Tort (will my male and female russian breed?)

[coledoug1]

RE: Tort

My temps are about 80. I am keeping them indoors and it is about 5ft long and 2 ft wide. How can u make them mate or does it just happens?

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Also my female is in the corner with her hind legs in a lot. Does this mean something??

 

[coledoug1]

RE: Tort

My temps are about 80. I am keeping them indoors and it is about 5ft long and 2 ft wide. How can u make them mate or does it just happens?

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Also my female is in the corner with her hind legs in a lot. Does this mean something??

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[Laurie]

RE: Tort


What do you mean by your temps are about 80? You should know all four of your temperatures, basking, warm,cool and nighttime. If you haven't got that all setup correctly, I think it's too soon to try to take care of hatchlings.

 

[coledoug1]

RE: Tort

Well I have a thermometer in there that us hooked up to a light. When it gets to 65 degrees it goes on.

 

[Laurie]

RE: Tort

Your tortoises need a basking temperature of about 95F, the warm side of the enclosure should be in the upper 70's, they need a cool side also, which should be in the lower 70's. Low 60's for overnight.

The whole enclosure should not be around 80F and only heat up when a thermostat drops to 65F, If I am understanding you correctly.

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I'm not trying to discourage you, but hatchlings aren't as forgiving of poor husbandry as adult torts. I don't think it's fair to them to try to bring them into this world without putting some serious thought and research into what you're doing. In fact, it makes me kind of sad

 

[JoeImhof]

RE: Tort

Agree generally with Laurie. We have 95-105F under the basking lamps, and upper 70's on cool side. Entire enclosure goes down to room temperature at night, so 68-74 depending if we have AC or heat on.

Thats the way to go. cool side, hot side, night temps fall.

 

[coledoug1]

Russian breeding

I have a male and a female Russian tortoise. I keep them outside during the summer. What are some signs of breeding for Russian tortoise?

 

[Falcon70]

Russian breeding

I'm kind of in the same situation with a male and a female (although not trying to breed). Just be cautious in that the male will be very aggressive once sexually mature. You will notice considerable head bobbing and he will try to bite her legs and head to get her to cooperate.

 

[tortadise]

Re: Russian breeding

Yeah. Head bobbing, chasing, flipping the female, biting of face and legs. Typically the male will bite the front legs and face whilst making eye contact. They will bite the back legs too however. They can get very aggressive. However even though he may not be showing those now. He still might be stressing her. I only keep my males with my females in the outside pen. 4.4 are kept in a 48x20 heavily planted and site barrier enclosure. They dig burrows and seems to be the only safe escape from a male, when the females top 25% of her carapace is showing so the male will give up when the female retreats to her burrow.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using TortForum mobile app

 

[JoesMum]

RE: Russian breeding

How long are your torts (and how old if you actually know)?

Russians don't have a good reputation for living together in marital harmony. In the wild they roam over vast distances, meet up to mate and move on. Mental and physical bullying among pairs in captivity is common and they need to be separated as soon as you become aware of one them being attacked or becoming withdrawn. Introduce them to mate and then separate again. Groups of three or more can work together in large outdoor enclosures where there are plenty of sight barriers as this gives the opportunity to escape and hide.

If your two are getting along just fine, it suggests that they have not reached sexual maturity yet.

 

[coledoug1]

Russian breeding

Both of my tortoises are about 6-8 inches long

 

[coledoug1]

Help (breeding question)

 

[kanalomele]

RE: Help

Is there a question you need help with. Your pictures look like typical mating to me

 

[coledoug1]

Help

Yes. With this type of mating is it a good chance of them have eggs?

 

[kanalomele]

RE: Help

If the one being mounted is a female of adult size then yes eggs are the natural result of this. Russians mount for reasons of mating but also to establish dominance.

 

[coledoug1]

Help (breeding question)

Ok and yes the male is mounting the female

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If a male Russian tortoise mounts a female how long will it take for the female to produce eggs?

 

[GBtortoises]

RE: Help (breeding question)

A male mounting a female does not guarantee eggs. Males will constantly pursue, court and mount females whenever one is present. This is especially true of Russian males, which are a particularly aggressive species. This is the prime reason for keeping males and females of the species seperate most of the time except of occasional meetings for breeding purposes. Even then, a male may mount the female continuously but unless the female is ready and receptive to breeding copulation is not going to take place. Despite the males aggressiveness and persistence, it is ultimately the female that decides when actual copulation will take place. If she is moving around, running from him, trying to "shake him off" or doing anything else except sitting almost perfectly still and raising her back end she is not being receptive to his advances.

 

[coledoug1]

Help (breeding question)

How will you know if she accepts or not

 

[GBtortoises]

RE: Help (breeding question)

She'll be "sitting almost perfectly still and raising her back end". If she is trying moving from side to side or trying to run away in an attempt to throw him off she is not being receptive. Some females if "trapped" will simply pull their appendages in while the male continues to bite, ram and mount her. This is not her being receptive. This is her trying to protect herself because she cannot escape. This is also when she can most easily be injured.

 

[coledoug1]

Help (breeding question)

Ok thanks. What type of season does a Russian tortoise lay eggs?