# WANTED: Female Russian tortoise



## biochemnerd808 (Nov 12, 2012)

I am looking to adopt a female Russian tortoise to balance my little herd. I am an experienced tortoise Momma: we have a male and a female Russian, I am fostering another Russian, and I have a greek tort, too. I grow all my own leafy greens in our garden. The torts get lots of outdoor time in the warm months, and good fresh UVB bulbs in the wintertime. I supplement with TNT and a cuttlebone. 

I would prefer healthy, but am OK with some TLC - I have successfully rehabilitated 2 sick torts (males), and am currently fostering another that will hopefully be good to go in about a month. 

I have 2 large tortoise tables (3'x6' and 3'x4'), and am building a third right now. I also have all the necessary lights and a quarantine tank (nice and big, 18"x48") for the few months before I'd move the new tort in with the others. 

We live in the Portland, OR area, and I am willing to drive a little ways (needs to fit into a 1-day roundtrip). I'd be willing to pay for shipping if the adoption fee isn't too much. 

I check our local Craigslist all the time, but haven't had any luck finding a female... everyone has males!


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 28, 2012)

Still looking for a female Russian (Steppe) tortoise. Local would be awesome, but I am also willing to have it shipped?


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## mira_kaylee (Nov 29, 2012)

I know how you feel, I looked forever to find my female Russian and when I finally did it was by accident lol! Make sure that if you are checking pet stores that you don't take the employee's word for it that the torts are all male. A lot of times they're just guessing.


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

Yeah, they had a female at Petsmart (they said it was male, but it was a clear-as-day-female... and I even drew the employee a diagram afterwards of how to tell!), but out of principal I won't buy it there... 

I'm looking on Craigslist all the time. I had found someone, but then they changed their mind when their daughter cried and cried about the tort going away... most I've seen are male tho (I was the weird person asking for pics of the tort's tail). 



mira_kaylee said:


> I know how you feel, I looked forever to find my female Russian and when I finally did it was by accident lol! Make sure that if you are checking pet stores that you don't take the employee's word for it that the torts are all male. A lot of times they're just guessing.


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## TortoiseBoy1999 (Nov 29, 2012)

I found both my Russian's on CL (one male and female [ the owners actually thought it was male ]) Just be patient it takes time


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

Yep, I found my tortoises on CL, too. I haven't had much luck finding females though, it seems everyone has males. I got lucky with my one female. 



TortoiseBoy1999 said:


> I found both my Russian's on CL (one male and female [ the owners actually thought it was male ]) Just be patient it takes time


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## TortoiseBoy1999 (Nov 29, 2012)

biochemnerd808 said:


> Yep, I found my tortoises on CL, too. I haven't had much luck finding females though, it seems everyone has males. I got lucky with my one female.



Yep!  For me in my area when I was looking for a male all I found were females  When I actually found a MALE I got excited  You can find females A LOT easier out here


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

TortoiseBoy1999 said:


> biochemnerd808 said:
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> > Yep, I found my tortoises on CL, too. I haven't had much luck finding females though, it seems everyone has males. I got lucky with my one female.
> ...



Right now there are 8 *eight!* male RTs on our Craigslist. Even the 'unknown' ones turned out to be male. This is rediculous!


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## TortoiseBoy1999 (Nov 29, 2012)

biochemnerd808 said:


> Right now there are 8 *eight!* male RTs on our Craigslist. Even the 'unknown' ones turned out to be male. This is rediculous!



 Well, fingers crossed!


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## mira_kaylee (Nov 29, 2012)

I'm pleased to say that our local PetSmart takes decent care of their torts when they receive them. The manager there did some reading when they first opened and made sure that they are at least fed and such properly. I also feel that any tortoises that are on craigslist are probably bought from a pet store? In addition I am someday interested in getting another female Russian as well, but not for a good while, not even considering the fact that Russian Tortoise females are so difficult to find around here. My boyfriend is in the process of building me a large wooden custom pen with a removable divider down the middle so that my male and female can be separated if need be in the future  which since (someday, not now) I plan on breeding them then this will come in handy


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

Yes, many of them may have been originally from the pet store. However, they (hopefully) have been in their family for long enough that they aren't freshly travelled and stressed. Plus, just out of principal, I don't want to support our petsmart pet trade when there are always pets in need of adoption. In the end, the cost is about the same, since people set the adoption fee to where they are basically reimbursing themselves...



mira_kaylee said:


> I'm pleased to say that our local PetSmart takes decent care of their torts when they receive them. The manager there did some reading when they first opened and made sure that they are at least fed and such properly. I also feel that any tortoises that are on craigslist are probably bought from a pet store? In addition I am someday interested in getting another female Russian as well, but not for a good while, not even considering the fact that Russian Tortoise females are so difficult to find around here. My boyfriend is in the process of building me a large wooden custom pen with a removable divider down the middle so that my male and female can be separated if need be in the future  which since (someday, not now) I plan on breeding them then this will come in handy


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## mira_kaylee (Nov 29, 2012)

That makes sense, the not buying them from the pet store reasoning i mean. I agree that there are always tortoises in need of adoption, but I could never seem to find any that weren't obscenely out of my price range....PetSmart was having their torts set at a sale price of about $70 at the time, while the only female tortoise even remotely near me was set at $130 if i remember correctly  I contacted said person and they were completely unwilling to negotiate the price whatsoever....



biochemnerd808 said:


> Yes, many of them may have been originally from the pet store. However, they (hopefully) have been in their family for long enough that they aren't freshly travelled and stressed. Plus, just out of principal, I don't want to support our petsmart pet trade when there are always pets in need of adoption. In the end, the cost is about the same, since people set the adoption fee to where they are basically reimbursing themselves...
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> ...


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

I'm glad you found a female! I may end up going that route in the end... haha, can't stay on my high horse indefinitely... 



mira_kaylee said:


> That makes sense, the not buying them from the pet store reasoning i mean. I agree that there are always tortoises in need of adoption, but I could never seem to find any that weren't obscenely out of my price range....PetSmart was having their torts set at a sale price of about $70 at the time, while the only female tortoise even remotely near me was set at $130 if i remember correctly  I contacted said person and they were completely unwilling to negotiate the price whatsoever....
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## mira_kaylee (Nov 29, 2012)

Lol it comes down to what you want to do in the end  both of my tortoises are from petsmart and ended up being perfectly healthy, and i've had Ayden for awhile and Azura, while newer, has shown no problems thus far. Pet store quality varies by location of course, but if you find one that puts forth the effort and has the knowledge to take care of their animals then it isn't always such a bad idea to go wit ha pet store. That's just my 2 cents though  I wish you the very best luck!


biochemnerd808 said:


> I'm glad you found a female! I may end up going that route in the end... haha, can't stay on my high horse indefinitely...
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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 29, 2012)

Thanks, that's so sweet!



mira_kaylee said:


> Lol it comes down to what you want to do in the end  both of my tortoises are from petsmart and ended up being perfectly healthy, and i've had Ayden for awhile and Azura, while newer, has shown no problems thus far. Pet store quality varies by location of course, but if you find one that puts forth the effort and has the knowledge to take care of their animals then it isn't always such a bad idea to go wit ha pet store. That's just my 2 cents though  I wish you the very best luck!
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> biochemnerd808 said:
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## mira_kaylee (Nov 29, 2012)

No problem! 


biochemnerd808 said:


> Thanks, that's so sweet!
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## kytuan (Nov 30, 2012)

i have a group of russian tortoises 4 female and 3 male @@, they are all healthy and active


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## biochemnerd808 (Nov 30, 2012)

Cool! I'm aiming for 2-3 females and 1 male (I have 1 male and 1 female)



kytuan said:


> i have a group of russian tortoises 4 female and 3 male @@, they are all healthy and active


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## biochemnerd808 (Dec 29, 2012)

This thread can be closed - I found 2 wonderfully cared for females! Or rather, they found me... the owner contacted me. Thank you!


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