Pictures of Mork and Mindy

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Here are indoor photos of our new Russian tortoises, Mork and Mindy!

Both in their pen:


Mork (he's the bold one):



Mindy (she's the shy one):

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

They look great!

 

[dmarcus]

They do look good, and being protective of those cuddle bones...

 

[Jacob]

Great Photos,

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Thanks! I'll post some outdoor pictures too, once the weather gets nice again.

 

[Starjelly]

So u have a male and a female do they get along cuz vie had one for two years and I wanna get him a girl

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

So u have a male and a female do they get along cuz vie had one for two years and I wanna get him a girl

They generally do get along quite well, and they even seem to stick together, which kind of surprises me, since it was my understanding that tortoises are basically solitary animals. However, yesterday Mork did bite at Mindy's front side, so now I keep them in separate but equal pens, and only let them socialize when they are both out and about. Not really sure why he did that. They do seem to get a bit competitive at feeding time, which is why I went from letting them feed from the same dish, to giving them separate dishes, to finally housing them separately altogether. Mork is more active than Mindy, so this way they won't get in each other's way. I also wonder if Mork's behavior might have had something to do with courtship, since today I saw him give Mindy a short head-bobbing gesture, which is part of the courtship ritual. So far, though, no actual mating. Anyway, to answer your question, yes, they generally do get along quite well, but now I'm glad they each have their own pens. As I said, they will have plenty of opportunities to interact at other times, but this way they can feed and rest on their own, in comfort and safety.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi GeoTerraTestudo:

Aren't they cute? Someone has done a pretty good job raising them. You can see the original baby stage on the carapace, then all the new growth, which is smooth and nicely colored.

 

[RianSeeking]

They look really nice. I love Russians.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Hi GeoTerraTestudo:

Aren't they cute? Someone has done a pretty good job raising them. You can see the original baby stage on the carapace, then all the new growth, which is smooth and nicely colored.

Yes, we only bought them a couple weeks ago, but they were captive born and bred, so someone did do a nice job with them. Mindy might have just a touch of pyramiding, but is still in good shape. Mork looks completely normal.

BTW - Kind of an unusual thing about Mindy. On both of her back feet, she has four toes but only three claws. The outside (lateral) toe has barely a nub of a claw, although the three other inside (medial) claws are all normal. I don't think this is due to a mutation or inbreeding, though. I suspect it's due to being incubated at slightly too high of a temperature. In turtles, males arise from lower incubation temperature, and females from a higher incubation temperature, so I think that this kind of minor foot deformity would be found in a female tortoise that had been incubated just a little bit too hot. The red-footed tortoise I had was also female, and she also had a minor anomaly on her hind right foot; some of the scales were discolored (yellowish-white instead of red), and the claws were short and nubby instead of long and relatively sharp. Again, I suspect this is due to being incubated just a bit too warm, since I've never seen male turtles with that problem. Anyway, I think she will still make a fine breeder someday ... as long as I do a better job of incubating the eggs that she lays.