Update and Plans For Tortoise Breeding

[Blastoise]

I've almost had my two Russians for a year now. They have been in the same cage for a few months and they are doing well together. The male had a bad infestation of worms when I got him and he is almost back to normal. He is eating a lot more than he had been and is much more active than he had been. He has grown a small amount (1/4 inch) but when I pick him up he feels kind of light still. Anyone else have a Russian who took months to return to normal?

The female is very healthy and has really grown a lot since I've had her, 1 inch SCL, and just seems to be bigger in all dimensions. She eats like a pig.

The tortoises eat together at times and also bask together, but usually sleep separately. One goes under a log, and the other one sleeps out in the open, and they will switch who gets the log, even though there are other logs, only one gets slept in, weird huh? There has been no mating, but I didn't really expect any quite yet. The enclosure is six feet long, but the tortoises usually stay in the end with the lamps, since it is winter and the room gets as cold as 58 degrees at night and is around 68-72 degrees during the day. I will be getting another female to add to the group soon, and maybe later this year my male might be feeling well enough to mate.

I wonder about one thing. They are two different sub-species, and the male is very dark, what some would call a black Russian, and the female is a very light specimen. I wonder if this will matter? I'll post some pictures later.

 

[JoesMum]

How big (long) are your tortoises? Size is the deciding factor on breeding rather than age. They don't seem to breed until they reach 5-6 inches... nor can they be sexed reliably until they reach that size. They can be 'bred to be' a particular gender by controlling temperature, but there is no guarantee. Wild caught tortoise sexing is pure guess work until they grow... unless you get flashed (there's no mistake then )

I'm not surprised about them keeping their own space. In the wild, Russians are largely solitary. They roam large distances and meet up to mate before moving on. they don't get lonely or look for company. Make sure the bigger one doesn't start bullying the smaller one. Separate them if this happens and just introduce them for mating before separating them again.

 

[Spn785]

From what I understand (though I may be wrong and feel free to correct me if I am) there are three subspecies of Russians. "Black Russians" are not a subspecies, just a darker coloration.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Did you treat your female for worms, too? If they are in the same enclosure, they both have them, although maybe your female didn't them get as bad.
My male wasn't interested in my female for about 1.5 years, and just ate and grew like crazy. Then all of a sudden, in the 2nd Spring, he became very *interested* in her. I now have 2 new females that are still in quarantine... I got them to distract him a little from my big female!

Russians, no matter what their sub species or shell color, can inter-breed without trouble. The US tort population isn't so inbred that it would make a difference at this point (since most are still imported), but I might even argue that interbreeding different RT populations would make stronger babies, since inbreeding can cause birth defects...

I've almost had my two Russians for a year now. They have been in the same cage for a few months and they are doing well together. The male had a bad infestation of worms when I got him and he is almost back to normal. He is eating a lot more than he had been and is much more active than he had been. He has grown a small amount (1/4 inch) but when I pick him up he feels kind of light still. Anyone else have a Russian who took months to return to normal?

The female is very healthy and has really grown a lot since I've had her, 1 inch SCL, and just seems to be bigger in all dimensions. She eats like a pig.

The tortoises eat together at times and also bask together, but usually sleep separately. One goes under a log, and the other one sleeps out in the open, and they will switch who gets the log, even though there are other logs, only one gets slept in, weird huh? There has been no mating, but I didn't really expect any quite yet. The enclosure is six feet long, but the tortoises usually stay in the end with the lamps, since it is winter and the room gets as cold as 58 degrees at night and is around 68-72 degrees during the day. I will be getting another female to add to the group soon, and maybe later this year my male might be feeling well enough to mate.

I wonder about one thing. They are two different sub-species, and the male is very dark, what some would call a black Russian, and the female is a very light specimen. I wonder if this will matter? I'll post some pictures later.

 

[cemmons12]

I wonder'd the same about the female. I would have kept them apart for at least 6 months after treatment. Hope all is well tho!!

Did you treat your female for worms, too? If they are in the same enclosure, they both have them, although maybe your female didn't them get as bad.
My male wasn't interested in my female for about 1.5 years, and just ate and grew like crazy. Then all of a sudden, in the 2nd Spring, he became very *interested* in her. I now have 2 new females that are still in quarantine... I got them to distract him a little from my big female!

Russians, no matter what their sub species or shell color, can inter-breed without trouble. The US tort population isn't so inbred that it would make a difference at this point (since most are still imported), but I might even argue that interbreeding different RT populations would make stronger babies, since inbreeding can cause birth defects...

I've almost had my two Russians for a year now. They have been in the same cage for a few months and they are doing well together. The male had a bad infestation of worms when I got him and he is almost back to normal. He is eating a lot more than he had been and is much more active than he had been. He has grown a small amount (1/4 inch) but when I pick him up he feels kind of light still. Anyone else have a Russian who took months to return to normal?

The female is very healthy and has really grown a lot since I've had her, 1 inch SCL, and just seems to be bigger in all dimensions. She eats like a pig.

The tortoises eat together at times and also bask together, but usually sleep separately. One goes under a log, and the other one sleeps out in the open, and they will switch who gets the log, even though there are other logs, only one gets slept in, weird huh? There has been no mating, but I didn't really expect any quite yet. The enclosure is six feet long, but the tortoises usually stay in the end with the lamps, since it is winter and the room gets as cold as 58 degrees at night and is around 68-72 degrees during the day. I will be getting another female to add to the group soon, and maybe later this year my male might be feeling well enough to mate.

I wonder about one thing. They are two different sub-species, and the male is very dark, what some would call a black Russian, and the female is a very light specimen. I wonder if this will matter? I'll post some pictures later.

 

[Blastoise]

I did treat both for worms at the same time, two rounds of panacur, worked like a charm! The male is around 5 inches and the female six. That is approximate, been a few months since i measured accurately.