Thought I'd share some pics...

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Floof

Juvie Member
Last November (almost to the day), I was given a Russian tortoise. My first shelled pet ever. Not too long after that, I found myself with a second Russian and an Eastern Box Turtle. Sadly, life turned upside down earlier this fall, and I had to find new homes for them in lieu of moving south. They all found great homes, where they are all doing great! Astro, the second Russian, is even one young couple's very first reptile. :mrgreen:

Anyway, while browsing the "other reptiles" forums today, I got the itch to share some pics with the BD crew, so here you go!!!

We'll start with Zoom, a young female Russian tort, measuring 6.5" SCL. Here she is in the yard, chowin' on some Dandelions, her favorite!
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Next up is Astro, a male Russian tort measuring in at 5.5" SCL. Estimated at 10 years old, and probably wild caught, though his history is completely unknown. He came with a little 45 gal Rubbermaid (about 3x1 ft floorspace), so he found his spiffy new 6x2 tort table pretty neat. Here he is exploring it for the first time... Still really basic since I'd just finished building it. That's plain top soil for the substrate, and a plastic plant saucer for the water dish.. Not that he'd used it much; he'd never seen a water dish before and had never been soaked, so, even though it was good for him, he was a little afraid of water... Lol
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He was quite the curious boy... Of course, it probably helped that I smelled like Zoom (aka: GIRL!!!) during this photoshoot, since I'd just finished photographing her.
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Last I checked, the pic limit per post was 10, so I'm going to preempt the "ERROR: TOO MANY IMAGES" message and say "To Be Continued!"
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Now for the Eastern Box Turtle, who never really got a name while she was with me... This little girl was right around 4" SCL, maybe a little more. Small compared to my Russians. She had quite a personality... She refused to eat anything green, and, after lots of hemostat/tong feedings of roaches and worms, took to trying to eat anything silver and shiny that crossed her path. She was a little shy at first, but it didn't take her long to open up...
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Her indoor enclosure was a lot less fancy than the Russians' were (for the record, Zoom's was exactly like Astro's only set up a little differently), and I had to put lattice over the whole thing because it was short enough for her climb out... But it did the trick. That's a strawberry plant you see sticking up in the middle, not that she ever ate off it, and you can see the outline of her humongous water dish--a plastic plant saucer like Astro's, only MUCH bigger because she absolutely loved to swim! The enclosure itself is a 45" round kiddy pool. Definitely big enough for a turtle her size, and only $10 to boot! :mrgreen:
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You can see here just how "too short" it is... Here she is exploring, and looking for some weakness in the heavy lattice.
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Now, with all of these guys, I prided myself in being able to supply outdoor enclosures. Even though I lived on the coast of Washington, where it's cold, overcast, and rainy most of the year. Turns out that's the Box Turtle's favorite weather, anyway, and the Russians really didn't give a crap as long as they got outside any day that was dry and over 60F!
My very first outdoor enclosure, back when it was JUST Zoom, was 16x8 feet. Seems huge for a little not-quite-7" tort, but she LOVED it and used the whole thing!
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When I decided to "adopt" Astro, I decided splitting this in half was the best solution for his outdoor enclosure. With the onset of summer (though we didn't get much sun or heat until the middle of July), I also added two 8' plywood boards over the south end to provide shaded areas, using the plywood left over after cutting the divider. (Zoom kept the left half, closest to the front door, and Astro got the right half.)
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Even when during the tough times when we moved twice and the outdoor enclosures were at their smallest, they were still 8x4 ft each... This one was the Box Turtle's at our last home before rehoming the shelled critters and moving south.
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I think that sums it up... Which is good, because I just met the 10 pic limit on this one and I wasn't too keen on making a post #3. Lol! Thanks for looking, and I hope you all enjoyed!! :D
 
Wow, fantastic photo's - thank you for sharing. They all looked like they had a brilliant home when they were with you, very well cared for :D The Box turtle's markings are beautiful, loving Astro's smile in the 3rd pic, and the close up of Zoom eating the dandie in pic 2, brilliant!
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Thank you very much, Dawn!! I did pride myself on giving them the best I could, and after experiencing them, I now cringe whenever I see a tortoise/box turtle 4"+ in an enclosure smaller than 12 sq ft. They're just so active! It's wrong to give them anything less than the very most you can.

Just wait 'til I finally get Leopard and Marginated torts... Between the two big pens, I'll be hard-pressed to leave room for the dogs to potty! :p
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
Awesome Tortoises :D I love my two Russians! They're so fully of their own quirky personalities! My female, Kira, likes to try and eat me and my fiance for some reason lol. I'm pretty sure it's because she associates her food with our hands since she sees us prepare it.
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Krayt":2vqfilvl said:
Awesome Tortoises :D I love my two Russians! They're so fully of their own quirky personalities! My female, Kira, likes to try and eat me and my fiance for some reason lol. I'm pretty sure it's because she associates her food with our hands since she sees us prepare it.

Ever hand-fed her? I've heard of people with Sulcatas that get to the point of trying to eat fingers because got so used to being hand-fed as babies... Scary thought, LOL! Neither of mine tried to eat me... But the box turtle did once bite my dad. His fault for putting his finger in front of her face while she was in "live food mode"!
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
We haven't really ever fully hand fed Kira. We've hand fed Meeko, our male, a few times like when we first got him. But my fiance and I have both been nipped by both of them lol we're pretty used to it now but the first couple times it was a surprising feeling.
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
lol! They sound rather feisty.. I haven't been bitten by any four-legged reptiles, but I imagine it puts the average snake bite to shame!
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
Oh yeah it does lol, it doesnt draw blood or anything but the initial surprise of it will make it seem worse than it is haha. Now my fiance and I can tell when they are even getting close to biting us and we just start to pet the top of their heads and they stop immediately and start stretching out so we can rub the back of their necks :D
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Lol, sounds something like my first snake bite. The shock of a 6 ft rat snake trying to eat my finger was MUCH worse than the actual bite, which really wasn't much more than a sharp pinch and some blood. How cute, that you can bribe them not to eat you with neck rubs!! LOL! Mine were never THAT social. Guess it's no huge surprise, since neither were interacted with or cared for right before I got them, so they were both pretty set in their ways when it came to dealing with hoomans. :p

How do your two get along, or do you house them separately? I only introduced my two a couple times, and, every time, Astro started bullying Zoom--trying to bite her legs and face. He was a total jerk. A horny jerk, but still a jerk... haha
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
We house our 2 russians in the same area. They are fine until later in the fall or later spring. Then he begins to get horny and start biting her legs and then squeals pretty loud for his size when he gets into position. Most times he gets the wrong end of her and then ends up starting to hump her face or her side. He occasionally gets the right end but he's too young to properly mate with her. Our 2 are only about 2 years old. Kira (female) is about 6.5 inches long, and Meeko (male) is about 5 inches long. Thats shell length from their face to the tail.
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
LOL! Poor guy doesn't have very good aim, huh??

About their age, I don't think they're 2 years old. Kira's about the size of my female at at least 3 years old (how long the previous owners had her, and she was 3-4" so probably a couple years old when they got her). As for Meeko, at 2 years old, I would only expect him to be in the range of 4". Mine was 10 years old at 5.5". They aren't exactly fast growers...

Where did you get yours? The Russians at Petco, Petsmart, and many other pet stores are wild caught. Really, unless they're labeled CB and the seller can verify that, you have to assume they're WC. And the employees at those pet stores have made it a habit to tell the buyers their adult/sub-adult Russians are "a few months" or "almost a year" old, when anyone who knows something about the growth of Russians can tell you that's total BS. If it helps, the people over at Tortoise Forum (tortoiseforum.org) are pretty good at guessing WC/CB and age based on appearance, size, and the state of the shell.

Anyway, at 6.5", Kira probably isn't sexually mature at that size, you're right, but Meeko likely is. Just give Kira another few years or so and she'll probably start producing.
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
The guy the we bought our beardies from also breeds russians and he said they are about 2-3 years old based on size. He says the russians grow at different rates. That females can grow faster then males. We did however get them at same Petco store, so who really knows. I love those guys they are some characters.
 

Floof

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Krayt":1f8zpvqd said:
The guy the we bought our beardies from also breeds russians and he said they are about 2-3 years old based on size. He says the russians grow at different rates. That females can grow faster then males. We did however get them at same Petco store, so who really knows. I love those guys they are some characters.

Yeah, if they came from Petco, there really is NO way to know, and I can guarantee they were wild-caught, which just complicates that. Anyway, it's not really important, aside from curiosity.. :)

I'm still biding my time to have room for an 8 ft enclosure. Once I have the space to dedicate at least 8x4 ft to tortoises, I will officially have enough room to start breeding Russians. Woohoo! Baby torties! :mrgreen: (Plus, then I can stop grumbling at incredibly misinformed CL & KSL ads for Russians and just buy them... lol!)
 

ReptileGuardian

Hatchling Member
That's awesome! My fiance and I love pretty much all tortoises. My fiance thinks most box turtles are ugly so we're sticking to tortoises like russians, sulcatas, leopards, etc. I personally love any reptile with or without legs lol
 
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