Pot belly pig and sulcatta

[jojay327]

I have 4 pot belly pigs and one sulcatta about 35lbs. One of my pigs spends all day with my tortoise. Her pen is made of 12x12x16' boards so my pig just jumps in. They spend most of the day with each other and the pig will usually sleep in her house. there seems to be no stress on the torts part at all. Even when I let her out to stroll around they still stay around each other. All the pigs are very friendly and trained. Anyone see a problem with this. Thanks Jay

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

Does the tort still have room to get in the house as well, if you mean the pig sleeps in at night? Cause if the temps get to low and you heat the house for the tort, you want to make sure that the tort is the one inside so it stays warm enough, reptiles are cold blooded after all and need somewhere/ some way to heat themselves up. I am telling you now I am no expert when it comes to different animals hanging out, but I wonder if it could be possible if your pig had a parasite to pass it on to the tortoise? Tortoises sometimes eat their own poo, so it wouldn't surprise me if it tried a bite of the pigs, and the last thing you need is something getting passed on to the tortoise, or possibly vise versa. I guess your biggest threat is to just make sure the pig doesn't ever harm the tortoise, or again, the other way around. I have read so many stories about dogs and torts, I know its a different animal, but dogs are better trained than pigs I would assume, and even the most trained of dogs have been known to let instincts take over and chew on the animal, which results in possible death, broken shells, puncture wounds. I'm not familiar with pigs too well, even though I'm from the midwest, but if they have tusks at all, keep a close eye. It takes one split second for the pig to suddenly get threatened and charge. Animals do what they were meant to do, so keep that in mind. If they are friends lets hope they stay that way if you don't wish to separate them.

 

[jojay327]

Does the tort still have room to get in the house as well, if you mean the pig sleeps in at night? Cause if the temps get to low and you heat the house for the tort, you want to make sure that the tort is the one inside so it stays warm enough, reptiles are cold blooded after all and need somewhere/ some way to heat themselves up. I am telling you now I am no expert when it comes to different animals hanging out, but I wonder if it could be possible if your pig had a parasite to pass it on to the tortoise? Tortoises sometimes eat their own poo, so it wouldn't surprise me if it tried a bite of the pigs, and the last thing you need is something getting passed on to the tortoise, or possibly vise versa. I guess your biggest threat is to just make sure the pig doesn't ever harm the tortoise, or again, the other way around. I have read so many stories about dogs and torts, I know its a different animal, but dogs are better trained than pigs I would assume, and even the most trained of dogs have been known to let instincts take over and chew on the animal, which results in possible death, broken shells, puncture wounds. I'm not familiar with pigs too well, even though I'm from the midwest, but if they have tusks at all, keep a close eye. It takes one split second for the pig to suddenly get threatened and charge. Animals do what they were meant to do, so keep that in mind. If they are friends lets hope they stay that way if you don't wish to separate them.

 

[Tom]

I see less risk with this than with a dog, but it IS a risk none the less. It might work out for you, although all of Echo's points are valid ones. If ind it somewhat interesting myself, but not sure I would try it.

 

[quail]

I wouldn't allow them together unless supervised. I had 3 pot bellies for 15 years and am familiar with their behavior. While rooting around they could easily flip the tort over. When the pigs decide to flop over they could trap the tort. They can get defensive over food and cause injury. As adorable as it is to see them together I wouldn't risk it.