The Russian Tortoise - What Is Their Native Environment Like? скачать в хорошем качестве

The Russian Tortoise - What Is Their Native Environment Like?

https://tortoisehusbandrycourses.zenl... Discover where the Russian Tortoise comes from in the world and why it's important for their care n this preview video from my Russian Tortoise Care and Husbandry video course. You can check it out here: https://www.udemy.com/russiantortoise/ The Russian Tortoise comes from an area generally called the Asian Steppe. When you look at their range it includes many of the “stan” countries such as Pakistan, Kazakastan, and Uzbeckistan. This is a harsh environment where the short 3-4 month long summers can have daily temperatures in the mid to upper 90’s to low 100’s and the 5-6 month long winter can have 2-3 feet of snow and temperatures below zero. Not the ideal environment for any species of tortoise or reptile for that matter, but these guys survive and thrive in this extreme landscape. So how do they do it? First, they dig and live in 4-8 foot deep burrows to keep them cool from the hot summer daytime temperatures and as a secure, temperature safe place to hibernate during the long winters. In the wild they hibernate 5-6 months of the year and aestivate (summer time hibernation) 3-4 months of the year. This leaves them only 3-4 months above ground out of their burrows to eat enough to survive the 8-9 months below ground and breed in order to produce the next generation of Russian Tortoises. Second, in their range they have a typical density of one acre per tortoise, which is why they need a larger pen than most people create for them, but we’ll address that in Section 2. They need such a large home range because of the general lack of available of food items. In order to find enough food for the short time they are actually above ground they need a large area to provide sufficient food items to survive. This need for a large range explains why in captivity a healthy Russian Tortoise is a very active animal. Mine move around their pens 10-12 hours a day and this is because in the wild they have to walk long distances every day just to find enough food. If your Russian isn’t tremendously active almost every day, that’s a sign it may have a health issue. More on that in Section 5. Now, let’s summarize what we learned in this lesson. 1- Harsh environment and only active above ground 3-4 months a year 2- Live in deep 4-8 foot burrows 3- Have a 44,000 sq foot home range 4- Are extremely active tortoises