Questions on getting more russians

[mattluck3]

I have one male Russian now and was wondering about getting more. I have pretty much read that it is not a good idea to get another male. So on that note should i get two more females at one time to keep the hounding of the male down or just introduce one at a time. (i know quarantine is a must at first). Also i do not believe the male I have is that old as he is just 4" long and i know its hard to tell the age from that but i was just wondering if that makes a difference. thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

At one time, I had 15 Russians all together in one pen...about half and half male/female. The pen is pretty big and overgrown, and I never saw any fighting. I would hesitate to put two males together in a small, indoor habitat. And male breeding aggression is pretty bad too, so a male/female wouldn't be a good idea in a small indoor habitat. But outside in a very large area, no problem. They seemed to ignore each other and all slept in the same covered area.

 

[mattluck3]

Thank you for your responses. I do have a 6' x 4' enclosure inside and in spring i plan on converting our garden which is 25' by 40' into a tortoise eden. With living in colorado i have to keep the tortoises inside for about 4 to 5 months as i do not want to go into the realm of hibernation just yet. So that will help me with some preparations i have to do. Thanks again

 

[GBtortoises]

It's not that it's a bad idea to get another male Russian, but as Yvonne said, any males kept together, even a single male with females, should be given as large an area as possible. Along with that large area (or anywhere they're housed together), there should be several hiding areas, obstacles and visual barriers so that any females and submissive males have multiple chances to hide from the dominate male.