Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I want to try to breed russian torts in an indoor room of my basement, it is heated and lighted. Anyways, my plan was to purchase a large group of imported feeding russians and try to get them comfortable living in captivity, and after a few years, hibernate the ones I know will make it, and attempt to breed, how many russians can I keep in a tub 14'X14' tub and what sex ratio? Thanks

Keeping & breeding them indoors can be successfully acheived, I've done it.
However better results are obtained when they are allowed to have some time out doors. Here in the UK mine get a summer holidaybreak from June to Sept, longer if the weather holds out.

In regards to the size of your pen, it's a difficult Q to answer.
Each of us will choose a differing qty based on our own expectations.
Best I can say is>>>>>
you will need at least 3 males,....if you've only one male, he will be able to service 3-5 girls, BUT you'll get a better fertility rate if you have two males. NOT for the obvious reason of haveing twice as many males but for the "combatance" which occurs from two males which inturn highers the sperm production due to the fact that the dominant male wants to/needs to ensure his matings are the future off spring.
HOWEVER, two males will fight to acheive the above synario, & consiquentially that means that one male will always be the loose & picked upon tortoise, hence my original quote of saying that 3 males will be needed to offset the "bullying".

Number of girls......as many as you can afford, but my guess is around 6 would be a good start.

My two cents worth.

graham(UK)

can you give me more info on how you got your russians to breed? Thanks.

Just regular care & attention to their diet/husbandry & let nature take it's course.
Keep a watchfull eye open for "Bully boy" tactics to prevent the females from getting too stressed.
Easy really.

graham(UK)