After a dry spell of about three years between hatching clutches, I finally got some viable hatchlings last month from my breeding trio of russians. These live almost entirely indoors which poses a major challenge for them. I could not get the females to lay in a nest box, whether in the enclosure or not. They would just try to dig into the ground outside of the nest box and hit the bottom about 3-4" in and give up. That was the initial problem with the first baby that I hatched three years ago (when I purchased a large long-term female that happened to be gravid). After a month and a half of unsuccessful nest digging I went out and bought a large Rubbermaid stock tank (that 150 gallon one) and put 8-9" of cheap organic topsoil in. Within 24 hours she deposited two eggs in a fairly deep nest underneath the heat lamp. One of the eggs hatched after 2 months and I have raised that hatchling for the past three years (she is now over 6" SCL and 2.25 pounds... so she is taking after her very large mother). She is going to be added to the group in the coming years as she is not related to my male. The trio lives in the stock tank year round, with 'vacations' to an outdoor enclosure when we are around to supervise them.
Over the past three years I have gotten dozens and dozens of eggs from both my females. Some I incubated, and several were accidentally broken by me or the male when I did not discover them quick enough. It took me three years to figure out that I was letting them dry out too much in the incubator, so I fixed that and got two healthy babies from the last clutch of 4 eggs. I have 5 eggs in the incubator right now (two that I suspect are no longer any good), and will hopefully get some more hatchlings
Just thought I would share some of my small success. Indoor breeding of Russians is somewhat uncommon, and I think that a lot of it has to do with temperature (I keep mine pretty hot), and substrate depth/quality. I don't hibernate them, but due to the low temperature in the basement where they are kept and the amount of dirt, the tortoises seem to take turns digging down in the cool end for a few days at a time during the winter. On average I have gotten between 1 and 2 dozen eggs from the large female each year. The smaller one is less prolific, but I would say she still lays up to a dozen every year. I am hoping that the other female I am raising takes after her mom (so far she has in size).
Hope everyone is having a great holiday!
Over the past three years I have gotten dozens and dozens of eggs from both my females. Some I incubated, and several were accidentally broken by me or the male when I did not discover them quick enough. It took me three years to figure out that I was letting them dry out too much in the incubator, so I fixed that and got two healthy babies from the last clutch of 4 eggs. I have 5 eggs in the incubator right now (two that I suspect are no longer any good), and will hopefully get some more hatchlings
Just thought I would share some of my small success. Indoor breeding of Russians is somewhat uncommon, and I think that a lot of it has to do with temperature (I keep mine pretty hot), and substrate depth/quality. I don't hibernate them, but due to the low temperature in the basement where they are kept and the amount of dirt, the tortoises seem to take turns digging down in the cool end for a few days at a time during the winter. On average I have gotten between 1 and 2 dozen eggs from the large female each year. The smaller one is less prolific, but I would say she still lays up to a dozen every year. I am hoping that the other female I am raising takes after her mom (so far she has in size).
Hope everyone is having a great holiday!