Hello, i have two russian torts female( 4.5inches) and male(5 inches). I was looking forward to breeding them but i don't know what a good time would be and if they are even mature enough.so many websites! Thank you! please help!
In my opinion, breeding always works best when the tortoises are set up outside in nice, safe, large pens. So I'm going to speak with that in mind. After the tortoises have come out of hibernation in the spring, the male will go around looking for the females. He will breed them. They will then start looking for good spots to dig nest holes...usually near the mouth of the hiding place. The female lays the eggs in the hole and about 3 months later the babies come out of the ground.
If you provide the proper pen, outdoors, you really don't have to do anything else. The tortoises will do it all.
I have found with my Russians is that there isn't anything really special that you have to do for them to breed. What you do need is to have them set up properly in a nice big enclosure. I keep mine inside most of the year in a large enclosure and they breed well. I would also recommend that you have more than one female so the males attention is spread out a bit with only one female, she could get really stressed having the male trying to breed her all the time. I also think that your female is on the small size for breeding I would wait until she is a more around the 6" range.