Breeders?

[JNorm]

I live in Indiana and was wondering if anyone knew of any Russian Tortoise breeders in this area?
OR trusted breeders that will mail?
whats a good price to pay for a russian tortoise?
Thanks

oh and just a side note, i went to Uncle Bills today, i know i know they suck. Anyway they are selling a African Spur Thigh there, so i decided to ask the guy feeding it how big they get....
His Exact Words. "Oh about 8 Inches, nothing more." Hmmmm last time i check a AST, aka Sulcata, gets to about 36"
240 lbs.....
Ill give him some credit, he was only off by 28"
lol?

 

[Meg90]

Sometimes Greek Tortoises are called "spur thighed" because they do
have spurs on their front legs. And if so, that estimate would be correct.
How much were they charging?

Also, sulcatas are called african spurred tortoises. (no mention about
their thighs, ) so that is why you might have been confused...
when I was doing my initial research, i was a bit baffled by that as well.

Hope that helps!

(also, a greek tort wouldn't be a bad choice for you either. They are
similar to russians...and from what I have seen, have quite the personalities!)

There's a wonderful honey colored female russian at my local petstore. She
has almost no dark markings on her carapace. She seemed like such a sweetheart (I'm even calling her honey when i visit) that if i wouldn't have found my greek, she would have been my next choice...from petco or not!

 

[JNorm]

it was around 150 bucks i dont remember exactly.
But i thought greeks had more smooth shells, this one had the lumps just like the African Spur Thigh (Sulcata). And thats what it said online when i typed in african spur thigh. It said they were the Sulcata, just google it. Its shell was no where near smooth.
Yeah ill look more into the greek's I thought they were more expensive, and ive never seen them at my local pet stores, ill keep looking though. I would just rather get one from a breeder. So i know they are healthy already. And im sure the price is better from a breeder....

 

[Meg90]

I just did the same google search and realized why you were getting
Sulcata results regardless of the thigh being mentioned or not...

Its because you typed "African" at the beginning of spur-thighed.

Spur-thighed tortoises are not from Africa. They are native to Greece
and the countries surrounding (turkey, Jordan etc)

My Greek is a doll (i think we're naming him Nigel) and if you are looking
for a good breeder (and willing to pay for good shipping) hit up EqyptianDan
come spring, I probably will be, since I eventually want more Greeks.
His babies are gorgeous!

Also, the bumps on his shell could be pyramiding from improper care.
How big was he? like, carapace wise?

 

[egyptiandan]

Actually Meg there are Spur-thighed tortoises in Africa Testudo graeca is found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. I have a breeding group from Libya.
It seems lots of people are using African spur-thighed for sulcatas right now, when they should be using African spurred tortoise.
Thanks for the vote of confidence too about my hatchlings
If you look through the For Sale forum, all the hatchlings, yearlings and older ones are still for sale. There will also be even more posted this spring as they are still laying eggs and I'm still getting more hatchlings.

Danny

 

[Meg90]

LOL. The Spurred thing really baffled me...It was in a book that I first saw Greeks called Spurred too...so i figured it must be true!

Also, about getting new tortoises...how long should the quarantine period
be, since you have CB babies? Also...my Greek is a Jordanian Greek,
would he be aggressive with another male? Would I be better off with a gal?
I'm just curious for now...because I have to wait out the winter. But it will
be good to know come spring!

 

[egyptiandan]

Lots of implacations in those questions If you had a CB of the same size as you were getting from me, than 1 month to 2 months quarantine would be just fine. Seeing as you have an adult male, it will be years before a hatchling or yearling can be housed with him (if ever). None of my male Jordanians are together when they are inside. They seem to be fine outside together with the females, but inside is a different story. Even some of my females have to be seperate from each other as one is aggressive when inside. The other thing is you have a WC animal. If you place a CB animal with a WC animal, that CB animal now has to be considered WC. It will receive all the funky germs and bacteria from the WC and can become sick as a result. I, if at all possible, don't mix CB animals and WC animals.
I have done it once, with a CB female Libyan greek. I've had her for 14 years with no male for 11 of those years. I got my breeding group late in 05. I added her to the group in 06. Within a month she had gotten sick with a respiratory infection. Seperated her and treated her. She is fine now, but by me is now considered WC with all the bugs and problems that that comes with.
So all these things have to be considered when introducing a CB animal to a WC animal or group.

Danny

 

[JNorm]

im so glad were staying on topic about trusted breeders or breeders in indiana...
lol

 

[egyptiandan]

Sorry about that

Danny