Hi guys.

DoubleD1996!

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Hi guys, my name is Eddie and I've been keeping animals and reptiles all my life. I own 23 turtles( box turtles, sliders, cooters mud/ musk) and I want to get a group of Russian tortoise soon. I take in rescues or turtles that need a forever home, so hopefully someone will be looking to rehome some. I live on 2 acres and love building naturalistic enclosures(although, I'm not much of a carpenter). I look forward to learning even more about tortoises on this site, because you can never learn enough and sometimes people's experiences are more valuable than books.
 

ArmadilloPup

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Welcome! I love cooters! Feel free to tag me if you post pics of your pond buddies!

If you have your heart set on Russians, just know that they can't be grouped like turtles can, so you'll need multiple enclosures. If you're in love with the idea of having a whole creep of torts some day, then redfoots and pancakes can live in larger groups (just not pairs).
 

KarenSoCal

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Hello, and welcome!

In case you haven't read it yet, here's our care sheet for Russians.

 

DoubleD1996!

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Welcome! I love cooters! Feel free to tag me if you post pics of your pond buddies!

If you have your heart set on Russians, just know that they can't be grouped like turtles can, so you'll need multiple enclosures. If you're in love with the idea of having a whole creep of torts some day, then redfoots and pancakes can live in larger groups (just not pairs).
Thank you. Would a 2.3 be fine?
 

Lyn W

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Hi Eddie and welcome.
There is a lot of old and incorrect information still circulating on the web and in old books etc but you will find the most up to date information here from very experienced keepers -some of whom have been involved in research and thankfully share their findings with us.
There's caresheets for most species and always someone to answer questions and maybe we can benefit from your experience too.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Hi Eddie and welcome.
There is a lot of old and incorrect information still circulating on the web and in old books etc but you will find the most up to date information here from very experienced keepers -some of whom have been involved in research and thankfully share their findings with us.
There's caresheets for most species and always someone to answer questions and maybe we can benefit from your experience too.
Looking forward to it
 

Yvonne G

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Welcome to the Forum! I'm getting too old to do it now, but building tortoise yards/fences was my favorite thing to do too.
 

ArmadilloPup

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Thank you. Would a 2.3 be fine?

I'm not familiar with the ratios for tortoises. A breeder here that I trust suggested redfoots should be 1 male per several females, and I'm willing to bet that pancakes are similar. Male tortoises of all species tend to be more territorial than (pond) turtles. It's definitely something you could ask about on the breeding section of the forum.
 

DoubleD1996!

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I'm not familiar with the ratios for tortoises. A breeder here that I trust suggested redfoots should be 1 male per several females, and I'm willing to bet that pancakes are similar. Male tortoises of all species tend to be more territorial than (pond) turtles. It's definitely something you could ask about on the breeding section of the forum.
Thank you.
 

DoubleD1996!

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They suggest that a enclosure for a Russian needs to be at least 4'x8'. If that was what your asking.
No I meant like two males and three females. Hopefully I can find a male and two females, or someone wants to rehome russian tortoises.
 

Yossarian

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Thank you. Would a 2.3 be fine?

Not really, Testudo torts are known for being quite aggressive to anything in their territory they dont like, and that goes for pretty much any other torts living there. If you have a huge outdoor enclosure, basically big enough that they dont encounter each other too often then it might work with a male and 2-3 females, but its also pretty likely that whichever tort becomes dominant will actively seek out the others to try to drive them away. They wont normally just ignore each other. It is reccomended that even with breeding groups, they all be kept separate and only introduced together briefly for mating.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Not really, Testudo torts are known for being quite aggressive to anything in their territory they dont like, and that goes for pretty much any other torts living there. If you have a huge outdoor enclosure, basically big enough that they dont encounter each other too often then it might work with a male and 2-3 females, but its also pretty likely that whichever tort becomes dominant will actively seek out the others to try to drive them away. They wont normally just ignore each other. It is reccomended that even with breeding groups, they all be kept separate and only introduced together briefly for mating.
Thanks for the info. Greatful for so many informative responses.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Hello, and welcome!

In case you haven't read it yet, here's our care sheet for Russians.

Thanks for the info.
 

TaylorTortoise

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Hi guys, my name is Eddie and I've been keeping animals and reptiles all my life. I own 23 turtles( box turtles, sliders, cooters mud/ musk) and I want to get a group of Russian tortoise soon. I take in rescues or turtles that need a forever home, so hopefully someone will be looking to rehome some. I live on 2 acres and love building naturalistic enclosures(although, I'm not much of a carpenter). I look forward to learning even more about tortoises on this site, because you can never learn enough and sometimes people's experiences are more valuable than books.
Where do you keep all these turtles? And how do you plug in all of the lights for them? Into one outlet?
 

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