does it matter what sexes are together?

[Kolorbl1nd]

hey everyone!
small question? I was wondering if it mattered what sexes were together in an enclosure? I have a male russian. what would go best with him?

 

[antoniocormier]

hey everyone!
small question? I was wondering if it mattered what sexes were together in an enclosure? I have a male russian. what would go best with him?

I would say a female, just depends on how big the enclosure is...

 

[GBtortoises]

With Russian tortoises, yes it usually does matter. Two females can usually be kept together without any issues. Two males however will almost always end up with one being more dominant and constant fighting. The constant fighting can lead to very high stress levels and injuries. Two male Russians should not be kept together. The same is often true of a male and female being kept together. Because of a males territorial aggressive nature females can only be kept with them if they have very large accomodations with lots of sight obstacles and hiding places. Even then a male should be kept with at least two to threes females in order divert the aggression from any one female.

Generally, male Russian tortoises are best kept by themselves.

 

[Kolorbl1nd]

With Russian tortoises, yes it usually does matter. Two females can usually be kept together without any issues. Two males however will almost always end up with one being more dominant and constant fighting. The constant fighting can lead to very high stress levels and injuries. Two male Russians should not be kept together. The same is often true of a male and female being kept together. Because of a males territorial aggressive nature females can only be kept with them if they have very large accomodations with lots of sight obstacles and hiding places. Even then a male should be kept with at least two to threes females in order divert the aggression from any one female.

Generally, male Russian tortoises are best kept by themselves.

thats interesting. my enclosure is 6'x4'

 

[Tom]

Pairs will almost never work with russians. Sexes don't matter. Small groups with just one male can work, but even that sometimes doesn't. I think 6x4 is too small for more than one adult. I have seen very large outdoor enclosures with larger groups of russians that had more than one male, but there were lots of hiding areas, plants, caves, nooks and crannies, and LOTS of space for them to get away from each other.

GB, can you do "bachelor" herds of multiple males in large outdoor enclosures with no females present? I'm talking about 8-10 males, not 2 or 3. I know this works with some aggressive species of Asian turtles, but never seen it done with Russians.

 

[Kolorbl1nd]

Pairs will almost never work with russians. Sexes don't matter. Small groups with just one male can work, but even that sometimes doesn't. I think 6x4 is too small for more than one adult. I have seen very large outdoor enclosures with larger groups of russians that had more than one male, but there were lots of hiding areas, plants, caves, nooks and crannies, and LOTS of space for them to get away from each other.

GB, can you do "bachelor" herds of multiple males in large outdoor enclosures with no females present? I'm talking about 8-10 males, not 2 or 3. I know this works with some aggressive species of Asian turtles, but never seen it done with Russians.

thank you very much for your input. a friend of mine needs a home for a tort, so i was trying to see if it would work. the most important thing is my little guy. i dont want him stressed or hurt or even unhappy.

 

[GBtortoises]

Pairs will almost never work with russians. Sexes don't matter. Small groups with just one male can work, but even that sometimes doesn't. I think 6x4 is too small for more than one adult. I have seen very large outdoor enclosures with larger groups of russians that had more than one male, but there were lots of hiding areas, plants, caves, nooks and crannies, and LOTS of space for them to get away from each other.

GB, can you do "bachelor" herds of multiple males in large outdoor enclosures with no females present? I'm talking about 8-10 males, not 2 or 3. I know this works with some aggressive species of Asian turtles, but never seen it done with Russians.

I don't know about 8-10 males together but it definitely doesn't work with 2, 3 or 4 males together. I've attempted that and one or two are always battling for the dominant position. I would imagine the same would happen in a confined space with more tortoises, just on a larger scale. But again, I've never had that many males together.

 

[Laura]

take him in but keep him seperate..

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Good advice above.