Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have narrowed it down to one of these three and was wondering what everyone's opinon is on the personality of these. Which one would do best in a relatively cool climate in the summer and do well inside for most of the time. Which would make the "best" pet. I have heard a lot of good things about russians but not so much about greeks or herman's.
Thanks A Lot
Kirby

I had a Greek once upon a time that was completely devoid of personality. I traded it away.

I have 3 Hermanns that are all great. Very personable & hardy & they just keep getting better.

My 2 Russian yearlings are too young to tell yet but the 4 year old male is one of the meanest creatures I've ever encountered.
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Time for someone to stand up for Russians ("mean"? never!). Russians are full of personality, extemely intelligent, and it's very easy to fall in love with them.

Nina

Well, maybe not that nice :->

I have one russian that comes close to being a bully. He's very aggressive when mating, although he's never caused an injury to the females, and he will bite and ram other males in his pen. But this is natural behavior. Just don't house males together, unless you are prepared to separate them.

This tortoise is MEAN, I tell ya!

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Looks like an absolute pussycat to me! Russians are endearing softies - and you can see that in the picture.

Nina

I have both a Hermann's (western) and a "golden" greek. I like both of them. My hermann is slightly over 6 months old, captive bred. He is extremely outgoing, has lots of personality and is very sociable. I suggest lots of room for one though because they (or at least mine) can be very active at certain times of the day. Usually mid morning and early evening. I have read that they are very hardy, and he is fairly easy to care for. Doesn't seem to be affected by different humidities, although he always has access to a humid hide.

My greek is a W/C adult, it has taken about 3 years to see some personality but I think that is just because she is a wild caught. She also needs to hibernate every year. No matter what temps I keep her at she stops eating and wants to hibernate in winter (she is hibernating right now). She also does not do well with high humidity, she gets a bubbly nose every spring when the humidity is high.

My friend had a russian for awhile and he had lots of personality and was also very outgoing, he unfortunately had liver and kidney failure from the petstore he was at feeding him only dog food. He was high maintanence but I only think it was due to this.

I'm leaning more towards a Herman right now and was wondering which breeder or shop you all have worked with before. I would rather pay more to get a better animal. Not really worried about "the best deal". Thanks a lot for the replies

Kirby

You can reach him at empireoftheturtle.com
He is as good as you can get in a breeder and he produces hermanni by the truckload.

Gary Bright ( skdlny@yahoo.com ) raises Hermanns & is easy to deal with. I got a female hatchling from him a few years ago that is an awsome little critter.

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My Greek tortoises were kept for about ten years and though they bred every year I never got any eggs. They also had none of the personality that my hermanni did. The hermanni were great and they produced hatchlings every year. The little male was a PANIC too. What a funny little tortoise. He fell in love with my adult female leopard tortoises and would follow them around the yard and try stay in front of them so he could stare at them. But he never bashed into their shells the way he did the female hermanni. Weird behavior but entertaining.
I would take the hermanni over Greeks any day but I have never had a Russian.