All about the Russian Tortoises
Outline
As of this document, there is five recognized subspecies of the Russian Tortoise, or Testudo horsfieldii.
Due to lack of specific differentiation so far available, most of the animals in the US fall under the unspecified sixth group of just testudo horsfieldii. The subspecies classification was based on genetic testing, which could be due to the natural land barriers available, like mountain ranges and deserts.
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Due to the mass importation of wild caught animals, this is the most common and recognized species of tortoise in the pet trade. After many years of conservation efforts, the importation of wild Russian tortoise has been severely restricted in comparison to the over importation which affected the market for decades. In 2025, CITES restricted the species due to numerous concerns with ongoing permit issues deriving from Uzbekistan.
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Personally, this is a good thing. When any animal is over-imported, it creates a bloated marked of uncare towards the species. These animals are seen as cheap, and in response will be placed in shops and wholesale markets with sellers who don't know how to care for these animals and are just looking to sell. Sometimes we meet people who have improper information or have a Russian tortoise which was improperly labeled as some other highly desired species of tortoise. This will bring forth disease and sickness, and for the species as a whole is no great.
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We are still pending the finalization of the restrictions, which will be heard in October 2025.
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Russian Tortoises are classified as an easier species of tortoise to start with, and a good tortoise for beginner hobbyists.
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Coloration & Characteristics
Russian Tortoises, due to their importations, have appeared to be viewed as a lesser tortoise. Lesser as in looked down upon. Which is absolutely wrong.
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Russian tortoises, much to the shock of hobbyists, come in a wide variety of coloration and pattern. Russian tortoises can be high black, moss green, yellow or tan. They can be patternless, or high contrast.
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Most of the time, (with only a handful of exceptions) these animals are completely and perfect circular shaped tortoises. Males, on the other hand, with a high breeding drive, are the few animals you will see oval shaped.
Russian Tortoises have a pronounces sexual dimorphism.
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The male Russian Tortoise will reach about 5-inches long. The female Russian Tortoise can get up to 9-inches long. Other than their size, one of the first gender specific characteristics observable is the length of their tail. Females will have very small tails and males will have very long tails.
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Don’t be surprised if your Russian tortoise has scratches on their shell. It is just a representation of their personality. Everything a Russian tortoise does is with maximum effort. Weather climbing, running around, or trying to squeeze into places they just do not fit into. The Russian tortoises usually does not care. They naturally brumate in the ground, and when they go down they can go deep. We have found them as deep as a foot and a half. When they go down they also will find rocks and hard objects in the soil. They don’t care and will usually go down farther if they want to. Russians love squeezing into places they do not fit into, like the holes of cinderblocks. They will stack on top of each other or wedge themselves into a crevice. This is due to where they are from, which I cover at the end of this.
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The Russian Tortoise will forever be one of the best first-time tortoises. These animals come out of the egg ready to survive and thrive. They have spunky little personalities, are very food driven, and seem to do everything at a full run for no apparent reason. They are very curious, and usually are easy to introduce new food too.
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For our babies, the moment they are out of their egg, they are ready to eat and run around.
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Its always good to remember, how a tortoise lives their first year has a very large impact on their personality and how bold they will become. These animals are born inquisitive and active. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn to be hesitant and shy.
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Good practices mean interacting with your tortoises, providing mental stimuli like new food options and consistently rearranging enclosures. Sometimes it can be as easy as adding a food they love but not chopping it up and adding it in whole i.e. hibiscus leaves are a favorite and you can add the whole branch in for them. Honestly, watching them climb all over the branch and stretch out their little necks is such great enrichment for them.
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This is the subsequent top and bottom picture of one of our darkest baby Russian Tortoises which hatched here a couple of years back.
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​This hatchling was noticeably different, even compared to their siblings.
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The full black on the belly is something you don't see much, wrapping all the way to the side margins of it's plastron.
And in comparison, this is one of the lightest hatchlings we produced, left in the picture above.
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In general, the largest color variation we produce is somewhere closer to the right.
This is two female Russian Tortoises.
They are full grown.
One is our dark female (right)
The other is a light female (left)
Breeding
Russian Tortoises are very aggressive breeder tortoises. The males can be overbearing for the females. If you are planning to keep a group, at minimum we suggest 1.6 (1 male to 6 females).
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Males can be aggressive and will do the following. They bite the females and ram the females. They will corner them, and sometimes the males will fight each other for a chance to breed. The Russian tortoise has a strong beak, and although I have never seen any evidence of blood draw on our females from breeding season, I would never doubt it happened.
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The males will do a dance when they find a female they want to breed. They will bite her face and front arms in order to make her suck in an protect her face. The male with run to her tail and then attempt a mount. If she sucks in her tail area in a no, he will go back to biting her face again. This dance goes on until the male gives up or the female gives up.
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These aggressive little breeder males are the reason why its pretty great to be over 4-inches larger than the male. The females are nearly double in size compared to the male, which really helps them defend themselves from the males when they are not in the mood.
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Males can and will display breeding behavior young. When growing up babies, it is always important to monitor social constructs inside of their enclosure. Babies tend to co-hab well together, but once those male characteristics start to come in, they can be overbearing little teenagers.
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As always, be prepared to separate any tortoise which is not alone. That’s just good keeping practices.
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Russian Tortoises will consistently lay 6 eggs no matter how large the female is. We have had a couple female produce 7-8 eggs, but usually only 6 will be fertile. Russians do not lay the standard round golf ball sized eggs, they produce oval eggs. The eggs will incubate between 57-80 days, with an average hatched at the 69th day, at a consistent 86F.
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The eggs are very prone to mold growth, and too much humidity will destroy the entire clutch. Some documentation has shown Russian Tortoise eggs hatching after being left in the incubator on dry egg carton, although we have never tried that method. Overall, the water to vermiculate ratio is less than most other species of testudo, closer to 2:1 by weight.
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When Russian tortoises hatch, due to the egg shape being oval, the tortoise is almost always oval when they come out. They will spread up within a couple of hours once they are out and it is nothing to worry about.
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Habitat
Simply put, the Russian Tortoise is the most Eastern testudo species which spans into Central Asia.
They can be found in Russia, much of how they got their names. Additionally, they can be found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the northwestern area of Central China.
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Specifically, these tortoises come from dry and arid regions known as steppes. Or the transitional areas between the Steppes and the barren rocky and desertions areas. These tortoises are found in some of the harsher environments when compared to other testudo. They usually have sparse or harsh scavenging options when it comes to vegetation.
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Russian Tortoises have the widest range of habitat, with the harshest conditions. This is the reason these tortoises are how they are. They are bold. They are spunky. They are outgoing and rarely shy.
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They have long strong legs to climb the steppes and rocky outposts. They feel secure squeezing into crevices in the harsh region they are from. They are used to scavenging and reaching for food.