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Russian Tortoise: 7 Essential Facts & Care Tips for a Healthy Pet
Published on May 21st, 2024
Updated on October 22nd, 2025
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- With proper care, Russian tortoises can live to be over 50 years old.
- Russian tortoises have a very social personality—they are considered to have a personality much like a dog.
- Although they are called Russian tortoises, they are found in more countries than just Russia. They range throughout a large part of Asia and the Middle East.
- Even though they have big, bulky shells, Russian tortoises love to climb and explore through all different terrain.
- Russian tortoises do not grow large like many other tortoise species and grow to be only six to eight inches in length.
- Russian tortoises are diurnal, meaning they are mostly active during the day.
- Wild Russian tortoises are known to burrow through the cold winter months.
- Russian tortoises also have one of the highest tolerances for temperature extremes.
- Females are normally a little larger than males at full size.
- In higher or lower temperatures, they attempt to burrow underground to insulate themselves from the extremes.
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