Help with identification

[Bredlawskk]

Hi everyone,

I recently rescued two Russian tortoises and am looking to rehome them. Before doing so, I’d like to confirm their sexes. Does anyone with experience want to take a guess? The pet store original owner purchased from wasn’t sure but estimated both to be about 5 years old.

• Tortoise 1:

  https://imgur.com/a/HuOqmYF

• Tortoise 2:

  https://imgur.com/a/W5CY7Zl

Thanks all! I really appreciate it.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Both look like males to me

 

[Bredlawskk]

Both look like males to me

That's kind of where my head was trending as well. Even though #1 seemed a bit more pronounced, I'm thinking they both look and act male. Thanks for taking a look!

 

[wellington]

I second they are males

 

[Bredlawskk]

I second they are males

Thanks @wellington. Appreciate you taking the time to look.

 

[zovick]

Hi everyone,

I recently rescued two Russian tortoises and am looking to rehome them. Before doing so, I’d like to confirm their sexes. Does anyone with experience want to take a guess? The pet store original owner purchased from wasn’t sure but estimated both to be about 5 years old.

• Tortoise 1:

  https://imgur.com/a/HuOqmYF

• Tortoise 2:

  https://imgur.com/a/W5CY7Zl

Thanks all! I really appreciate it.

They are both males.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Definitely both males.

 

[SinLA]

The second one sure looks older than 5... if they were originally purchased from a pet store they were likely fully adult before even being shipped to the US...

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

The second one sure looks older than 5... if they were originally purchased from a pet store they were likely fully adult before even being shipped to the US...

Oh, definitely. The estimate was of. The second one is at least 8 years old or more.

 

[Bredlawskk]

Oh, definitely. The estimate was of. The second one is at least 8 years old or more.

Thanks @SinLA and @The_Four_Toed_Edward, much appreciated as always. Lol would you believe they originally tried to pass both off as hermanns, one male and the other female.

Could either of you let me know how old we think tortoise #1 and tortoise #2 are? Wondering if they are similar in age or not.

 

[SinLA]

There really is NO way to know. Most likely wild caught, so they could have been 5, 10, 25 or 40 when shipped to the US.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Lol would you believe they originally tried to pass both off as hermanns, one male and the other female.

Definetly no experts, one would think counting the toes would be easy enough. Believe it or not, some pet stores sell Russian tortoises in this condition as only few month olds.

It is hard to estimate the age, but it is clear these both are sexually mature. The second one has visible growth lines, so it has still some growing to do. You can also measure their SCL and weigh them to determine approximately how much growing they have to do.

The shell condition on both is telling us that the two are most likely wild caught, so no one has recorded their hatch date.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yep definitely both look like boys, bless you for taking them in! Be sure to house and re home they both separately, tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial especially two male Russians, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about, breeders and stores do this a lot
Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio.

Hopefully you find this thread helpful or good to pass onto a new potential owner, this covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, stores often sell the wrong stuff so double check here), correct levels(double check these too), sizing(you can get away with smaller indoors if building a larger outdoor space), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room!

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and have people keep on hand, it’ll help avoiding the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they come in handy!!