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I have a Russian tortoise i have had him for 11 years and i thought he might need a buddy. Do Russians like to live alone? Would they rather have friends? And also how do i determine his sex? Doese anyone have a good website that shows pictures of the bottom of there shell to determine the sex?? Thanks a lot Ryan

If you have lots of space, then in my opinion you can keep two females together without trouble. Two males probably won't work, and a male-female pairing can mean a hectic life for the female, depending on the male.

I've had one male that showed no interest in females. I've got one male that rarely leaves the females alone, always wanting to mate, and attacks any male he sees.

My females get along except for a brief period before laying eggs. During that period they act like males, ramming, mounting, and otherwise acting like little a-holes towards the other tortoises.

Here's a link to a photo that might help you:

www.tortoise.org/gallery/picruss.html#2

Thank you very much so do you think he would be just as happy without a mate?? And with the picture do males not have the claws on there back feet? Thanks again Ryan

Thank you very much so do you think he would be just as happy without a mate?? And with the picture do males not have the claws on there back feet? Thanks again Ryan

Having a mate for a male requires more effort. You would need more space (I'd say 12 sq ft or more is better) and you'd have to be willing to separate them sometimes. I used to have a removeable divider in my outdoor pen to separate the male.
Also having more barriers (logs, rocks) gives the female a place to hide.

If you have too little space and no place for the female to hide, the male can sometimes inflict some nasty bites. And make it hard for the females to relax and eat or bask.

And you would have to anticipate the possiblity of eggs. That requires a good nesting site and potentially incubating the eggs.

I've read that russians are more "communal". I keep my one male and 2 females (next year it will be 2 males and 3 females) together most of the time in an 8'x8' pen with rocks, logs, grass clumps and a hidebox. I'm not sure what will happen when I put the two males in the same pen, even if there is room to hide from each other. I have a side pen for such situations.

I think plenty of people keep single russians, so I don't think it'll do him any harm.
And males do have claws on the hind feet. The claws may be shorter though.

I have 3.3 in a 2 x 4 enclosure. No breeding but no problems of agression either. All 6 are behaving normally and growing fine. the largest is 6 to 7 inches and the smallest is 4 to 5 inches. There is plenty of structure.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I'd say that'd work for all my torts except one male I have.

He is bobbing and biting at the females from March to November. He'll charge and ram a little male I have (his own son!). Heck, he charges at me sometimes, but like the spineless bully he is, he pulls into his shell when I reach out :-> The females make good use of the extra space in the pen to get some relief.

When I have them indoors (a few weeks before and after hibernation) I keep the male in a separate tub.

But without this overly aggressive male I wouldn't have any hatchlings!

Not knowing what kind of male the OP has, I played it safe and suggested more room and extra precautions. Can't go wrong with more space for your animals.

"I have a Russian tortoise i have had him for 11 years and i thought he might need a buddy. Do Russians like to live alone? Would they rather have friends? And also how do i determine his sex? Doese anyone have a good website that shows pictures of the bottom of there shell to determine the sex??"

hi ryan,

your tortoise is fine solo. as brad pointed out, you're asking for more work and the possibility that you'll get a little more action than you bargained for.

i have 4.7 adults together from march to november. there's fighting and mating mostly in the spring and fall, but they also do most everything else independently. if they're together, it's for a common goal -- food, shelter, basking, etc.

as for determining the sex of your beast, look at:

http://www.russiantortoise.org

matt

Bottom line is your tortoise can do fine by itself but it is fun to watch the interaction of more than one and there is always the chance they can hit it off and actually produce some little ones.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care