Russian or egyption turtle

[rocketman94]

Want a small tortoise for a normal room sized cage I built it and I don't know which is smaller

 

[tortadise]

Egyptians are smaller but require a more complex husbandry. As well as price. An egyptian not only is rather rare to find but will also cost about 10 times that of a russian. I have and love both. Good luck.

 

[emmalaub]

get a russian they r amazing

 

[Nixxy]

For a first tortoise, Russian, absolutely.

 

[GBtortoises]

How big is the enclosure? Would you be able to keep the tortoise outdoors during good weather?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Egyptians are much more delicate than Russians.

 

[AustinASU]

Arizonatortoisecompound.com has the egyptians for 500 but they are very fragile when young

 

[CLMoss]

But those egyptians are really cute! And I believe that they do not hibernate...???

 

[GBtortoises]

A better choice than an Egyptian tortoise or a Russian tortoise would be a one of the Hermann's subspecies or an Ibera Greek. Most of them do however get a bit larger as an adult. But they are much more adaptable and hardy than an Egyptian and not a burrowing species such as a Russian tortoise is.

Despite them being plentiful (due to wild collection & importation), small and inexpensive I still hesitate to promote Russian tortoises as a good choice for beginners simply because their seasonal environmental requirements and routine are largely misunderstood and ignored by even intermediate and some experienced tortoise keepers. Which is evident by the fact that they have been in captivity in very large, plentiful numbers for many years but so very few are reproduced in captivity in comparison to other common species.