# Breeding Russians????



## Julz (Nov 7, 2011)

i pretty sure i have a female russian and i just got her 2 weeks ago and tonight i got a male. they are about 4 inches. Im really not sure If the one is a female the tail isnt too long and it sometimes wraps around the back but compared to my new males , its really small. but anyways how long do u think it will take for them to breed??


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## Floof (Nov 7, 2011)

First, here's a couple recent threads that discussed Russian breeding pretty in depth that you may find helpful:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Hibernation-for-Testudo#axzz1d5AJ10vF (this one, I'm seeing now, links to a third thread, which I'm betting is also a good read)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-russians--33866#axzz1d5AJ10vF

That aside, to the best of my knowledge, sexual maturity is directly related to size. At 4" your female is too small to breed.

Another thing I'd like to touch on is if you have them in the same cage... Males have a habit of pestering a lone female constantly. Constantly trying to court the female, constantly trying to breed her, then of course there's the plain old stress from the dominant tortoise (usually the male in a sexed pair) bullying the submissive tortoise out of food, hides, temperature zones, etc. If you really want to breed, you should start tracking down a couple more females to round out your group. If you don't want more tortoises and breeding isn't the most important part for you, then separate the two.

The last thing I want to mention is largely my own opinion... Master keeping before you tackle breeding. If you've only been keeping tortoises for 2 weeks, then you're hardly experienced in their care. Learn as much as possible, through reading _and_ experience, before you start breeding. Get used to the animals and the routine before you consider it. Breeding isn't as simple as throwing two tortoises together and waiting for eggs.

Anyway, I've never actually bred tortoises (yet!), so that's all I have to say. You can find more great information on breeding by using the Search function above, too, by the way. Good luck with whatever path you choose.


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## dmmj (Nov 7, 2011)

4 inches for a female is def. to small to breed.


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## Floof (Nov 7, 2011)

Ah--forgot one thing. If you post pictures of your tortoises' plastrons (bottom shell), toward the back end focusing on the tail and the scutes directly under them, we should be able to tell you whether they're actually male and female.


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## Julz (Nov 8, 2011)

Floof said:


> Ah--forgot one thing. If you post pictures of your tortoises' plastrons (bottom shell), toward the back end focusing on the tail and the scutes directly under them, we should be able to tell you whether they're actually male and female.




Ok heres a picture of what i think is the female


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## jwhite (Nov 8, 2011)

I think your tort is a little young to properly sex. I don't even have a guess for you.

Jon


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## Floof (Nov 8, 2011)

I agree with Jon on your "female" being too young to properly sex... But I do have a guess.

Right now, the tort looks right in between: Some features suggest male (shape of the anal scutes and what looks like a slit-shaped cloaca), but the tail is still small yet so it could still be just an off-looking female (or an effect of the small, kind of washed out pictures, or both).

I'm thinking "she" could be just an immature male, but it'll take some time and growth before you can know for sure.


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## dmmj (Nov 8, 2011)

Yikes it is at that age where it is difficult to tell, but I am leaning towards male.


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## ForestExotics (Nov 10, 2011)

Looks like a female to me.


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## Tom (Nov 10, 2011)

Great reply Taylor. I agree with Floof here.


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