Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've only just started getting into the tortoise hobby, with a little baby russian tort. I believe he's a male because he usually carries his tail up, like a male would, but I'm going to have to wait and see if I'm right or not. I was thinking that when he got bigger and we could more positively identify him, I might buy 1 or 2 more baby russian tortoises to raise (in seperate enclosures). I was thinking I might get another baby, and/or a subadult (that could be positively identified as being of a certain sex).

I was just wondering, if I did this, how hard would it then be to breed the tortoises? From what I've read, you pretty much put a male and at least one other female together for a certain period of time, and they will usually do their thing. Then you just wait for the female to lay, then shift the eggs to an incubator, and you get little baby tortoises (as long as you follow everything exactly....such as temperatures and such). Are russians considered easy to breed, hard to breed, or in between? Any websites or other areas that can lend me some info on this would be great.

I wouldn't want to breed to make a profit, but more just because it interests me, and because I think there needs to be more captive bred russians available. Because of that, I wouldn't want to have a big breeding facility, hatching hundreds of babies, but rather I would like the tortoises kept as pets to breed occasionally. I wouldn't want to charge a lot for the babies, because like I said, the goal isn't to make a profit. I would just want to recoup expenses for taking care of all the tortoises. I also wouldn't want to be in a position where I had to get rid of a lot of baby tortoises fast, because then I wouldn't be able to find proper homes for them.

It's all in the beginning stages right now, because I don't know if I am actually going to do it, but I do know for sure that I'm going to get at least one more russian tortoise, and I thought it seemed like it might be a good idea.

I've been keeping russians for 7+ years now, and breeding them for about 3.

I know someone who has had a herd of russians for far longer than I, and had no luck at all. She has observed no successful breeding, and had no eggs.

I, on the other hand, lucked out by adopting a very frisky pair of russians. They produced eggs for a couple years before producing a hatchling, and then it was another two years before they produced more hatchlings.

There are several things to consider for breeding. One is getting a compatible pair of tortoises. I lucked out when I adopted that pair mentioned above. Unfortunately the frisky male must be separated from the females every once in awhile, or he stresses them out. And he cannot be kept with another male.

Another thing to consider is nesting conditions. I keep my russians outdoors about 6 to 7 months a year. I try to provide an area of sandy soil for egg-laying. They have rarely used it. Instead they try to lay in the hard clay around clumps of grass. I've tried to put more sand around the clumps for future nesting.

Egg fertility has been not much better than 60%. Next year I'll have another adult male, and maybe a little competition will help.

But the biggest problem with breeding russians is the market. This year it seems the market (as found in the kingsnake classifieds) was flooded with baby russians. Prices dropped, and still there are lots of babies for sale. Of the 9 offspring I had this year, three were still for sale (I don't sell them, someone else does).

So, be prepared to house your male in a seperate enclosure if necessary, be prepared for low fertility, and finally, be prepared to house excess offspring beyond the end of the season.

These things may not happen to you, but you should be ready just in case.

You've given me a lot to think about. Mostly I think it's helped me decide that I am probably going to just keep my pets as just that....pets. It seems the only reptiles I like to keep that actually seem to breed well are a poor choice too (leopard geckos) as the market is completely saturated with them already.

I think when I move Simon (my dad's russian tortoise that I'm raising for him) into a new enclosure....which I will be building this winter...I'm going to start planning on getting another tortoise to raise for myself, but just as a pet, and not as a breeder. I think this is probably a good choice, because then I can get one as a baby, instead of risking getting an adult to get the right sex.

I think I may end up waiting a couple of years though, because two of my larger lizards are getting older, and sadly I may have some cage space freed up because of this My bearded dragon is about 5, but he was not taken care of as a baby, and I was stupid enough to buy him as a subadult that was in bad condition and full of parasites, and from the blood tests we've run, my vet and I suspect it's only a matter of time before he develops Kidney disease (he's been showing signs for the past couple years, and I've been using fluid therapy every once in a while to try to delay the inevitable). My mali uromastyx is a rescue, and she is definately an old adult. I believe she was imported in the early 90's as an adult. Plus, she's had a rough life. It's sad That's why I'm much more careful now about what I get and from where, but I would have still taken in fat Sam (the uromastyx), because she is a sweetheart.

Thanks again for all the info. I need to go to work now (the life of a professional musician...not as glamorous as TV makes it out to be).