Hi!

[michelle.platt]

I have 2 almost 5 year old captive bred Russians that we have had since hatchlings. This winter they have spent their weeks in my son's 3rd grade class. The teacher has really taken to them and would like one of her own. The parents would like to get her one as an end of the year gift. This would give her the summer to get the little one adjusted and give her students the same wonderful experience with tortoises. I plan on leaving her my large tupperware enclosure and lighting set as well as helping her apply for grants to replace the lighting on a regular basis. Since she has had the care of our tortoises all winter she is already acustomed to their care and I feel she will do a wonderful job caring for them.
My problem is that my breeder doesn't have any eggs yet this year and we need the baby by the week of May 20th. Does anyone have any hatchlings? There are several online sites with some but I don't know how reputable they are. Thank you for your help!
P.S. My torts have an outside summer enclosure!

 

[tortadise]

RE: Looking for a baby Russian Tortoise

Welcome to the forum.

 

[wellington]

RE: Looking for a baby Russian Tortoise

Hello and Welcome you might want to ask us about the sources your talking about. We may have our opinions on them. Also, look at our for sale thread. There might be some for sale there.

 

[michelle.platt]

I guess I am supposed to introduce myself! I am a military wife with 3 kids, 2 Russians and a cat. I have a degree in Animal Science and Pathobiology fron University of Connecticut and an testing to be certified to teach in Texas currently. We move to Abilene from Ohio in June. The need to find a healthy hatchling Russian for my son's 3rd grade teacher brought me here but it looks like a good place to share information! We have had our Torts (Hokey and Pokey) since they were a little over a month old and got them from SoCal reptiles in CA Aug. 2008. They are happy and healthy little guys. I am not sure where people got the idea that they were slow... they keep the kids running around after them in the back yard. I think I have a male and a female but no eggs yet. But not from lack of trying... cracks the teachers at school up.

 

[michelle.platt]

RE: Looking for a baby Russian Tortoise

Florida Herps is the only one to reply with avalability so far.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[ascott]

Welcome to the Forum and beautiful brood there ...what a lovely field of tortoise food too...

 

[michelle.platt]

RE: Looking for a baby Russian Tortoise

Herman's tortoise seem to be more avaliable.... they look similar and have similar care sheets... from a first glance the big difference is they get a bit bigger 11in rather than the Russian's 9in.
Would this also be a viable option for me?

 

[michelle.platt]

They prefer the dandilions though... the kids hunt for dandilions for them because they like to eat them so much.

 

[TommyZ]

Greetings and welcome, im a newbie too, but have already gotten tons pf great info in my time here. Youll find lotsa good folks on this forum that are willing to share. Cute family pic, everyone looks happy

 

[tortadise]

RE: Looking for a baby Russian Tortoise

Hermanns are great tortoises.

 

[sibi]

Wonderful bunch you have there. I hope we can share info and learn from each other here on the forum,

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Michelle!

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome...

 

[Tom]

Just a general caution for you. Generally speaking, Russians do not do well in pairs. They are very territorial and scrappy, and one of them almost always gets the brunt of it. In the wild, the less dominant one would simply leave the area. In our enclosures they can't. This can lead to long term chronic stress, which with your credentials, I know you understand the implications.

I mention this because of your comment about the lack of eggs, but not from lack of trying. I infer from this that one is often mounting the other. Are you sure of the sexes? Males will do this to other males. A single male can literally harass a single female to death. Females often do this to other females. In fact I think we have two different Russian owners here on the forum who have chosen the moniker "Mean Girl" for one of their particularly feisty females. Whatever their sexes, I can assure you that the one that is constantly on the bottom, does not like its living situation and would rather be alone, or in a large enclosure with a group of several females and just one male. The male will still be doing his thing, but his attention will be divided amongst several females instead of focused all on one unfortunate girl. When in a group of females, the males tend to relax a lot more. Where they might have bred that single female 10 times a day, in a group they might only breed a total of two or three times a day with all the females total.

Food for thought anyhow... If they were my animals, I'd separate them.