Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, all. I have a female Redfoot and a female Sulcata that are about the same size. Do you think they would be compatible in the same pen together? I'm a little worried the Sulcata might get aggressive. Thanks for your input!

Diregarding any personality conflicts between the two individual tortoises, the two species you mentioned have entirely different environmental requirements and would not do very well in the same pen, and possibly not even in the same room. Sulcata need it very warm and dry, while redfoots need it cooler and fairly humid. Keeping one of the tortoises healthy will make the other one sick, or worse yet, kill it.

I was unable to keep my Pyxis planicauda happy in the same room with my Indian and Sri Lankan Star Tortoises for this reason. If the room was kept warm enough for the Stars, the planicauda were too hot. If cool and moist enough for the planicauda, the Stars got respiratory problems and/or pneumonia. I finally had to move the planicauda to their own space where they could be kept very cool and damp without it affecting the health of my Stars.

Yeah, they're pretty opposed when it comes to their climate preferences. I'm in a position where winter is coming, and I don't have the means this year to house them seperately on the cold days and at night. We're forced to make them cohabitate until it gets warmer.

I've found a good middle ground temperature/humidity-wise that they both seem to thrive at, I'm just concerned that the sulcata's more aggressive nature will be a problem. Are they typically hostile with other species? Will it push the Redfoot around too much?