Home Herpetarium

Since we got our Russian tortoise group (or the Russian tord - tortoise herd) they have been spending most of their time running free range in our livingroom.  We set up a basking light for them in one corner where they can get warm - the “tortoise warming station,” and we feed them in a group on a slate tile in the kitchen.  They spend their days sleeping near the wall heaters, searching around the floor for veggie niblets to eat, wandering up and down the hallway trying to get into rooms where they aren’t allowed, and chasing the cat.  

Cats might not seem like the kind of animal a tortoise would be interested in following around, but there is something about ours that they all seem to find fascinating.  They have to nose up to his dish when he’s eating, just in case he has something better for dinner then they do.  They have to follow him into the utility room when he goes to use the litterbox, just to see what he might be up to.  And when he lies down under their basking light (because he’s a cat and he loves to bask), they have to wander over and nibble on his fur and lay down with him. The cat, for his part, is rather patient with his little shelled groupies.  He has never hissed, snarled, or taken a swipe at any of them.  He backs off when they act the least aggressive, and knows to jump up on a chair or table when they start to pester him too much.  In fact he actually seems to like the tortoises.  

The other day I caught him trying to initiate play with Yuri, our larger male.  He pounced around the tortoise, ran up and down the hallway to instigate chasing, and even turned upside and purred.  Unfortunately Yuri was less than impressed with this behavior and just sat there watching.   Not all animals will get along with tortoises like our cat does. Dogs have been known to chew on them because they are attracted to the material the shell is made out of.  Some cats will swat smaller tortoises around like toys, especially on hardwood or linoleum floors.  So making the decision to integrate different species always has to be made with careful consideration and care.  Watch your animals together for long periods to see how they interact with each other.  If you are allowing them to mingle when you aren’t home to watch them, check everyone when you get back to look for scratches, bite marks, or other injuries.  And if you see any type of negative behaviors between your different kinds of animals, it probably isn’t a good idea to let them interact with each other any longer. 

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.