Last year I put my russians in my basement. IM guessing that it was not cold enough because ther was no interest in breeding this year. I was thinking of using a fridge. Has anyone done this? If so I would like to hear tips on how to do this!! THANKS
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3.3 Leopard Geckos
2.0.1 Green Tree Pythons
1.1 Rosy Boas
2.3 Russian Tortoises
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.3 Three Toe Box
0.0.2 Leopard Tortoises
1.0 Malayan Leaf Turtle
1.0 Bearded
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Hibernation HELP for Russian Tortoises..........
Turtle96
Jun 04, 2004 09:55 PM
Replies (1)
brad wilson
Jun 04, 2004 11:06 PM
From your earlier request for info on breeding russians I would say your animals, at least the females, might not be old enough or large enough to be breeding.
I have had one female for several years. She showed no interest in breeding until she was over 6" in length (straight line carapace length)and over 900 grams in weight. I'm not saying all females must be this large, but in my limited experience they have been larger than 6". My other female, who has now produce 4 hatchlings, is about 6.25", and the father of all of the hatchlings is about 5.25".
I've seen other varieties of Russians, including some that run smaller in size, that may not need to be this large in order to reproduce.
My successful breeding group all appear to be of the same subspecies, or at least of the same general description. When I had another male, he was small and dark, with a relatively flat shell. He showed no interest in my females, who like the current male, are all larger, lighter, and more dome-shaped.
As for hibernation, you say you are guessing it wasn't cold enough. I've found that my group will slow down when it gets below 60, and pretty much shut down when it gets mid-40s to low 50s. I know because I monitor the temperature with a digital gauge. I use the corner of my basement, which gets fairly cool over the winter.
Maybe with a couple more years of quality care, and closer attention to the details of hibernation, you might see breeding if your group of russians is compatible. It has taken about 4 years for me to get 4 hatchlings, and much of that was due to the sheer luck of finding a compatible group.
See www.russiantortoise.org for more info.
