Non-tortoise co-habitation

[PeanutbuttER]

I've heard of this happening a couple times here on the forum. People will put a lizard, toad, hermit crab, whatever with their torts and they co-habitate. I was just goofing around on the internet a while ago and I read about a hedgehog breeder who kept her hedgehogs outside in the tortoise pen.

What's your all's opinion on it? Can you co-habitate torts with other animals? I mean more than just having a dog or cat that sometimes is outside with the torts under your supervision. I'm talking about an animal that lives in the same habitat (tortoise table, outdoors, whatever) as your torts. Have you done it and what other animals was it with?

Pictures are of course always welcome

 

[Yvonne G]

Quite a few people I know keep their tortoise on the floor of an aviary. I feel sorry for the tortoise having to wade through the feces to find food. And it wouldn't surprise me to see the tortoise with more parasites than he would otherwise have.

 

[Kristina]

I don't deliberately put anything in with my tortoises, but when they are outside a lot of toads and frogs find their way into the enclosure. I just let them be.

 

[Jermosh]

We get snakes and various lizards. I try to keep the black widows at bay, and kill any ant mound I see. I let the black widows hang in a certain part of the yard to keep other pests in check.

 

[terryo]

I raised Pio from a hatchling with a Three Toed Box Turtle that was also a hatchling when I got him. They lived together for two years, as they both needed the same requirements, and neither was a rescue...same age...etc. Does this count?

I also knew an old woman who had a bunch of boxies and some Redfoots living together in the yard for years.

 

[Balboa]

Eventually I hope to build a full-size tropical room for my red foots. (This may be more a dream than a reality, but if I can't realize this dream, my Torts will be relocated). This room will be my best attempt at a slice of rainforest. There are many species of arboreal lizard that could live well in the "un-used" (by Torts) space of such a room. On such a scale I may be tempted to add such lizards, but still may not. Geckos could go a long ways towards potential pest control, however. You can bet there will be fish in the water features.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! If anyone else has more to add we'd still love to hear from you!

That would be awesome to have a rainforest room. I've often thought that torts would do just fine mixed with other creatures as long as you were careful about what it was and I love hearing about how people have hermit crabs running around in the enclosure, or a gecko that eats up the pests, or things like that. Keeping them on the floor of an aviary doesn't sound like so great of a mix though...but maybe I'm biased because I'm assuming that the aviary is full of pooping pigeons.

 

[Madkins007]

Zoos do this all of the time. If you carefully think it through, it should not be a problem... but there are a LOT of bad combinations and only a few good combinations.

I had hermit crabs in with my guys until things (unrelated to the tortoises) happened to them. Anoles and small geckos have been kept with Red-foots, and a lot of people who keep them in things like indoor greenhouses also keep a tank of tropical fish in the habitat to provide humidity (and any fish that jumps out makes a quick snack.)

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

There are native toads and, occasionally, native lizards in my outdoor tortoise enclosures and all get along nicely.

Back when I had my sulcatta, she shared her enclosure w/ a couple of guinea pigs (cavies, to our Brit members)...all three got along great, as well.

My 1st Hermann's had theb run of my home and shared it with a Siamese cat (Kinchee) and a large green iguana (Hugo)...all of them got along, as well, other than Kinchee occasionally wanting to play w/ Hugo's tail (Hugo would just climb up on the bookshelf or drapes...as male Iguana iguanas go, Hugo was pretty mellow!)

These are the only examples I have to offer.

 

[Jerseynox]

when i was in texas with my 3toed luis (my travel turtle) had a bunch of little lizards in there along with some tree frogs (native stuff) he would eat the 1s he could get a hold of i would find lizards that ejected their tails and half tree frogs poor frogs

at yahoo answers not to long ago there was a fellow who wanted to keep a boxie with a rabbit outside every1 was against it, cept for me i was for it AS LONG AS boths needs were met (some similar some totally different) , there was no bulling , but the rabbit poop thing needed to be addressed.
i wonder how that worked out for dude

i thought about doing something with fish and my ca wood turtle but well c

 

[Angi]

My Three Toe had guests all summer. Sometimes I would find ten frogs hanging out. she did seem interested in them.

I now have an awful picture in my head of tortoises walking in a dirty aviary and getting pooped on.
Yuck this could give my nightmares.

 

[terryo]

There was always lots of frogs in both my tortoises's outdoor enclosure and my boxies. I waould always find eggs in the ponds, which they would eat. I always tried scooping some eggs out to save a few.

 

[OurZoo]

Tex, our large male Sulcata, shares his area with 8 hens - of course all are "cooped" up at night, but during the day they all cruise around their fenced-in yard. There is a separate "dust bath" area for the hens and Tex thinks communal dust baths are just fine, but the girls feel quite differently about his plopping right in the middle of things!

Tex and His Harem of Hens

 

[Kenny]

I know a guy in New Mex that keeps cherry head's and veiled chameleons together.
They live in a 10'x4'x8' converted walk in closet. It's worked we'll for him.