Thank you all. And yes wellington I will be housing males in their own enclosures. The wife's not thrilled with me taking more space but she supports me in my pets/hobby.
It's been awhile since my last post just an update. Had 2 clutches 2022, 3 eggs per clutch and hatched all 6. My 2021 hatchlings went to friends and family. I was very surprised I found homes for the all the 2022 hatchlings. I'm going crazy waiting for spring to break and get to see my creep...
It's been awhile but I do have an update. I finally got Russian tortoise eggs! (Or should I say I finally caught one nesting) She laid 3 eggs and I've put them in an incubator. I've come to the conclusion that they must lay while I'm at work. I just happen to be off the day I watched her nest. I...
Lol I don't plan to hybrid. I like keeping my species pure but if that was the case there would only be a handful of dog breeds. In nature sometimes things do naturally hybrid plants and animals. Also don't forget about the hopeless mate. When a mutation takes place in offspring and finds the...
It seems to be unacceptable in the tortoise community. Different bacterias, viruses, and keeping blood lines pure. Many subspecies within a species etc. I find it odd because hybrids are everywhere, domestic livestock, dogs, agriculture, etc. I myself think it would be cool to hybrid star torts...
I feel the grass gets too wet with morning dew. They have hides and caves that they can hide in which has high humidity. Plus half of the enclosure has a big earthy mound of sandy loan for nesting and burrowing. Plus plenty of vegitation to hide under. Russians come from an environment with low...
Marginated tortoises are pretty robust and get around 14 inches. Can hibernate and handle a range of environments. With my research testudo species do well in the north and also Russians. Mine are outside from usually May thru October, indoors for 3 months and hibernating for 3 months.
Two of my eight Russian torts do that. A small female and a larger female. Sometimes I feel it's a dominant thing only because I see them do it to the others once in awhile. I have never seen them eat any worms or insects so I almost feel like they're showing their domonace to me maybe.
Kira is doing great putting on weight very active and getting along with the other Russian torts. My other marginated Joey's over 2 pounds and still gaining weight. Just waiting for the weather to break to get them all outside for the summer. Adding more gravel to the tortoise enclosures to...
I've had both my cats before I got my torts. One indoor cat and one barn cat. Neither have shown any interest in my torts but I've never owned a hatchling. My biggest issue is keeping the barn cat out of the torts green house. She goes in and sleeps on colder days. And I have seen my Russian...
I have Hermann, Marginated, and Russians. Some captive breed and some WC. All climb at some point or another and all try to escape. They have large outdoor enclosures with plenty of room to roam but still find a corner and try to climb. I think it's normal, no matter how big your enclosure it...
Those are signs of respitory infection I'd get him to a vet. Runny nose and watery eyes are usually a sign and the sqeek is because of the fluid in his lungs. I've got Russian torts and when I first started keeping them mine first got a runny nose right away and I thought she had a cold. Took...
Thanks for the input have new torts in quarantine as well as the ones that were at the vet. Had to get more lights etc. If everyone has a clean bill of health hope to get them all together in July. Wanting them to pro create but understand it's a game of patience and creating the correct...
I have 4 inches of peat moss in the enclosure then two bins nesting boxes with 50/50 mix sand and peat moss that have lights over them to keep temps up. Add water to nesting boxes to keep moist. The only sand is in the nesting boxes just because that's what I've read on the forum. I could add...
I've finally got my Russian breeding group witch consists of two males and six females. This is a thread I will visit over the years as I attempted to establish a viable breeding group. My effort to help stop the imports of wild caught animals by providing captive breed hatchlings. I know I went...
Squeaky sounds are usually respiratory infection or coitus. Is it a male? Usually RI. There are others who might know more I don't keep red foots. Not to familiar with the species.