Marginated vs Russian

[Mrturtle527]

Wondering if anyone could tell me the difference between the marinated and Russian torts? I was in a pet store this week end and the had some marinated hatchlings in with Russians.. This worries me a bit but I will explain that more in a different thread.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Well, the captive care requirements are very similar (temperature, food etc), but marginated tortoises grow to be much bigger than Russian tortoises - they can end up 16" or so, whereas most RTs only grow to be 6-10"
Russian tortoises are more 'forgiving' to beginner mistakes, whereas marginated tortoises are more prone to pyramiding.

If the tortoises are captive bred, and about the size, then there isn't as much concern in them being together at the pet store. The main concern in mixing species is that if they are wild-caught, the parasites and pathogens they bring from the wild could be harmful. This concern is less of an issue if they have hatched in captivity. In the long run, the 2 species probably shouldn't be kept together.

Wondering if anyone could tell me the difference between the marinated and Russian torts? I was in a pet store this week end and the had some marinated hatchlings in with Russians.. This worries me a bit but I will explain that more in a different thread.

 

[Mrturtle527]

Well, the captive care requirements are very similar (temperature, food etc), but marginated tortoises grow to be much bigger than Russian tortoises - they can end up 16" or so, whereas most RTs only grow to be 6-10"
Russian tortoises are more 'forgiving' to beginner mistakes, whereas marginated tortoises are more prone to pyramiding.

If the tortoises are captive bred, and about the size, then there isn't as much concern in them being together at the pet store. The main concern in mixing species is that if they are wild-caught, the parasites and pathogens they bring from the wild could be harmful. This concern is less of an issue if they have hatched in captivity. In the long run, the 2 species probably shouldn't be kept together.

Wondering if anyone could tell me the difference between the marinated and Russian torts? I was in a pet store this week end and the had some marinated hatchlings in with Russians.. This worries me a bit but I will explain that more in a different thread.

Thanks I feel better now about that. Still need to worry about how to handle the care in general that they were providing.


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[lisa127]

I don't believee marginateds get quite that big. Definetely bigger than Russians, but not 16". I believe closer to 12".

 

[biochemnerd808]

The 'average' Marginated tortoise is about 12"-14" (35cm), according to several online sources. Some males grow to be 16" ...and rarely, even larger. A bit of that length is of course the 'skirt' their shell grows when they reach maturity.

I don't believee marginateds get quite that big. Definetely bigger than Russians, but not 16". I believe closer to 12".

 

[Kerryann]

The 'average' Marginated tortoise is about 12"-14" (35cm), according to several online sources. Some males grow to be 16" ...and rarely, even larger. A bit of that length is of course the 'skirt' their shell grows when they reach maturity.

I don't believee marginateds get quite that big. Definetely bigger than Russians, but not 16". I believe closer to 12".

I believe that is how large they get. My marginated is 11 inches and only 4 years old.
When they are babies they would probably get a long but as adults they will fight. My husband looked for differences in bacteria and other things when we first got the marginated and russian tortoises but they were very similar but they were both captive bred also.
My marginated is more friendly than my Russian but his owner took really good care of him and my russian was ill tended so that could be a factor.