Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have now 2 housings of tortoises.First tank is 5 star tortoises and 2nd tank is sulcatas and cherryhead redfoots.I would like to add in 2 pancake tortoise and 2 radiated tortoises.Which tortoise can be added to which tanks and which ones should be isolated from the other?Your good experiences is greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance!

Tort species really shouldn't be kept together at all man.

Yeah, not really a good idea to mix species. Sulcatas & Red foot especially. Not only do the require completely different environments and diets, but each has beneficial bacteria in their stomachs to help them digest their food. If one were to eat the feces of another species, they could ingest the bacteria that has a good chance of throwing off their interal parasitic balance and make them sick.

Besides, the sulcatas will outgrow the redfoot in a year or so and will need it's own place outside not too long after that.

Temporary I think their 2 feet tank is sufficient for 3 inch cherryheads and 2 1/2 inch sulcata.In maybe 2-3 mths time I will have them in my new custom made tank which is bigger anyway.Thanks for the advice!Btw your sulcata is beautiful.My sulcata name is Titan and the Cherryhead redfoot is Sidious..

You might want to research this a litte better. I really don't think there is a gut flora that is species specific.

As to the basic requirements of the species... they are identical.

>>Yeah, not really a good idea to mix species. Sulcatas & Red foot especially. Not only do the require completely different environments and diets, but each has beneficial bacteria in their stomachs to help them digest their food. If one were to eat the feces of another species, they could ingest the bacteria that has a good chance of throwing off their interal parasitic balance and make them sick.
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>>Besides, the sulcatas will outgrow the redfoot in a year or so and will need it's own place outside not too long after that.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

How are the basic care requirements for a sulcata and a redfoot identical?

One's from a tropical climate while the other's from desert.

I don't know where to start.

We're talking CB hatchlings here.

Both benefit from the following...

A varied diet of dark leafy greens.

A temperature gradient of 80 to 100F.

Water available at all times.

A humid hide.

Pretty simple and pretty basic.

>>How are the basic care requirements for a sulcata and a redfoot identical?
>>
>>One's from a tropical climate while the other's from desert.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

yes, but humidity plays a huge role in both species. Redfoots are adapted to an overall very humid environment, while sulcatas are adapted to an overall very dry environment. If you keep them both in a humid enclosure the redfoot will be happy but the sulcata will most likely run into some respiratory problems. If you keep them both in a dry environment, the sulcata will do okay (keep in mind, they spend a lot of time in the wild in humid burrows), and the redfoot will be dehydrated.

They just aren't the same animals, and treating them as such is just pushing the hobby back into the dark ages.

You can easily keep both tortoises very healthy in an enclosure with a temperature range of 80 to 100 and providing a humid hide. Each animal will choose how long it stays in the humid hide and in doing so will regulate it's own needs.

The dark ages is assuming a specific tortoise has a specific habitat and not considering the important point... the microhabitat.

>>yes, but humidity plays a huge role in both species. Redfoots are adapted to an overall very humid environment, while sulcatas are adapted to an overall very dry environment. If you keep them both in a humid enclosure the redfoot will be happy but the sulcata will most likely run into some respiratory problems. If you keep them both in a dry environment, the sulcata will do okay (keep in mind, they spend a lot of time in the wild in humid burrows), and the redfoot will be dehydrated.
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>>They just aren't the same animals, and treating them as such is just pushing the hobby back into the dark ages.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

microclimates are where it's at, I just think (and this is just my opinion) that redfoots and sulcatas are different enough in care that I wouldn't attempt keeping them together.

Good points though. This is an interesting discussion.

Oh, and by 'dark ages', I meant going back to the days when everyone thought that the same setup would work for practically any reptile that would fit in it. I wasn't really commenting on the idea of keeping more than one species together.

I'm finding that you can keep almost any tortoise together depending on the setup.

I've got sulcatas and redfoots in the same yard. They are not together because that is what I choose to do. The environmental conditions they are exposed to are identical.

The two species selected in this discussion are probably some of the most adaptable tortoises I've come across. There are others but these are the more common.

Keeping 2 captive born hatchlings of the two species should not present a problem until the Sulcata outgrows the RF.

>>microclimates are where it's at, I just think (and this is just my opinion) that redfoots and sulcatas are different enough in care that I wouldn't attempt keeping them together.
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>>Good points though. This is an interesting discussion.
>>
>>Oh, and by 'dark ages', I meant going back to the days when everyone thought that the same setup would work for practically any reptile that would fit in it. I wasn't really commenting on the idea of keeping more than one species together.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Hello,

Most recommend keeping tortoise species in separate enclosures. I don't totally agree with that and I do mix some species but they need to have the same food and environment requirements. Redfoots and Sulcatas are not at all compatible in food, light, temp, humidity and I would separate those. I do not see any problem with Stars and Radiated after a quarentine period if their sizes are not too different. One of my setups for indoors has too sides, one damp and one dry. Tom

thanks for the reply and information.I live in a tropical weather country so humidity and tempreture is not an issue here.At the moment since they're still young I put the cherryhead and sulcata together cause I only have one of each,later I will get a partner each for them.I plan to get another tank for them when the tortoises gets more but at the moment is it possible to put the pancakes with the stars?

When you say tank, how big are you talkin'?

>>When you say tank, how big are you talkin'?

I was wondering that too. I can't imagine my sulcata in a tank.
I don't mix my species, I got one of the box turtles out long enough to take a photo just for the purposes of putting them in perspective.
(btw both are rescues, both had been battered pretty badly by the time I took them in so neither of them look completely normal)

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PHRatz