Are my guinea pig and tortoise OK to be outside together for a couple of ours a day

[Aden and Herbie]

Hi I'm a duchy college student who has passed animal management lvl 1 as well as taking btech animal care lvl 1 and 2 and got a merit at lvl 2 people here have said that I should stop my tortoise and guinea pig socialising however I adopted them from the same owner who has been letting them out together for a while so I decided to keep doing that because they both have not displayed any signs of physical or behavioural stress they haven't even been near each other because the heat and the fact that I don't want to over heat him also this is not a troll to those who think it is they are supervised every time they are out together so let me keep my animals as I want and as far as the animal welfare act 2006 I have not broke a single one of the 5 welfare needs including the need to be housed with or apart from other animals, the need to exhibit natural behaviour and the need to be free from pain injury and disease

 

[Tom]

Hi I'm a duchy college student who has passed animal management lvl 1 as well as taking btech animal care lvl 1 and 2 and got a merit at lvl 2 people here have said that I should stop my tortoise and guinea pig socialising however I adopted them from the same owner who has been letting them out together for a while so I decided to keep doing that because they both have not displayed any signs of physical or behavioural stress they haven't even been near each other because the heat and the fact that I don't want to over heat him also this is not a troll to those who think it is they are supervised every time they are out together so let me keep my animals as I want and as far as the animal welfare act 2006 I have not broke a single one of the 5 welfare needs including the need to be housed with or apart from other animals, the need to exhibit natural behaviour and the need to be free from pain injury and disease

Are you asking us a question, or are you educating us with all of your knowledge?

Punctuation and proper grammar will make your posts easier to understand and also get more people to read your words.

 

[Aden and Herbie]

Are you asking us a question, or are you educating us with all of your knowledge?

Punctuation and proper grammar will make your posts easier to understand and also get more people to read your words.

Sorry I suffer dyslexia plus I am trying to prove that I know what I am doing because some people are saying not to do this and not to do that

 

[Sarah2020]

Hello what tortoise do you have? Good question , i am sure you will get many views....if you had said dog or cat then definatly separated. The issue is that they will contaminate each others food intake, both will wee and poo where they like and tortoise sit and eat in their food guinea pigs with eat different food. Water dish needs to be provided for tortoise to crawl in and sit in. Guineas pig will have a water spout. I think they should be separated as different species can you place a wood length in the enclosure to separate?
Sometimes what has happened before, needs to change to provide both with a good quality habitat.

 

[Aden and Herbie]

Are you asking us a question, or are you educating us with all of your knowledge?

Punctuation and proper grammar will make your posts easier to understand and also get more people to read your words.

Its a little bit of a question and educating with my knowledge

 

[Aden and Herbie]

Hello what tortoise do you have? Good question , i am sure you will get many views....if you had said dog or cat then definatly separated. The issue is that they will contaminate each others food intake, both will wee and poo where they like and tortoise sit and eat in their food guinea pigs with eat different food. Water dish needs to be provided for tortoise to crawl in and sit in. Guineas pig will have a water spout. I think they should be separated as different species can you place a wood length in the enclosure to separate?

They only go out together for a couple hours so only the water bottle gets put out there the tortoise has a warm bath when he comes in though just to make sure he is warm and hydrated as for your question herbie is a one year old horsefeild tortoise

 

[zolasmum]

Hi I'm a duchy college student who has passed animal management lvl 1 as well as taking btech animal care lvl 1 and 2 and got a merit at lvl 2 people here have said that I should stop my tortoise and guinea pig socialising however I adopted them from the same owner who has been letting them out together for a while so I decided to keep doing that because they both have not displayed any signs of physical or behavioural stress they haven't even been near each other because the heat and the fact that I don't want to over heat him also this is not a troll to those who think it is they are supervised every time they are out together so let me keep my animals as I want and as far as the animal welfare act 2006 I have not broke a single one of the 5 welfare needs including the need to be housed with or apart from other animals, the need to exhibit natural behaviour and the need to be free from pain injury and disease

Hello from Devon,close to the Cornwall border . I am sure you want your animals to be happy and comfortable, and you know how they react to each other - do they have a large enclosure outside? If so, and if they tolerate each other well, that is a good sign, but I doubt if they actually care if they are together or not. The main problems , it seems to me, are if either of them could pass on an infection, worms, or anything else to each other. Also, would they eat each other's food? And if you gave the guinea pig some medicine, say, the tortoise might eat its poo - as they sometimes do - and be affected badly !
How long has their previous owner put them out together? And was it all day, or just for a short time?
Do they have separate sleeping arrangements?
Don't get upset by questions or criticism - people want to help.
Angie

 

[mark1]

i'm not telling no one what to do or not do . i will tell someone what i do ..... my turtles share their pens for the last 20yrs with chipmunks , moles and mice , those actually live full time in the pens ...... the ponds and the turtles food are wildlife magnets, the daily visitors include red, fox and gray squirrels , and every type of bird that visits or lives full time in northeast ohio .......

 

[wellington]

The proper way is to not mix them even for a couple hours.
However, by your posts I don't think you want to listen anyway. So do what you have been doing and we will hope neither animal pays for the mistake.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

i'm not telling no one what to do or not do . i will tell someone what i do ..... my turtles share their pens for the last 20yrs with chipmunks , moles and mice , those actually live full time in the pens ...... the ponds and the turtles food are wildlife magnets, the daily visitors include red, fox and gray squirrels , and every type of bird that visits or lives full time in northeast ohio .......

My tortoises live outdoors with rats that eat the same fruit.
I know that because I keep finding bits of uneaten rat in the enclosure.

 

[wellington]

i'm not telling no one what to do or not do . i will tell someone what i do ..... my turtles share their pens for the last 20yrs with chipmunks , moles and mice , those actually live full time in the pens ...... the ponds and the turtles food are wildlife magnets, the daily visitors include red, fox and gray squirrels , and every type of bird that visits or lives full time in northeast ohio .......

The big difference here is wildlife can't be stopped. I deal with mice, rats, rabbits, fox, skunk, raccoons, etc. They however are not penned in with my tortoises and except for the rabbits and mice, the rest only show up at night when the torts are locked away.

 

[crimson_lotus]

personally I would keep them separate, especially if the area is small. I spoke with someone the other day who used to have two turtles but, as they were both kept in a small tank together, one ate the other...and all that was left was a piece of shell. I doubt a guinea pig would be any different. I also read in a book about tort on tort decapitation (yellowfoots, surprisingly). There is a chance your tort is simply not interested but you won't know til you know.

 

[TammyJ]

So many unfortunate things happen between animals that encounter each other in the wild. Why not prevent it if we can while we are keeping them?

 

[Aden and Herbie]

Hello from Devon,close to the Cornwall border . I am sure you want your animals to be happy and comfortable, and you know how they react to each other - do they have a large enclosure outside? If so, and if they tolerate each other well, that is a good sign, but I doubt if they actually care if they are together or not. The main problems , it seems to me, are if either of them could pass on an infection, worms, or anything else to each other. Also, would they eat each other's food? And if you gave the guinea pig some medicine, say, the tortoise might eat its poo - as they sometimes do - and be affected badly !
How long has their previous owner put them out together? And was it all day, or just for a short time?
Do they have separate sleeping arrangements?
Don't get upset by questions or criticism - people want to help.
Angie

They have separated sleeping quarters and a large run but I have not let the guinea pig outside because of the intense heat

 

[mark1]

My tortoises live outdoors with rats that eat the same fruit.
I know that because I keep finding bits of uneaten rat in the enclosure.

rats are a lot more dangerous than any guinea pig i ever seen ......

 

[wellington]

rats are a lot more dangerous than any guinea pig i ever seen ......

Yes rats can be. However if there is other food, they shouldn't bother the torts. Besides, I don't think he has pet rats with his torts. They are wild rats that no matter how hard you try, they are impossible to keep out.

 

[mark1]

The big difference here is wildlife can't be stopped. I deal with mice, rats, rabbits, fox, skunk, raccoons, etc. They however are not penned in with my tortoises and except for the rabbits and mice, the rest only show up at night when the torts are locked away.

bigger stuff like racoons coyotes foxes possums can't get past the dogs and electric wires ...... the chipmunks squirrels mice and moles have no problem getting in ........ they're why we got all the feral cats , hawks and owls around here ......... the owl been living in my garage it's like a grocery store for him ....

 

[wellington]

They have separated sleeping quarters and a large run but I have not let the guinea pig outside because of the intense heat

I second my post #9 above. You do not want to listen and will come up with an excuse to every post not saying it's okay. So why even bother asking?

 

[wellington]

bigger stuff like racoons coyotes foxes possums can't get past the dogs and electric wires ...... the chipmunks squirrels mice and moles have no problem getting in ........ they're why we got all the feral cats , hawks and owls around here ......... the owl been living in my garage it's like a grocery store for him ....

The bigger stuff can't get into my torts shed. The mice and rats I have been fighting none stop. The rats only since covid hit big. I think with all the restaurant closings at the time, the rats had to move on and find other food sources. My tort shed and chicken run has been found. The mice I have had since I moved to our nee place. The shed was built the same year, 2014. I have to have insulation replaced because of them. I use 3 different kinds of traps and barely catch any, ugh! Not sure I can win the battle.

 

[Cathie G]

I think guinea pigs are so cute but they poop so much oh my garsh. Since I like to keep my little Russian as clean as I can for his health, I just don't put him with other animals. And truely I wouldn't want my little guinea to be exposed to a tortoise either. I've exposed Sapphire to other animals in the past but I just don't make it a daily practice even for a short time anymore. Maybe I'm an over protective mommy dearest 🤔