Breeding groups and advice moving forward

[goodsmeagol]

Hello!
I have been caring for Russian for about 2 years.
I fell in love with torts very fast, and have down sized all my other collections to be able to add to my Russian brood.
I intend to breed them to offer certified CB in Ontario Canada where I have not been able to identify a single CB!

I now have:
2 males: 5"scl / 4.75"scl
2 females: 4"scl / 4.5"scl
1 female: 5.5"scl
1 female: 6.5"scl

All except the 5.5" has been through proper quarantine, and have had multiple vet visits to ensure healthy stools and such.

The 2 small females are together.
One male is with the bigger female
The other male and female are separate at the moment.

The 2 males, I believe to be ready to breed, as well as the 6" female.
At what size can I incorporate the 5.5" female to the breeding colony?
What size is an appropriate breeding size? I am in no rush, however an estimated time on the smaller females reaching breeding size would be appreciated too.

At what size can I put all the females with one of the males?
My final setup would ideally have the 2 males in their own cage, being placed with the female group during breeding season, alternating to increase changes of copulation.

Any advice is appreciated, any corrects to the above is appreciated.


Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Goodsmeagol:

(I'm sorry, I don't believe I've ever learned your name)


Well, if you want to be totally politically correct, you'd need to post good top, bottom and side pictures so Danny can identify the subspecies for you.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Hi Goodsmeagol:

(I'm sorry, I don't believe I've ever learned your name)


Well, if you want to be totally politically correct, you'd need to post good top, bottom and side pictures so Danny can identify the subspecies for you.

Its Drew
I will get those pictures then! One of the males is under a care of a friend so I will not be able to get his pics, but all the females I can.

 

[BuffsTorts]

Pictures!!!

 

[goodsmeagol]

This is Puss Puss

These are Cat, Dog, and Kitty

Kitty has a 'twin' who is buried, but she has a shell very similar to Kittys.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Good luck with your breeding project.

 

[ColleenR]

If you do end up successfully breeding them, and intend to sell the hatchlings, please contact me!

 

[moswen]

how wonderful of you for trying to produce captive born russians!! i'm so happy to hear that. i whole-heartedly support you and look forward to the day where i can do the same. sorry though, i don't know anything about breeding at the moment lol!

 

[Yvonne G]

I've sent a PM to Danny for him to come and I.D. your subspecies for you. He's been pretty busy off the forum for the past couple weeks, so I don't know how soon he'll be able to get here for you.

 

[tortoises101]

They all look like T.h.horsfieldii.

 

[goodsmeagol]

I've sent a PM to Danny for him to come and I.D. your subspecies for you. He's been pretty busy off the forum for the past couple weeks, so I don't know how soon he'll be able to get here for you.

Thanks
I am in no rush, my 2 smaller females, imuo(in my uneducated opinion) both have at least 4-6 years before they can be considered as potential breeders...

Help educate me...
At around 6.5" they are considered proper size for breeding?
In captivity they grow to that size in about 5-8 years old?
I know it is a huge variant based on many factors for the size.


Thank you Tortoises101, I hope you are right!

 

[TortieLuver]

I have a contact who has a breeding group of about 30 russians, big girls, that he is selling and will sell in groups/couples/etc if you want more. Pm or e-mail me if interested. He can probably answer your questions too. He is reliable and will even give you his vet's name and number to contact, as he has well checks for all his Russians.