age/weight for mating

[goReptiles]

What is the proper weight/age for females to mate?

My pair is about 6-7 years old and have never attempted mating. I've had them for 2, almost 3 years.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Whitney:

It goes more by size than age or weight. Your female will be about 5 or 6 inches in a straight line, front to back, and the male a couple inches shorter. Males usually reach "puberty" (not a tortoise term) before females.

 

[jeffbens0n]

Like Yvonne said it seems to be more about size than anything else. The consensus I have heard is 6 inches for females and 5 for males. I have a 4.5 inch male and a 5.75 inch female...no action yet!!

 

[goReptiles]

I'm used to geckos, being more weight than size. I'll get lengths tomorrow. The male is larger than the female. She's at least 5-6 though.

 

[GBtortoises]

I agree with everyone above. I'd also like to add that tortoises don't necessarily automatically start breeding just because you put a male and female together. Many species, particularily temperate climate species that experience seasonal changes, like Russians, are triggered to breed by those seasonal changes. Russian tortoises in the wild and in most captive situations breed, estivate and hibernate based on temperatures, light duration and intensity and other more minor factors that they are exposed to within their environment. More accurately, it's the changes in their environment that cause their actions. Temperate species breed primarily in the spring, shortly after coming out of hibernation. Increased temperatures, light duration & intensity and food abundance "trigger" them to mate. In captivity, without some type of those changes taking place they are much less likely to breed.

 

[goReptiles]

Measuring from the bottom, Eve is about 5 inches and a longer when measured from the top. I don't care if they breed or not, as they are just pets, but I'm just curious what elicits breeding in Russians.

What tortoises are considered temperate breeders?

 

[GBtortoises]

"Temperate" refers to the type of climate that they're from in the wild. Climates that are considered to be temperate are those that experience defined seasonal changes such as spring, summer, fall and winter. The main group of tortoises that are from temperate climates are many of the Testudo species including Hermann's, Marginateds, most of the Greeks subspecies and Russians as well as some of the Gopherus subspecies found in the U.S.