Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have my adult Russian, Winston, in an indoor enclosuer that is 4'x3'x2'. I was wondering if that was enough space to add a few females in with him. Maybe two, but no more than three.

12 sq ft is fine for two russian torts.

Each additional tort will increase stress for them and maintenance for you.

I have 1.2 russians in an 8'x8' outdoor pen, and sometimes that's too small when the male is in the mood and the females are fighting with each other during egg-laying season.

I say keep things as they are. It's good for the torts.

I have been considering putting him outside, but my main concern is what to do with him in the winter. I don't know where you live but, where I live the winters get down in the 20's. Thats more the exception than the rule. Do you bring yours inside during the cold months, or do you hibernate them?

I live in Missouri (US) and we have cold winters.

I put them outside from about April to October. From Oct to early December they live in an indoor enclosure, and then they hibernate from December to March, then back into the indoor enclosure, then outdoors in April.

April to October? I was always under the impression that its pretty chilly in Missouri during those months.
Heck, here in MA, only NOW has it started to get warmish, and I thought our climate was pretty close to yours.

Do you have extra heating and some sort of shed or something? I'm very curious as I'd love to put my russian outside for longer periods of the year...

The information I'm about to share is based on my experience with this group of 4 tortoises. I don't know if it would work for anyone else.

In 2000 I had 1.2 torts. 1.1 adults I had adopted and 1 female I had purchased from a local petshop. In 2001 I built an 8'x8' outdoor pen, and later added a 6'x3' side pen. In 2002 I had my first hatchling, which I kept, and he has lived with the adults since 2003.

Since then I've kept them outside about 6 to 7 months a year. Starting sometimes in late March (usually early April) til sometimes mid-October. One year they were kept outside until early November when conditions were acceptable.

I put them out when overnight temps are no lower than the mid 40s and daytime highs reach into the 60s with sunshine. But I can violate this rule because as of lately it's been overnight in the 40s with cloudy highs in the 50s and 60s. They are tough.

I've designed the pens so that there are dry places (flat rocks or bricks) for them to bask if it has been raining. The hide boxes are resting on a layer of bricks so the torts don't sleep on damp ground.

No supplemental heating. If the weather is consistently cool I'll stuff some newspaper in the hidebox to provide some minimal insulation.

Russian torts inhabit areas (in the wild) that are high altitude and subject to extreme weather. They can tolerate a lot. Mine have been out when the lows were near 40 and the highs were over 105.

The torts have produced fertile eggs in 2002, 2004, 2005 and probably this year, too. No illnesses. But they were healthy to begin with, and I was more cautious in the beginning until I learned how tough they were.

I don't recommend trying this with your animals. Be cautious, and find for yourself what the tortoise responds to.

I am also curious as to what kind of vegetation you have in your outdoor enclosure. Do you plant certain things or do you just let them have whatever grows wild? Do you have any idea where I can find some info on this type of stuff?

The soil around here has a high clay content. I added several bags of sand to help loosen it up for egg-laying and maybe improve drainage.

I also added some bone meal (from the garden store) to increase calcium content.

I tried planting dutch clover seed in the pen, but it either doesn't sprout or the torts trim it down before it is noticeable. Otherwise it's just grass, of which the torts eat the fresh shoots. Early in the spring there are a few other plants that sprout in the pen, but they are gone within a few days.

My yard has wild violets, hen bit (genus Lamium), dutch clover, wild strawberry, dandelion and several dandelion look-alikes. I feed all of these to the torts. I also try to get plantain from other people's yards when possible. It rarely grows in my yard.

www.russiantortoise.net is a good source for feeding, plants, etc.