Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a sulcata and a leopard in one medium-large sized tortoise-table setup, indoor. They're just babies. I know sulcatas get huge- I will keep rotating them out to maintain babies/juveniles as they get too large- thats the plan

I want to know firstly, if you think it's ok to house a sulcata and leopard together- without problems

2) Can I add any other tortoises with them?? I'm guessing not ok to put a cherryhead in there, cause they need so much more humidity. That being said, can I put a star tortoise in with them???

Basically my goal is to have anice variety of happy tortoises in one nice display environment. I would like to know your opinions on what tortoises can be housed with a leopard and a sulcata... THANKS!

You shouldn't mix them,
they have different enviromental need's, and diet's.
you will not be able to care for each species diff requirements.
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21 years in the hobbie/business.
in my personal collection at present;
1:2 p.m.molurus
1:4 chondro python viridis
1:1 dasypeltis medici
0:0:6 Geochelone Sulcata
had to cutt down as i've moved back in with parent's

Yeah, don't mix them. I wouldn't even mix the leopard and the sulcata. I had a very bad experience with that once, and though it was with adult animals, I still don't recommend it. These animals are not sympatric (from the same region). They evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, compeltely geographically isolated. They each developed their own immunities and resistances to a wide array of microorganisms that are endemic to their area.

What this means is that one animal could harbor a microbe that is completely harmless to itself and members of its own species, but could be devastating to another. Just look at the colonization of the Americas, if you want an example. Nearly one quarter of all Native Americans were eliminated by disease before they even saw a single Conquistador or European explorer.

This is especially true with star tortoises, who are renowned for their delicate nature in captivity and their poor resistance to alien pathogens. Mixing species is never a good idea. You're just asking for trouble. Even if disease doesn't strike immediately, it can take it's toll over a period of time, sometimes even months before you realize anything is wrong.

T.G.