Baby Russian Tortoise

Common Name: Russians Tortoise
Scientific Name: Agrionemys Horsfieldii (also testudo horsfieldii)
Current Size: 1.5" range
Average Adult Size: 6-8" (females larger)
Area of Origin: Several countries between Eastern Europe and Western China

Description: Light brown and olive color with dark brown bands around each scute of the shell. These tortoises are probably the most "different" of the Testudo type tortoises. They are almost completely rounded when viewed from above, which probably is to help them spin around when underground in burrows. They tend to be somewhat flattened on top, without much of a "dome." These are a fun, active species that is commonly kept and enjoyed as pets. 

Natural Habitat: Mediterranean tortoises, these animals live in meadows and scrubland where they come and go from their hides in order to maintain the ideal temperatures. They do brumate/hibernate naturally, and will brumate in captivity if those proper conditions are given. As adults, they can safely handle body temperatures as low as 35 degrees during hibernation, and on cold spring or fall days, they will retreat underground to maintain some warmth. Summer highs up to 110 degrees can be tolerated as long as there is a cooler, underground, or damp retreat the tortoise can get into. In hot climates, they will spend much of the summer days in hide areas or simply buried under an inch or two of earth aestivating to conserve energy and resources. 

Natural Diet: This tortoise is naturally a browser, eating broadleaf weeds and low leaves from bushes and shrubs. Their natural diet is very high in fiber and low in proteins and sugars. Some individuals will eat grass while others prefer not to. 

Adult Behavior: Adult tortoises are active, busy tortoises when the temperatures are in their ideal ranges (60-85 degrees). They can be somewhat aggressive towards each other particularly during breeding season (spring), but usually can be kept in small groups without any major problems, particularly animals that have been raised in groups. Most will eagerly come to their keepers looking for food once they are comfortable in their environments. They can be good climbers and will make attempts to escape, so perimeter fences should be buried at least 6-12" underground, and sidewalls 12-16" above ground will normally contain them. Constant attempts to escape can sometimes be corrected by enlarging the enclosure and adding visual barriers within it (logs, boulders, more plants, etc). 

Our Current Care:  During cooler weather or indoors, these tortoises are kept indoors on a damp coco coir substrate with a hidebox or two that they can get into to feel secure and have a more humid hiding area option which is critical for smooth shell growth. We house them in cheap, simple plastic tubs that can be purchased at WalMart or Target, generally 3 to 4 square feet in size for babies, and larger enclosures like stock tanks for juveniles or temporary housing for adults. Low sides work best as excess heat can escape and makes viewing and access much easier. We prefer not to use sand as a substrate as it sticks to the food offerings and gets inadvertently eaten and can accumulate in the gut (in the wild, sand/dirt is generally hard packed and the food is generally dry on the surface, and is up off the surface, so it doesn't get eaten much in the wild). Temperatures in the room fluctuate between 70 at night up to 80 during the day in the summer months, with a heat light/heat source overhead bringing a small area (10%) of the enclosure up to about 95 degrees as an option that they can get in and out of as needed. At night everything is off, no heat and no light. Temperatures in the winter can safely dip into the 60s for this species with no negative effects as long as they are able to heat up again during the day. We have a UVB source overhead (generally a linear tube ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 bulb), and larger enclosures will use 80-100W mercury vapor bulbs instead.

The diet we offer almost all our tortoises consists of mixed leafy greens, and our primary list includes dandelion, endive/escarole, turnip greens, collared greens, dark leaf lettuces (green/red), mulberry leaves, grape leaves, plantain, cactus pads, and mallow. We will typically take 4-6 of these items at a time as available and chop it small to prevent the tortoises from being able to avoid any one or two items (sort of forces them to get a little of everything). We top this with a handful of our Herbal Hay. About twice a week we will add calcium or calcium/D3 supplement, twice a week add our Food Fixer supplement, and once a week will add a general reptile/herbivore multivitamin like Repashy Superveggie to the food (these are all powder form). Shake well to distribute, and this is what's fed to all the indoor (generally baby and juvenile) tortoises. Commercial pellets can be dampened to soften them and mixed in as well, and effort should be made to include this occasionally so that they are used to eating it, which helps in a pinch to feed on a day or two where you don't have fresh greens available. Vegetables can be added to the diet for variety, but fruit should generally be avoided as it can disturb their digestive process when they get the influx of sugar. 

The tortoises are removed from their enclosure and soaked in a separate 1/4" deep pan of warm water daily or almost daily for 30 minutes each time. We don't generally use water dishes in the enclosures because of the risk of drowning (yes, we have lost babies to drowning when they flipped over in 1/4" of water).

We don't use the "closed chamber" method that has become popular in some groups and forums (keeping them very high humidity and very warm). This speeds up their growth rate but isn't natural in any way, and has significant respiratory risks if temperatures drop (at all), and shell rot and mold are a lot more common. A wild tortoise of any species we keep would never see these conditions more than a few hours at a time in the wild during a summer rainstorm. We keep them with open tops, warmer and cooler areas to go between, with a 'more' humid hide available to use as they want to. They are free to choose the conditions, temperatures, and humidity levels they want within this setup.