Russian Tortoise Size Chart | How Big Do Russian Tortoises Get?

Getting a pet russian tortoise is a big decision, so it’s important to know how big it can get.

Russian tortoises can reach sizes between 8 and 10 inches (20 and 25 cm) in length and can weigh between 2 and 4 pounds. The most important factors that influence the size are: gender, diet, habitat, UV Light, and age.

While the average size is between 8 and 10 inches, a russian tortoise can be considerably smaller, or a lot bigger, depending on the factors that I just mentioned. So let’s take a closer look at how those factors will influence how big a russian tortoise will get.

The Size Difference Between Male and Female Russian Tortoises

One of the best ways to know how big your turtle will get is to know its gender. This is because, in general, female turtles and tortoises tend to be bigger than males. And this difference in size is usually very noticeable.

The reason why female tortoises are usually bigger than males is their inflexible bodies. When a female tortoise is pregnant, it’s impossible for her belly to get bigger to accommodate the eggs, as it happens with most animals. So they need more space on the inside to accommodate the eggs. Males, on the other hand, don’t need all this space on the inside, so they tend to be smaller.

If you are not sure if your tortoise is male or female you can check out this article that will help you find out: How to Tell If Your Turtle Is Male or Female (with Pictures).

Now let’s move to the next factor that can influence the size of a russian tortoise, the diet.

The Diet of Russian Tortoises

The diet represents one of the most important factors that influence the growth of a russian tortoise.

In short, the better and healthier the diet is, the bigger the tortoise will get. If your tortoise eats too little, it won’t be able to reach its full-size potential. But overeating can lead to serious health problems.

Russian tortoises are herbivores, this means that they will not eat meat, they will eat only plants fruits, and vegetables. The diet of a pet russian tortoise should contain:

Berries
Fruits
Vegetables
Pellets

If a tortoise doesn’t have a proper diet, it can still grow, but it will do so at a slower rate.

Fruits and vegetables have a lot of vitamins that contribute to the good health of a tortoise, but vitamins don’t do that much for growth. The most important thing for growth are proteins.

And the best source of proteins for pet tortoises are pellets. While fruits and vegetables have some proteins in them, most of them don’t have as much as pellets do.

But you have to be very careful with how many pellets you feed your turtle. If you overfeed your turtle, it will cause pyramiding. Which is an irreversible deformation of the shell.

If you want to know what, and how to properly feed your russian tortoise you should check out my article: What Do Russian Tortoises Eat? ( + Beginners Feeding Guide), here you will find all the information that you need, as well as a very simple and reliable method that will tell you how much to feed your tortoise.

The clearest way to see how important is the diet is to compare the growth rate of a pet tortoise to that of a wild tortoise.

Difference Between Pet and Wild Russian Tortoises Growth Rate

Due to their diet. pet russian tortoises should always end up bigger than wild russian tortoises.

If you are properly taking care of a russian tortoise, then it should definitely get bigger than a wild one. A wild tortoise doesn’t have the same stable and balanced diet, as a pet, so it’s almost impossible for them to reach the same size, in the same amount of time.

Wild turtles are also dependent on the weather outside to get their UVB light, which is essential for healthy growth. But more on UVB light in just a moment.

While those two reasons are quite significant, there is one other reason that is more significant than them, and that is hibernation. Pet tortoises don’t hibernate while wild russian tortoises hibernate for at least 3 months per year.

During the time they are hibernating, wild tortoises use a lot of energy, vitamins, calcium, and proteins, to survive.

While tortoises hibernate they also don’t have the chance to gather any kind of nutrients, and they don’t have access to any UVB rays. So basically every year pet tortoises have 12 months at their disposal to grow, while wild tortoises only have 7 to 9 months.

The overall process of hibernation is a little more complicated than this, and a lot more interesting, but going over it now is beyond the scope of this article. If you want to know more about tortoise hibernation you can always check out this article where I delve deeper into the subject: How to Help Your Turtle Hibernate.

UVB Light

UVB light is a light spectrum of the UV light that plays a very important role in the life of every tortoise.

UVB light plays a vital role in the production of Vitamin D3 which is essential for the calcium in the body. Without UVB light tortoises wouldn’t be able to get the proper amount of calcium which can lead to improper bone and shell growth.

Tortoises get UVB light by basking. When tortoises bask they try to find a place where the sun’s rays are very powerful, so they usually climb on big rocks or any place that is closer to the sun. When they find the best spot, they simply lay in the sun for hours. During this time they are exposed to the UVB rays.

Pet tortoises have basking areas that are equipped with a UVB Bulb, that replicates the effects of the UVB rays that come from the sun.

A tortoise that doesn’t have access to UVB will have much slower growth or none at all. In the wild, there are places that are more exposed to the sun than others, and tortoises will usually search until they are able to find a place that offers a good amount of UVB light. But sometimes due to bad weather, or predators, tortoise aren’t able to get the amount of UVB rays that they need.

Pet tortoises are almost entirely reliant on the UVB Bulbs. In general, most UVB bulbs will get the job done, but if you want to know more details about, and the different types that are available, then you should read my article: Guide for Lighting and Heating a Turtle Tank and Basking Area, there you will find a lot more information on this subject.

Age

All russian tortoises start their lives as eggs. Those eggs are very small, and they are usually between 1 and 1.5 inches in length. So baby russian tortoises are not very big either. But this will change very soon.

During the first years of their lives, russian tortoises will grow very fast. This rapid growth will last for 2 or 4 years and then it will considerably start to slow down.

You can expect that a juvenile russian tortoise will get from 2 to 3 inches in a very short period of time. But as your tortoise gets older, it can take anywhere from 12 to 18 months for it to grow another inch.

In the wild age plays another important role. The older a tortoise is, the bigger it will get to be. When a tortoise gets bigger, there will be fewer animals that can hurt it. This basically means that the bigger a tortoise is, the bigger it will get to be. I know it sounds strange, but let me give you an example to clarify things.

The galapagos tortoises are some of the biggest tortoises in the world. One of the reasons why they get to be so big is that after they reach a certain size there are no predators around that can hurt them. So after a certain size, they are able to grow even bigger without any effort, because there is basically nothing that can hurt them. So they can easily search for food without having to worry that something will attack them. They don’t have to look for a safe place to sleep, they can sleep anywhere because nothing can hurt them.

The same principle applies to the russian tortoise to some extent. As russian tortoises get bigger, there are fewer animals that can hurt them, and this allows them to survive and grow even bigger.

The diet of a tortoise is also very different based on age, younger russian tortoises prefer to eat plants and fruits with more proteins than an adult would. They do this because they need those extra proteins to keep up with their accelerated growth.

So no matter how you look at it, pet tortoises have a bigger chance of growing bigger than most wild tortoises.

Final Thoughts

Most russian tortoises reach sizes between 8 and 10 inches. But they can always be smaller than that, especially if they live in the wild. If you take good care of your russian tortoise it will most likely reach its maximum size in 5 or 6 years.

I hope this article answers all of your questions regarding the size of russian tortoises. But if you have questions left, you can always leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as possible.

Common Questions

How do I keep my turtle small? You can’t keep a turtle small, any attempt to do so will only affect its health. If you want a small turtle then you should get a turtle species that stay small, here you can find a list of turtles that stay small and don’t grow: Best Pet Turtles That Stay Small and Don’t Grow

How can I make my tortoise grow faster? The only way that you can make a tortoise grow faster is to ensure that it has everything that it needs, a proper diet, a proper tank, and a proper basking area.

Do tortoises grow to the size of their tank? No, how big a tortoise will grow depends on its species and the living conditions. If you have a very small tank, there is a good chance that your tortoise will outgrow it.