Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone know any other reptile species that can 100% be housed with an armadillo lizard??? My friend has two and was wondering...and i have no idea!!!

For the most part it isn't wise to house more than one species in a cage. The only real exception is a living vivarium setup to meet the needs of all animals involved. To do these properly you deffinitely need to know alot about the animals you wish to put together, understanding their social needs (both with others of their own species and other species), environment needs, feeding needs, etc.

Living vivariums are setup in such a way waste products are naturally broken down within the environment. Plants and animals live together without stress or competition with eachother. Thus the animals have to be tolerant of other animals around them or have little actual contact (ie housing nocturnal animals with diurnal (day time active) animals). Alot of research is needed to truly understand what needs to be done to ensure all animals are comfortable and thrive.

Cage size can be an issue as you must make it large enough to meet the minimum requirements of all species involved together. So if you have a bearded dragon and uromastyx together, the cage has to be big enough to accomodate two of either species. (ie bearded dragon min sized cage for a single adult is 4'x2'x2',uros its about the same. So for one uro and one bearded dragon housed together, the cage has to be min for two bearded dragons or two uros, say 5'x2'x2')

I am not all that familier with armadillo lizards to understand their needs and proper care. But if they are a more terrestrial temperate lizard, a aboreal or semi arboreal reptile may do well in teh same cage (providing you provide hieght and climbing spaces for the arboreal reptile), Temp ranges and humidity levels will be the next thing to consider. A desert loving lizard won't do well in a vivarium set up for tropical rainforest dart frogs.

Alot of good articles have appeared in Reptile Magazine about setting up vivariums in the last year or so, may be a good ideal to try and find some back issues to do a search online on how to setup vivariums. Or your friend can do this till he understands what is needed to set one up. But main thing he needs to know is the needs and requirements of the animals he tends to put together. Vivariums are really for the experienced herp keeper, with experience raising and caring for all species he plans to house together in a vivarium.