Russians

surfergirl

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Gotta say that happy russians tort are right up at the top group of tort personality. I get a great welcome every morning from them. They rise early ready to eat and always take their meal times seriously. I love the brute mentality, the smallest of my females(may be male once she gets of age) acts like she is the largest tort ever. Lol! Glad i branched out and got some Mediterranean torts. From laid back and outgoing- personable Hermanns/Marginated) to wide open brute aggressors :) (Russians). It is a fun reward to observe them every day. Cracks me up. I will have to post a video of a morning feeding with my three.

Does everyone have the same experience with their Russians?
 

Yvonne G

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Once they are acclimated to being captive, they are very human oriented. Almost like box turtles.
 

surfergirl

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U are right my russians totally know me now and that i deliver the food. I do not think they care about the cleanups i do though and they get sassy when i move them out of the way to get some poo shoveled out :)

I agree with box turtlea having a similar peraonality. I wish Ga would let me have some boxies in the back yard. I get some passing through from time to time but not the same as a captive raised young'n.
 

dmmj

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one reason why people love Russians so much is how people orientated they are and how much they seem to just love people. Or more correctly the food people bring, but what can you do. No relationship is perfect
 

leigti

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I like the fact that they don't seem to be scared of anything. And if something is in their way they just go over it under it or through it. And they attack anything they eat. Even a little hatchlings do, it's hilarious.
 

saginawhxc

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Now that my little rescue is eating on a regular basis he is also becoming acclimated to me. Occasionally I will lean on the rail of his table and he will come right over to me. Earlier today even went nose to nose with me for a second. I'm glad he didn't bite me, I was kind of waiting for it.

In the last few weeks he has went from my grumpiest tortoise to my friendliest.

My initial plan was to get this guy in a proper table and eating a proper diet and start looking for a good home for him but in the last four months I've kind of grown attached.

Depending on what happens with the new home I think I may just be keeping this guy now.
 

Millerlite

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I love my Russian tortoise. He lives outdoors so haven't really seen him as much as I like since the nights are cool. But he will come.out ever few days and bask eat.

Kyle
 

Steve_carter

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I love my Russian tort. After his bath I give him some dry-time which is him on a towel on my barricaded bed. I sit and lie on the bed with him he has climbed me and also gone to rest on my shoulder. Probably a heat source to him but it's like he's giving a little love.
 

Oxalis

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I like the fact that they don't seem to be scared of anything. And if something is in their way they just go over it under it or through it. And they attack anything they eat. Even a little hatchlings do, it's hilarious.
Very true. Those Russians are quite tenacious! Steve, my Russian, will come out of his tunnel when his Mommy calls to him, but not so much when my husband tries to draw him out. The little dude knows who spends the most time with him! ;)
 

leigti

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My adult Russian even ate out of the hand of a four-year-old kid she had never met before. The kids hand wasn't exactly study so she had to work for a little bit, I was mortified that he was going to get bit but he didn't.
 

Oxalis

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My adult Russian even ate out of the hand of a four-year-old kid she had never met before. The kids hand wasn't exactly study so she had to work for a little bit, I was mortified that he was going to get bit but he didn't.
Amazingly lucky! :eek:
 

surfergirl

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Had to post an update on my 3 Russian gals which did turn out to be two gals and one guy;) He hasn't flashed yet and does not seem to have any breeding behaviors starting yet but tail is getting longer and bigger by the day so prepared to relocate him to his bacholar pad when that time comes.

My Trio has been a joy! Not sure I will breed them. I think about having breeding groups sometimes but just haven't taken the plunge. Your thoughts are welcome on that subject. should I? is it normal to be concerned about selling baby torts, just thoughts of horrors for me sometimes with how some people become bored and move on to other interests and neglect their pets.

any hoo, Here are some recent pictures of my russian clan....:) I am a proud keeper of torts posting tons of pictures today. :) I think one of my females was not cared for at some point as her shell comes up short in the back, almost like her carpace is a bit dwarf for her body. she has grown some but not nearly as much as the larger female which i think is now probably closing in on 8". i think she is much older as well. she was mature when i got her and she looked to have been bred. The larger female and male were more juvunille when i got them. They are all doing so well haven't weighed or measured them in a while. need to do that and get my log updated. Thanks for letting me share. Hope to get more time to be active on the forum again. I will be a Tort nut 4ever. :)
 

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Toddrickfl1

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U are right my russians totally know me now and that i deliver the food. I do not think they care about the cleanups i do though and they get sassy when i move them out of the way to get some poo shoveled out :)

I agree with box turtlea having a similar peraonality. I wish Ga would let me have some boxies in the back yard. I get some passing through from time to time but not the same as a captive raised young'n.
Ya GA stinks. I've looked into though and you are allowed to keep Ornate Box Turtles.
 

surfergirl

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Well as luck would have it my male Russian came into manhood quicker than I had separated him from the girls this spring but he must have bred with them in their winter enclosure in the shed because I caught my girls having laying behavior when I put them in their outdoor enclosure. I thought that they were likely duds since I never caught him in the act and never saw signs of biting sores or places. Welol on the first warm day my large girl laid three eggs. They were varying sizes so thought they were likely duds but thought i'd incubate them anyway, I collected them carefully and took them in the house.

I started thinking that I had seen a similar unusual spot of digging in another area near a plant root so figured my other female may have laid. Started digging around and found 3 more eggs all the same size. I think these three were from my older female which had a tail that looked like she was bred before I rescued her. The younger female had not matured before I rescued her so thinking that was her first go since all the eggs were varying sizes.

I dug out my old quail incubator 1602n and set the temps. Ran to grab vermiculite and washed the 6 eggs put them in the incubator and have been incubating them for 2 weeks. It appears that the 3 larger eggs had spots of chalking prior to my taken in them out of the ground. I thought it was a sign of rotten spots but the eggs chalked so quick due to all the white spots filling in quickly once contact heat was applied.

The three smaller eggs from my young girl 2 have chalked even though they are smaller than the eggs lain by my old gal. The little one seems to be not chalking figuring it is a dud but still keeping it warm just in case. Not sure I am comfortable with that small of an egg developing...I am very empathic and this process is going to be difficult for me if I have any deformed or tragic loss due to me not being a good keeper.

I think I saw some veins developing last time I checked them. I have fear of messing with them too much so haven't really canceled them in the dark. They are incubating at 88.5th 89.1 steady. When I setup the incubator I thought it was holding steady Temps before it was and it jumped up to 93-95 degrees for an hour before I caught it. Hoping that did not cause any issues as dropped it down safely to 88.5 with a few hours. Been steady since and they seem to be developing. 78-75 percent humidity.

Hoping for great first time results, learning a lesson in patience all the while.

On the next post is a picture of the eggs incubating. If I get brave enough to check them closed I'll post results. Right now trying not the disturb them except for air flow and checking water to maintain humidity.

You can see the egg size difference. Let me know if I should be concerned about that. Also you can see the chalking since 2 we mark. The smallest egg on the right bottom appears to be stilling clear.
 

surfergirl

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Sorry for the long post....lots of surprising things happen when you think you male in your trio has not matured...duh!
 

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