I actually purchased a huge piece of "bird netting" that I was going to put over the top. Should that suffice? The walls will be about 1.5ft tall in the lowest sections.


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## Tom (Sep 21, 2019)

lionheartHC said:


> Thanks for your input! Regarding your comment on only introducing your males for breeding, how long would you typically keep them together? The clamp lamps have a bracket screwed to the underside that makes it impossible for them to fall off, thanks for your concerns though.
> 
> Ben



Time together varies with the species and situation. In some cases I leave them together for an afternoon and separate them after dark when they've gone to sleep, and in other cases I leave them together for a few days at a time. With Russians and their tendency to fight and hurt each other, I'm more inclined to do the afternoon thing, but it would really depend on what they did once they were together. I'd watch them closely.


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## lionheartHC (Sep 21, 2019)

Tom said:


> Time together varies with the species and situation. In some cases I leave them together for an afternoon and separate them after dark when they've gone to sleep, and in other cases I leave them together for a few days at a time. With Russians and their tendency to fight and hurt each other, I'm more inclined to do the afternoon thing, but it would really depend on what they did once they were together. I'd watch them closely.



I appreciate the info, thank you sir.


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## Chubbs the tegu (Sep 21, 2019)

lionheartHC said:


> Hello all! I've always had a huge interest regarding breeding torts. I recently purchased my first house that fortunately has all the land I'll need for at least a 30ftx30ft enclosure. As of now, I have a room indoors dedicated to my 3 girls that live happily (no aggression). I know a 1:3 ratio is going to work best and I plan to wait until spring to acquire my male. Moving forward from there, I'll probably hibernate them over winter (Ohio) rather than keeping them up indoors. I've read hours and hours of literature learning everything I possibly can. But.. I know there's always more to learn.
> 
> What would you say are going to be the biggest factors to give me a higher success rate? Should I try and find another female to have a 1:4 ratio? I'm working on the outdoor enclosure but are there any major keys to the layout I'm not aware of?
> 
> ...


Put some lingerie on the female.. thats my guess lmao


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## Jodie (Sep 23, 2019)

lionheartHC said:


> Good to hear from you! Thanks again for all the information you provided. I actually purchased a huge piece of "bird netting" that I was going to put over the top. Should that suffice? The walls will be about 1.5ft tall in the lowest sections.


It would depend on how you attach it. For my enclosures I have 2 railroad ties stacked together, then I screwed plastic roof panels to the inside. I had one escape once. One corner of the plastic had come loose. He was able to get in between the plastic and the railroad tie, and shimmy up to the top and out. My neighbor found him more that 7 weeks later. Don't underestimate them.


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