# bunnies and tortoises?



## Aubs1220 (Jul 12, 2012)

I foster bunnies on occasion and have one as a permanent resident. I do not have a fenced in yard, so my tortoise pen is all I have unless I drag my x-pen out. Now if I remove the tortoises and let the rabbits in their pen for playtime, is there anything that they can pass between the two species? I obviously won't have them in together (unless that's ok? But I doubt it) but I didn't know about like bunny poop and tortoise poop carrying anything that would harm the other. 

Any insight is helpful!


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## johnhutch2000 (Jul 12, 2012)

Hey there, I can't vouch for cross contamination but I have seen desert species kept with bunnies in a zoo (more a glorified kids farm) but all the animals were well cared for and healthy there. Like I said I have no idea about pathogens but these sulcatas and flop eared things got on fine.


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## StudentoftheReptile (Jul 12, 2012)

Hmmm....they eat a lot of the same stuff, so I doubt that just the ingestion of feces of one by the other would probably hurt. I think it was brought to our attention in another thread a while back that sulcatas do take advantage of the plentiful amounts of "pre-digested" vegetation from all the native ungulates in their natural environments. Rabbit candy shouldn't hurt them.

Over all, I think I would worry more about the rabbits getting harmed more than the tortoises. Can _Salmonella_ bacteria harm rabbits?


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## Aubs1220 (Jul 12, 2012)

I would assume so, though I do pickup daily. Not everyone is perfect though so I wanted to double check!


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## wellington (Jul 12, 2012)

Why can't you build a separate enclosure and not take the chance with the rabbits or sulcata? I wouldn't risk it and I don't think it is really a good idea to house fosters in a manner that is not really proper. Most fosters have to have proper housing available to become a foster. Housing the two together is not proper housing for either. Why not put the xpen inside the sulcata pen. At least that way they can't get to each other .


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## Aubs1220 (Jul 12, 2012)

I wasn't going to let them in together at the same time, like. I said unless it was a normal practice id never heard of. I have an indoor area for the torts so for about an hour a day switching them indoors then letting the buns have some outdoor time. The rabbits usually have mostly full run of my house when I'm home, but as someone here pointed out, they eat relatively the same foods, so the flower bed I have planted for the torts and the grass and weeds, would be a nice snack for the buns in addition to their regular diet. The only reason I ask is because right now I have a litter of 3 buns about 10wks old, and the tort pen is bigger than my xpen by at least 5x. Just figured I would give them the extra room.


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## Tom (Jul 12, 2012)

I think this question would best be answered by an experienced exotics vet. Many parasites and pathogens are very host specific. But some are not. There is certainly a salmonella risk to the rabbits if they ingest the tortoise poo, but unless the rabbits are shedding a parasite that could infect a reptile, or if the rabbits have been treated with certain medications, I really don't know how much risk there is to the tortoises. There might be some huge risk. That I (we) just don't know about, or there might be no risk at all. Sorry, wish I knew more. I can say that I would not take the risk until I got a good answer from someone who I felt was qualified to answer something so complex.


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## Aubs1220 (Jul 12, 2012)

Will do! Thanks for the advice. I have a call into the vet I'm going to use, but apparently he's out til Monday. So ill just ask at their appt. Thanks again


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## ascott (Jul 12, 2012)

I don't know where you live? But here in the high desert and surrounding desert areas  have CDTs and cottontail and jackrabbits....I know here at our place the cottontail often reside in the burrows and hides right along with the torts....I know that they pass each other all over the desert and many critters reside within the burrows of CDTs/DTs ....now, I would not say that you should take my word for anything....but it is not something that I worry about here  (heck, quail and snakes and such also co habitat with the torts here in the desert....


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## Terry Allan Hall (Jul 13, 2012)

My wife's bunny and guinea pig spend a few afternoons a week out in my tortoisarium, and everyone gets along just fine. No aggression from either side and no health issues.

Keep in mnind we know all of these are healthy...make sure the fosters are, as well, before mixing them.


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## Aubs1220 (Jul 13, 2012)

Yeah the bunnies have been checked out since we deal with rabbits at my work, as a couple people had mentioned, I guess I would be more worried about the salmonella risk. My vet says she doesn't think there is a huge risk, since I pick up daily, but with her not dealing with herps, as Tom suggested, I am going to wait til I talk to my torts vet. Thanks everyone again! And if anyone wants to adopt an adorable lop ear bun, or 3, let me know...


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## mctlong (Jul 13, 2012)

Out in the desert here in Cali, I've noticed tons of wild bunnies in wild tort habitats. The ground is covered in bunny poo and the wild torts seem fine.


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