New Russian- a few questions

[DarwinTheTortoise]

We recently added a Russian tortoise to our family- I posted the the whole story yesterday on the introductions thread. So far he’s doing very well- he’s eating great, pooping, wandering around and happy to be fed by hand. He is in a plastic tub until I finish his tortoise table this weekend. I have the 100w Daytime Heat Lamp bulb from Exo Terra keeping a basking spot of about 95° and was going to get him a strip UV for his enclosure but now I’m wondering if I should get a MVB to cover both? He is just over 4.5” long, is there any way to estimate age from that? And here is a photo of his tail- I’m wondering if he is really a she?

 

[hollygaucas]

I’m afraid I’m going to leave the heat and light questions to the experts but you definitely have a male there! Is he 4.5 centimetres or inches?

 

[Cheryl Hills]

That may not be a male. Maybe someone with a bit more experience can chime in. To me, it almost looks femal. My males have a much longer tail

 

[hollygaucas]

That may not be a male. Maybe someone with a bit more experience can chime in. To me, it almost looks femal. My males have a much longer tail

But your males will be older than this one as it must be young due to its length.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Yes that is true. It is just my opinion. I am not saying it is not, just looks more female to me. And my male is only 5 inches but, his tail goes all the way to the side and is very long.

 

[hollygaucas]

Yes that is true. It is just my opinion. I am not saying it is not, just looks more female to me. And my male is only 5 inches but, his tail goes all the way to the side and is very long.

Okay, how old is your tort

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Don’t really know. He is an adult, probably between 6 and 10 years old. Maybe older

 

[Rusky]

My male is also 4.5 inches, but his tail is very long and carried to the side. The * shape of the vent also looks like a female.