Yet another Russian question

[Nay]

Hi all,
Many of you have followed my adoption of a pair of Russians that were kept in a pretty awful environment. They are amazing animals, as we all know!!!
So my question, now that they are in a better situation and getting some UVB lights, heat, burrowing substrate and a hide, they are like 2 different beasts!! They eat every single bite I put in there, which I guess leads me to ask 2 questions, how much food??? One day they get just greens, the other they get some veggies and a little mazuri. They will actually eat slices of hard carrot. (I understand they are pretty much broad leaf eaters, but man they run to any color!!!) hard to say no, and having been derived for so long. OK let me have it!!!

number 2, the male is sometimes relentless to her, at times. Putting his head almost right into her shell, by her head. Pushing her around, now they have been together a minimum of 5 years,does that mean anything to them? A few folks here have offered to take the female, when the weather warms up. (But then I don't want to be stuck with this little monster.She actually seems to take it in stride. Today when I lifted out the food dish to fill it, he was running around like a little zombie looking for it. (Yeah you say no to that!!) And when I put in back in, he was so busy looking he missed where I put it and she is digging right in, here he is with head going back and forth and she's chowing. She's also much bigger and seems to not be bullied about. Most times I see them kinda spread out laying on each other. Not sure what constitutes abuse?
Your thoughts?
Thanks Nay

 

[jrholls]

My russian goes nuts for carrots too...I'd say mabe even her favorite because she always eats them first. I agree, very hard to say no.
I think you are seeing more natural behavior from the male now that he is well fed and cared for. It is apparently common for a male russian to be relentless with only one female around. Perhaps the poor care he recieved in the past limited his interest in your female, and now he's happy, healthy and well, you know.

 

[Yvonne G]

... and now he's happy, healthy and well, you know.

Yeah, the three "H's" Happy, Healthy and Horny!!

 

[Nay]

So alittle bit of running around head butting, no big deal. Just seems the little bugger thinks he's Napoleon!!!
How bout food, how much is too much?? Been a few weeks now and these guys eat every single bit of food, and I watch it's not just one of them. When is it over feeding?
Thanks Nay

 

[Yvonne G]

In their natural habitat a Russian tortoise is hard-wired to eat as much as it can find as quickly as possible. They have a short length of time when the weather is good enough to be out, and food is scarce on the steppe. So in captivity, they will eat everything you give them and look for more. Just put a big handful down for each tortoise, once a day.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

My males can be relentless at times. My advice is to keep them in as big of an area as possible with lots of "furniture" such as bushes logs, stones. I also keep three females to every male to help keep my girls from getting stressed. After a while I find the males settle down and don't bug as much. During the spring - when they are especially frisky - I keep the males separated from the females all time. When it warms into summer they can usually be together again. Good luck!

 

[tortoisenerd]

I let my tort eat as much as he wants, as long as he is maintaining a healthy weight. You can use the following chart for Russians as a guideline (click to biggify). Use SCL measured like this: http://www.tlady.clara.net/measure.htm, and an accurate scale such as for postage or kitchen use. With a little trial and error, you can figure out how much food they need to maintain their weight, assuming they are full grown. Start by letting them eat what they want, such as a pile of greens as big as they are, and decrease if needed. A low calorie diet (manufactured food is higher in calories)space to roam, and ideally being able to graze, are key. I would not feed carrots or anything else sweet or starchy (except cactus fruit). I'm also against veggies (except the occasional squash/pumpkin treat), but others do feed those.

I would keep a very close eye on housing a male and female together...from what I read it seems like a pair is rarely a good idea in an indoor size enclosure. If you are seeing your male harassing the female several times in one day, I'd think that is too much and I'd want to house them separate. You need to make that decision from what you see, as its hard for us online to really see what is going on. They do not need a friend and will be happier alone. In the wild they are solitary and when they cross paths, they mate, then go off on their own again. Keeping a pair in an enclosure is unnatural compared to their wild situation. If you want to keep both and can manage two enclosures, that is a great solution.

 

[ChiKat]

Here's the link Kate posted: http://www.tlady.clara.net/measure.htm
That one should work.