>>Hello, My name is Fener and I have a question about russian torts. I have had torts now for a few years and I have reciently aquired some new ones. I thought that the ones that I had were good size at about 5-6 inches long the new ones that I got are pushing 12 inches long... is that normal?

>>Thank you for your help!

>>Fener



I have 4 russian torts. 3 are adults and one is 4 yrs old.



The males are about 5.25" (4 yr old) and 5.5" (adult). I once had an adult male that was 4.5"



The two adult females are about 6.25" and 7.0". The 7-incher is the largest I have ever seen, but I haven't seen many.



According to an article on russian torts from the Tortoise Trust website:



Females are typically larger than males, the largest verified specimens having been recorded as attaining 22cm Straight Carapace Length (SCL). Terentjef and Chernov (1949) report a specimen of 286mm SCL which is said to be deposited in a Russian Museum. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of this specimen is now uncertain.



22cm = 8.7" and 286mm = 11.3", so if you have specimens over 11", that is rare but possible.



These are are straight line measures from front to back edge of the carapace, not measured with the tape wrapping over the hump of the shell.



Do you have any photos?

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