Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't see the face value beauty of a Russian tortoise. They look like dungs or something that always have shell rot. I think they are just really ugly but lately, I've been looking at Russian torts and forcing myself to see the beauty (if there is) but I just can't see it. I'm not talking about the ease of care or personality. I'm just talking about the way it looks. It's just ugly.

So will somebody share their POV why these creatures are beautiful? Is it the shell pattern? What? It really looks like a dung.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and I doubt if anyone could say something to make you see what they see...
However, I agree there are more colorful and dramatic species, yet A. horsefieldi have great appeal to me. The robust and energetic personality are a part of there appeal. My biggest females are impressive, and some of the really green hatchlings they produce are pretty by most standards. If not Russians, what do you think of as beautiful? I never met a tortoise I did not think beautiful or "cute", and some of the dull colored ones have the best personalities i.e. Russians, Desert/Gophers, Galapagos, Emmys etc. Best regards, Vic

I agree that I cannot force you into thinking a russian tortoise is beautiful. Let me tell you why I think my russian tortoise is beautiful. My tortoise is beautiful because of the twinkle in her eyes. How they gleamed through the dim light she was kept in. How the sparked as she reluctantly consumed dry pellets, the only source of nurishment. How they shimmer after everything she has been through. I believe that there is beauty in every ugly, and her eyes are the passage to her beauty.