How long can a Russian Tort live?

[RussianTortKing]

hello everyone. I have a Russian tortoise and he has been with me for 7 years. I don't know how old he is when I got him I think he was a teenager.(tortoise teen). How long can they live with a proper diet or care? I was hoping around 90 years or so because I wanna pass em on to my grandkids once I have them. Just thinking ahead I'm only 15. I live him so much and when I get a bigger yard and get a female and hopefully them mate, and have kids I'll have them. But how can can they live?

 

[JoesMum]

Hi there

We've had our Greek for 46 years, he was my husband's 7th birthday present, and we expect him to outlive us easily. (We're in our early 50s now to save you the math )

We hope one of our children will be able to take Joe on when the time comes, but recognise there are no guarantees. Life expectancy for Russians is similar.

 

[dmmj]

in regards to the Russian tortoise I don't think anyone can say for sure how long because it hasn't really been studied. But fifty or sixty years is not out of the question

 

[RussianTortKing]

Thank you everyone

 

[Tom]

No one knows. Possibly more than 100 years.

 

[Carol S]

I have a Russian female tortoise who is 68-69 years old. My avatar picture is a picture of her.

 

[RussianTortKing]

That doesn't look like a Russian. Are you sure?

 

[Carol S]

That doesn't look like a Russian. Are you sure?

I was told she is a Russian, however, she does not look like my other Russians. Her shell has a greenish tone to part of the scutes when wet. When wet the top of her head has some gold on it and also the top part of her legs. I do not know if she looks different because of her age or if she is a hybrid or what.

 

[JoesMum]

I was told she is a Russian, however, she does not look like my other Russians. Her shell has a greenish tone to part of the scutes when wet. When wet the top of her head has some gold on it and also the top part of her legs. I do not know if she looks different because of her age or if she is a hybrid or what.

Can you post good clear photos of your tort from above and below and a close up of the head, so we check out the ID please?

The gold on the head shows on some Greek species (I have a TGG with this)
Are there any 'spurs' (horny lumps at the top of the back legs)?

 

[enzot91]

Bear in mind that there are a few regional varieties of Russian tortoise too. They're not quite subspecies (or at least they haven't been accepted as such!), but there are differences. Not so much in colour though, it's more about the shape of their shell.

 

[Carol S]

Here are some prior pictures of her. She and the other adults are hiding/buried in the enclosure due to the hot weather we have been having so I could not take some new pictures. Some of the pictures are when she is very dirty and there is one where I have just put coconut oil on her and have not wiped it off yet. When her legs and the top of her head are wet you can see the gold coloring much better.

 

[JoesMum]

We need @HermanniChris to take a look at these photos

 

[GingerLove]

Wow... if that's a Russian, then she's very unique and beautiful. Traditionally, Russians look like this. I'm not so sure yours is a Russian.

 

[Carol S]

Wow... if that's a Russian, then she's very unique and beautiful. Traditionally, Russians look like this. I'm not so sure yours is a Russian. View attachment 188181

I have 6 more adult Russians, 2 sub-adults, 4 juveniles and I had 30 babies that hatched this year and they all look like typical Russian tortoises. She certainly looks different than any other Russian tortoise that I have seen.

 

[Gillian M]

I think (though I'm not sure) that torts live very long: over 100-150 years.

 

[GingerLove]

Oh, sorry, I got confused and read the posts too fast and thought that RussianTortKing was asking what species it was, and I wasn't sure if he knew what a regular Russian looked like. I've got to slow down a bit!! My bad. She is beautiful, though. I love the gold.

 

[Sasquatch77]

That can't be a Russian.