Question About New Torts Shell

[axeman25]

Hello again,
I got two more Russians from a couple that couldn't take care of them any longer. They brought them to me from two hours away along with a bunch of light fixtures, bulbs, and food/water dish which I thought was pretty cool. They are quite a bit larger than the three that I have already. I have them quarantined and will be building them are new large indoor in the next month or two after we move and get them out of the 40 gallon tank that she's had them in since last June. Anyway, I was wondering about the color of one of the new ones shell. It is quite a bit lighter than the others. Is it a sub-species or something? I've attached 2 photo's of Mazy, the lighter one. I also threw in a picture of Nikki, just because. Thanks.

 

[leigti]

What is your male to female ratio with all of these? My Russian tortoise a shell is light also. I think in the Russian tortoise section there is a thread about the different subspecies.

 

[axeman25]

One dude and four females. And before anyone starts in on me, I have two separate enclosures for the three I already have. They were kept together in a 29 gallon aquarium until I got them. I noticed shortly after I got them (after being warned by someone here) that the smaller female was being bullied so I put her in her own enclosure and she's been doing great, growing slow but steady and gaining weight. The two females pictured above were brought to me in a 40 gallon breeder tank by the lady who had them. I had a 3'x3' wooden box that I built a lid for thinking it would work as a temporary enclosure, but as soon as I saw these two girls I knew it would be to shallow to work for them (they are quite big). As I explained to the lady who gave them to me, I am in the process of buying a house and have to come up with several thousand dollars for that so It'll be a couple months before I can build them a proper enclosure. Those two have been together for years and I've kept a very close eye on them since I got them last Sunday. I just feel bad I can't do much about their enclosure right now.

 

[leigti]

I'm not jumping on you. It sounds like you have a good plan. Eventually you may be able to keep them all in a very large outdoor enclosure. For now you can buy a 55 gallon tote from Home Depot. Or you could get one for each of them, they're not very expensive. And you can always use large totes even when the tortoises are done with them. You could keep one as a hospital tank in case one of them get sick etc. I would recommend not hibernating these two this year, you just got them and you have to make sure they're healthy. I don't know about your other three. I personally do not hibernate my tortoise. Quite frankly it scares me. It is sort of a debatable topic but something you can deal with next winter. I'm glad that you were able to give these tortoises a better home. And you totally lucked out with them being female.

 

[leigti]

I read your other thread, sounds like you've got it together pretty well.

 

[axeman25]

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I've posted a couple other questions about these girls and if I don't explain it in the initial thread then I always have someone assuming I keep them all together.

I've been meaning to get them a tote, just been a busy week. I am not planning on hibernating them or my other three. I have a large outdoor (7'x30') that I cut in half and power washed like the top layer of dirt off of one side. It's been a little cold here to get them out but I can't wait too. When we move, I plan on building a huge outdoor enclosure for them. I'll have almost two acres to do what I want with. Lol.

 

[leigti]

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I've posted a couple other questions about these girls and if I don't explain it in the initial thread then I always have someone assuming I keep them all together.

I've been meaning to get them a tote, just been a busy week. I am not planning on hibernating them or my other three. I have a large outdoor (7'x30') that I cut in half and power washed like the top layer of dirt off of one side. It's been a little cold here to get them out but I can't wait too. When we move, I plan on building a huge outdoor enclosure for them. I'll have almost two acres to do what I want with. Lol.

Sounds like you have a plan. I think people often don't realize that someone has made previous posts. So explaining upfront is a good idea. So many people do put their tortoises together.