Russian Torts and Florida dont mix (?)

[Spurtacus]

Ive heard this alot from various breeders and vendors, but I havent been able to find a consistent reason why.

I do know Ive never seen RT hatchings, or CB RTs at the reptile shows Ive been to.

My russians have been doing fine outside the past few months. I got a couple 7" proven breeding females a couple days ago and now I dont feel comfortable just waiting for a symptom to show up lol

Any thoughts on what it is that may irk them?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

In theory, since the Russian tortoise is native to the steppe biome (temperate grasslands), they may be expected to do better in areas with only moderate precipitation, low humidity, well-drained sandy soils, and lots of low-lying vegetation. That's why people in the middle of the US (including me) like to keep them.

Florida, being wetter and more humid, is not very similar to the Russian tortoise's native habitat, and some people have reported respiratory problems for wild-caught animals, which are used to drier air. However, one person here on TFO has said that a captive born and bred Russian tortoise would adapt to the higher humidity just fine. I don't know to what extent that is true. The gopher tortoise is native to Florida, but I don't know if the other Gopherus species would do well there. In terms of climate-matching, Florida is probably more suitable for tropical tortoises, and perhaps the Hermann and Greek, than it is for semi-arid grassland tortoises, like the Russian.

I used to know a guy in Tampa who kept lots of redfoots (I bought my little female from him when I lived there), and he also had a big sulcata. The sulcata seemed quite healthy, but I often wondered if the high humidity made life a little more difficult for an animal from the Sahel. Recent research suggests that sulcatas may not mind humidity so much, so perhaps it wasn't a problem after all. But for a Russian, leopard, or desert tortoise, I would think the high rainfall and humidity could pose problems.

 

[Spurtacus]

Good info, ty Geo

I consider myself lucky we're not in the rainy season yet then, Ill have to start working on ways to reduce their exposure. They have a dogloo hut that will keep them high and dry in the rain, but only about 1/3 of them use it at the moment.. The rest of them prefer to burrow, but I think in a heavy rain they'd go inside.
Maybe I can get them a little boat dehumidifier for their hut(lol)

Well,
worst case Ive got a good vet and can keep them indoors. Ill do what I can to keep them outside for now though.

I think Florida gopher torts are illegal to own here, which is too bad.. They're adorable when they're little. Sulcatas do suprisingly well, I think Ive met more sulcata owners than any other tort.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Good info, ty Geo

I consider myself lucky we're not in the rainy season yet then, Ill have to start working on ways to reduce their exposure. They have a dogloo hut that will keep them high and dry in the rain, but only about 1/3 of them use it at the moment.. The rest of them prefer to burrow, but I think in a heavy rain they'd go inside.
Maybe I can get them a little boat dehumidifier for their hut(lol)

Well,
worst case Ive got a good vet and can keep them indoors. Ill do what I can to keep them outside for now though.

I think Florida gopher torts are illegal to own here, which is too bad.. They're adorable when they're little. Sulcatas do suprisingly well, I think Ive met more sulcata owners than any other tort.

Well, if you've already got a Russian in Florida, just see how it goes. Naturally, keep it try, as even gophrer and redfoot tortoises still need dry by moist land to walk and rest on - they're not box turtles, ya know.

If the humidity becomes a problem, bring them inside. Russians do come from a drier part of the world, but like any tortoise, they do have at least some need for humidity. Hopefully, they won't mind a little more. If they do, just bring them indoors, where your mighty Floridian air-conditioning should bring the humidity down for them. Actually, I'm sure you realize this, but don't let the A/C blow right onto them, chill them, or create the opposite problem of drying them out too much. Probably won't, but just mentioning the possibility to be thoroughl.

 

[Tom]

I have heard from many people that leopards don't tend to do well there either. On the opposite end, red foots tend to not do as well in my area, so says a large scale professional breeder who is about 20 minutes from me. She can barely keep Manouria alive outdoors. Her red and yellow foots are alive, but they don't thrive the way they do in the more warmer humid climates.

Sulcatas are an interesting case. Yes they are from the Sahel region, BUT they really don't experience the climate there much. According to Tomas Diagne, they rarely come above ground in the wild. He said the only time he ever sees them out walking around is during the hot humid rainy season. During the dry "desert" portion of the year they stay down underground in their warm humid burrows and eat the vegetation that they dragged down there during the end of the rainy season. Either way sulcatas seem to thrive in any environment.

About the Russians, which I have not yet ever kept with humidity, I would speculate that being cold and damp at the same time would affect them like any other tortoise species. Several people have told me so too. I would think that if they had a heated house with a dry floor that they would be okay. Heat bulbs and CHEs dry the heck out of the air in my enclosures. I would imagine it would do the same thing in a heated den box in FL on those cooler rainy days.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I was hoping you'd chime in with that fascinating new info on sulcatas from Tomas Diagne. Kind of explains why they're so versatile in the pet trade, too.

 

[Spurtacus]

mighty Floridian air-conditioning

This line made me
Hitting them with AC wont be a problem. Theres a small, very confused room in my house with a skylight thats perfect for keeping torts in. Its cut off from the rest of the house so its easy to maintain temperature and humidity.

Very interesting info on sulcatas Tom, that explains alot. I have sprinklers in my pens that run every day at 230, Id expected the sulcatas would hate it and go back inside their hut till it was over.. It was quite the opposite, they seem to love it.
Normally they seem to be out and about most of the morning, then as it starts to get hot, like 1ish they go sit half in their hut like this-


Then when the sprinklers come on they run outside and start maintaining the grass again lol.
As expected the redfoots love it too, but oddly Ive never seen the yellowfoots out during "rain"

Leopards do seem to have it rough here, I only know of one person in my area breeding them successfully. Ussually if theres leopard hatchlings at reptile shows they came from him or far away.