Get another Russian?

[pdrobber]

I have had my tort for about 5 years and she's been alone. I'm really interested in getting another tortoise and I think it would best suit me to get another Russian rather than dive into the world of keeping another type as well. Plus, I can only keep small torts.

Do you think it's okay to get another adult or a juvenile? Also, a male or a female? or maybe a new female AND a new male? Let me know what you think, I have a 6X3 table and have supplies and room for another table but that one could only be like 2X4.

 

[dmmj]

Feel free to get another if you want to, not because you may think yours is lonely. They don't get lonely, they live their entire lives alone in the wild only meeting to mate and move on, I am not saying don't get another one just get it for the right reasons. Re,e,ber if you get another one oyu will have to quarantine it then wait and see if they will get along, pus males loove to mate and will often hound a female, Even 2 females may end up fighting with russians it is a crap shoot. If you want another one you can look on craigslist I sometimes see russians in my area up for adoption and make sure you either have a huge enclosure for 2 or you can keep separate enclosures if they end up not getting along.

 

[Torty Mom]

They are on sale at Petco here in Bakersfield $69.99. Maybe there are on sale where you are.

 

[moswen]

i don't know about size requirements for russians but you should DEFINATELY get another female before you get a male. a 1.2 ratio is much more desirable than a 1.1 ratio, the male will constantly be chasing the female and trying to mate with her, he'll cause her metal stress and possibly physical damage if he's agressive enough. a 1.2 ratio splits the chaing time. plus, remember you'll have to now add lots of hides and breaks in scenery, big vining plants and such that they can hide under to get away from one another for a while!

but, if you want one, i say go for it! a 6x3 table sounds huge to me, but remember i don't know anything about russian enclosure size requirements!

i'm ALWAYS for captive breeding rather than importation, and russians are still being wild caught! some captive breeding efforts by you would really help!

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and look here, it's a sign! if you live in ca...

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Russian-tortoise-in-culver-city

 

[LuluandCoco]

Hi Peter,
I thought I would give you my thoughts as I just went through the same thing. I already had a Russian female (around 3 1/2) and decided to get another female (between 4 and 5). I was prepared for the worst case scenario...that they wouldn't get along. They had to be separate at first anyways (until the vet gave the ok) and when they were introduced, I thought they were getting along well. They were sniffing each other quite a bit and touching their noses (which I thought was cute - like a kiss) and then a couple days later our 3 1/2 year old, tried to bite the new one. They would eat together ok, sleep together ok and we only had them together when we were watching. However she tried this a few more times. So we decided to separate them again. I recently tried again after a few weeks apart, but this time, I set up 2 sunning areas with a barrier in between. This seems to be going much better.

From everything I have read, it is probably best to get another female and I would try to get one of similar size. I would be worried that your 5 year old would hurt a baby if you got one too small.

Good luck with your decision - I just love our Russian tortoises so much and am so happy that we decided to get the second one.

Tracy