New tort mom!!

TortLove13

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Hello everyone. I'm new here and recently adopted a two month old Leopard Tortoise. I'm also going to adopt a Sulcata Tortoise. Any suggestions you guys have for me, I'm listening. I've had a fascination with turtles and tortoises my entire life. They are amazing creatures.
 

TortLove13

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Thanks guys! I just love my guy. I'm getting a Sulcata tomorrow..just one month old. Hoping that raising them together will allow them to be "pals" and not enemies. :):tort::tort:
 

TortLove13

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They have been known to cohabitate with no problems. I will keep a watchful eye and separate them, if necessary.
 

TMartin510

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Hmmm if anyone else hops in here, let's say both were female, could there be the same problems? Or more so male and female or male to male
 

leigti

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Thanks guys! I just love my guy. I'm getting a Sulcata tomorrow..just one month old. Hoping that raising them together will allow them to be "pals" and not enemies. :):tort::tort:
You should not house to tortoises together, and especially not to have different species. You won't know for years if they're male or female and that doesn't really matter anyway. Do a search here on the forum about housing to tortoises together. I know they're like potato chips, you can't have just one. But you are asking for disaster. There is a good possibility one will end up dead. Is that really what you want?
 

Lyn W

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Hi and welcome.
All the advice on the forum is that
A: you should not keep pairs of torts in the same enclosure because they are very territorial and one will eventually become dominant and bully the other.
Bullying is not necessarily actively aggressive to start but could be very subtle e.g following, just a look, and what you may think is cute snuggling = trying to take over a space. This can cause stress illness and even death. Torts are OK in groups if the gender mix is right but pairs can be a recipe for disaster.
Tortoises do not need friends they are solitary creatures. There is a thread about it if you use the search facility with some not very pretty pics. Would you want to put either at risk?

B: you should not mix species. Although the care for sullys and leos are the same/similar there may the risk of disease but you will again need to do a search for the exact reasons.

Sullys and leos are both very big species - the leo could grow up to 2' and the sully even bigger so if you have the 2 and separate them as advised you are going to need massive indoor and outdoor enclosures.

I have a 3 year old leopard - he is about 10.5 inches long and he has his own room.
 

TortLove13

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I will do whatever seems best once they are introduced. My breeder currently has 3 sulcatas and a red foot living together (all adults). In the past they had leopards and sulcatas living together and had no problems at all. Hoping my babies will be friends, if not, I will separate them.
 

leigti

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You said you are here and that you're listening. Please do so. We may come on a little strong about this topic but it is just because time and time again the bad results are demonstrated here. Make two separate enclosures and keep it that way their whole lives. They do not want or need towels. Tortoises get together for two things to fight or to mate.
 

TortLove13

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You said you are here and that you're listening. Please do so. We may come on a little strong about this topic but it is just because time and time again the bad results are demonstrated here. Make two separate enclosures and keep it that way their whole lives. They do not want or need towels. Tortoises get together for two things to fight or to mate.

Advice taken. I do not want anything to happen to them. I appreciate all of you giving input.
 

Lyn W

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I will do whatever seems best once they are introduced. My breeder currently has 3 sulcatas and a red foot living together (all adults). In the past they had leopards and sulcatas living together and had no problems at all. Hoping my babies will be friends, if not, I will separate them.
Nobody here is trying to rain on your parade or has anything to gain by offering you advice - it may not always be what you want to hear - but we all just have the health and happiness of the torts at heart and all advice is based on the experiences of people who have kept torts for many years and even research findings.
There is a good caresheet for leopards and sullys under Species Specific, the Enclosures thread is great for ideas and Beginners Mistakes is also good for learning from other peoples mistakes.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

I am in total agreement with all that has been said here...pairs don't do well...do not mix species!

Just because your breeder has gotten away with it doesn't mean you would be so lucky. We have many posts here to look back upon telling us the bad things that have happened to our members when they've put two tortoises in the same habitat, or mixed species. Once the damage is done, there's no undoing it.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Welcome.
I know that new information sometimes runs against what you already think.
When I first joined this forum, I was slightly offended by some helpful information that only seemed like badgering. Now I know that it was true and needed.
I keep Redfooted tortoises. They are one of the calmer, gentler species of tortoise, but even they should not be housed in twos. Or kept with any other species.
 

TMartin510

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Welcome.
I know that new information sometimes runs against what you already think.
When I first joined this forum, I was slightly offended by some helpful information that only seemed like badgering. Now I know that it was true and needed.
I keep Redfooted tortoises. They are one of the calmer, gentler species of tortoise, but even they should not be housed in twos. Or kept with any other species.

Curious do you house multiples together and how do you do it? I'm waiting on what I believe my second female, first I thought a male and seems to be female.
 

Lyn W

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Curious do you house multiples together and how do you do it? I'm waiting on what I believe my second female, first I thought a male and seems to be female.
Even male and female pairs will bully if housed together. Groups are different and genders needs to be right but more you have the more space you need so they can separate out and avoid each other.
 

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