tortoises and bearded dragons living together

[ian semain]

is it possible to co-house small tortoises with beardeds as i know someone who has some babys together

[Ch+Stewie]

I think the environment is fairly similar (depending on what tortoise you get) but i'd be a bit worried about a tortoises nerves! Beardies grow pretty big fairly quickly, and a tortoise doesn't grow very fast... then poor little tortoise would be in a home with a massive monster.. I think he might get a bit stressed. Also Beardies eat locusts and meal worms and other bugs and things that are full of protein... if tortoise munch on a few of these from time to time it probably wouldn't do it any good..

That's what I think anyway :o)

[purplepixie]

Mixing any speices together is never a good move. Bacteria/virus cross overs would be rife. Also one could do damage to the other.

[Beardiefan's Mum]

We own a Beardie and 2 small torts. They dont live together I have a viv for the Dragon and a table for the torts but when the weather has been warm in the summer they share a run in the garden. They all seem quite happy together but don't think I would keep them together inside. They need their own space.

[berkshirereptile]

i know quite a few people who keep torts of good size with beardies it depends on relative size i suppose there would need to be a good amount of room or the tort would be always being jumped on and teh dragon getting its tail trod on.
does viruses and bacteria count if their captive breed which i assume they are.

[AnythingWithAShell]

Yes, I think it does still count, as they carry bacteria on their skin/skells, the very same as people do, and like has been said, what is harmless to one cn be fatal to another.

To house them together anyway, you'd need a seriously huge enclosure for it to be anything remotely resembling fair to either of them.

Plus the already mentioned diet differences. I'm unsure on beardie husbandry, but would a tort friendly substrate be any good for a beardie, or vice versa? What about basking? Don't beardies climb onto something like a rock or branch to bask? Wouldn't this mean the basking lamp wasn't giving the right temps for the tort?

Sorry, bit of a rambling post that one! I'd say, simple answer - no, it's not okay.

An add on - apart from all that, there's no point trying to house them together. For a fraction of the effort (and zero worry), you can house a tort properly in it's own enclosure. The only expensive thing are the lamps.

Why does this person keep babies with his beardie?

[berkshirereptile]

Originally Posted by AnythingWithAShell

Yes, I think it does still count, as they carry bacteria on their skin/skells, the very same as people do, and like has been said, what is harmless to one cn be fatal to another.

To house them together anyway, you'd need a seriously huge enclosure for it to be anything remotely resembling fair to either of them.

Plus the already mentioned diet differences. I'm unsure on beardie husbandry, but would a tort friendly substrate be any good for a beardie, or vice versa? What about basking? Don't beardies climb onto something like a rock or branch to bask? Wouldn't this mean the basking lamp wasn't giving the right temps for the tort?

Sorry, bit of a rambling post that one! I'd say, simple answer - no, it's not okay.

but unless your very anal they would come into contact with the same bacteria ect in small doses through you anyway, i keep both torts and beardies on that reptile grass stuff (pelleted grass which they both love (seperatly)) if tank was big enough say a 4ft by 2ft by2ft for a medium size beardie and a small tort )
than there should be enough room for both at basking area or at least time share

[AnythingWithAShell]

Originally Posted by berkshirereptile

but unless your very anal they would come into contact with the same bacteria ect in small doses through you anyway, i keep both torts and beardies on that reptile grass stuff (pelleted grass which they both love (seperatly)) if tank was big enough say a 4ft by 2ft by2ft for a medium size beardie and a small tort )
than there should be enough room for both at basking area or at least time share

When handling different reps, you should always sanitise your hands in between. I would have thought that as a rescue, you would know and do this, every time without fail.

I'm not sure about pelleted grass though. Is that not one of those things that can be fed, but only when soaked first? SW sell it, but it comes with a warning about not using it for bedding, as if any of it gets eaten it swells inside the stomach.

Time sharing the basking area surely wouldnt be good for either of them? What if one needs to warm up, but the other is there, and it doesn't want to/can't get to the basking spot?

I can't agree with you on the space thing. What about when both animals reach their full size? Then what size enclosure would you need? It would have to be huge. It's not worth the hassle really, when you can just buy a cheap bookcase/make a table/use an underbed storage box for torts!

[Ron Magpie]

I'd be a bit concerned about aggression, as well. Beardies can be really nasty, sometimes!

[davidk]

I always wondered if a Lacerta Viridis or Podarcis taurica lizard can cohabitate with a tortoise. These lizards and Hermanns can be found in the same areas in the wild, so the environment should be the same. Thei're small lizards, so they can't harm the tort; they even lay small shadows. Unfortunately, few are keeping these types of lizards.