Dec 26 2008
Bringing Home a New Tort
When my partner and I decided that we wanted to breed Russian tortoises in the spring, we knew that we would have to bring home a suitable breeding pair as soon as possible to get the job done. Unlike most mammal species, with reptiles you need animals of a certain size, not necessarily a certain age, in order to breed. Female Russian tortoises must be at least 5″ (but 6″ if possible) in length, which is measured along the bottom of the shell - or the “plastron.” Males should be at least 4″ though do best at about 5″. Nadia, the Russian tortoise already living (and taking over) my home was still only about 4.5″ and not big enough to produce viable eggs, so we needed both a large female and a large enough male.So the hunt began for large enough Russian tortoises to breed.
We found a female rather quickly, and without really trying, at a local pet store. But forking over almost $100 for her was not the only obstacle we had to face in bringing her home. Many tortoises sold through pet stores are “wild caught,” meaning they are gathered in the wild and then sold through retailers. Because of this they can carry internal parasites and infections that could hurt other animals that they are placed with. If you purchase a tortoise that is wild caught it is a good idea to have them checked out by a veterinarian before putting them in with any other tortoises. Especially Russian tortoises, as they are one of the main carriers of the tortoise Herpes virus. It is also important to quarantine your new tortoise from any torts you already have in your home, as some diseases may not present themselves immediately and could be passed from one animal to the next before you are aware of them. We quarantined our new Russian, Pasha, for about six weeks before moving her in with Nadia. If she had shown any symptoms of illness -including runny eyes or nose or mouth - within that time we would never have let them live together. And of course we will have to start the whole quarantine process over again once we find our male to round out our happy little Russian trio. Hopefully we will be able to do that soon, as there are several more steps we have to take in order to ensure breeding happens next spring as we want it to.
