are these Russians the same?

[mira_kaylee]

i seen a listing for what seems to be a Russian tortoise on this website but this tortoise looks a lot different than Ayden does and the latin name is different....are they the same species or are they different? (situation - I'm looking to get another tortoise but i always hear "never mix species together". if they're different species then i don't want to get it and then have to have a separate pen for it.)

this is the tortoise from the other site -
http://www.turtlesandtortoises.com/Eastern-Hermanns-Tortoise-Testudo-hermanni-boettgeri-CB-2012.html


and this is Ayden (also, if there are major sub-species distinctions within the Russian tortoise family then does anyone know what Ayden might be, specifically?) -

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

There are five species in the genus Testudo:

Group I:
Testudo horsfieldi - Russian tortoise
Testudo hermanni - Hermann tortoise

Group II:
Testudo graeca - Greek tortoise
Testudo marginata - Marginated tortoise
Testudo kleinmanni - Egyptian tortoise

Your tortoise (Ayden) is a Russian tortoise, but the tortoise in that link you provided is a Hermann tortoise. The Russian and Hermann tortoises are closely related, and have been known to hybridize in captivity. However, in the wild they would never meet, and are distinct species with different characteristics.

Within the Russian tortoise species, there are three generally accepted subspecies:

Testudo horsfieldi horsfieldi
Testudo horsfieldi kazakhstanica
Testudo horsfieldi rustamovi

These three subspecies are pictured and described in more detail in the following thread:
"Russian Subspecies"

It is tough to tell exactly which subspecies Ayden belongs to from those pictures. If you provide a couple of photos showing clear, unobstructed shots from the top and side, then we can identify it to subspecies.

 

[Yvonne G]

The link you gave us shows a hermann's tortoise, not a russian.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

The link you gave us shows a hermann's tortoise, not a russian.

 

[Jacqui]

Even if they had both ended up being Russians, there are a few more things to be thinking about:

A) You would still be needing another enclosure, so that you can isolate the two for a quarantine period.

B) You would still need to be ready to open a new permanent enclosure for the second tortoise, IF the two did not get along. No way to know that in advance, but something to be ready to do ANY time you have more then one tortoise in one enclosure.

 

[dmmj]

I also saw a hermann in the link, so if that is correct, then no they are not the same.

 

[mira_kaylee]

my mistake, the site that i was looking in showed both testudo horsfieldi and testudo hermanni on the same page so i thought that they were both subspecies of the same kind or something....thank you, sorry again :/

---

There are five species in the genus Testudo:

Group I:
Testudo horsfieldi - Russian tortoise
Testudo hermanni - Hermann tortoise

Group II:
Testudo graeca - Greek tortoise
Testudo marginata - Marginated tortoise
Testudo kleinmanni - Egyptian tortoise

Your tortoise (Ayden) is a Russian tortoise, but the tortoise in that link you provided is a Hermann tortoise. The Russian and Hermann tortoises are closely related, and have been known to hybridize in captivity. However, in the wild they would never meet, and are distinct species with different characteristics.

Within the Russian tortoise species, there are three generally accepted subspecies:

Testudo horsfieldi horsfieldi
Testudo horsfieldi kazakhstanica
Testudo horsfieldi rustamovi

These three subspecies are pictured and described in more detail in the following thread:
"Russian Subspecies"

It is tough to tell exactly which subspecies Ayden belongs to from those pictures. If you provide a couple of photos showing clear, unobstructed shots from the top and side, then we can identify it to subspecies.

i tried to get clear pictures but he just won't stay still :/