Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a Greek named Dante, who I would like to have live with my Sulcata named Sam. According to the pet store people, Dante is only about a year, but I am hard pressed to beleive that because he is much larger than Sam (about an inch to inch and a half in diam.). I just have a few questions:
1) Sam has grown under an inch in diam. since I got him, is he going to grow in spurts, or slowly over time?
2)does anyone think the age of Dante is accurate? He is much larger than Sam, but accoring to the pet store, they are about the same age.
3) does anyone have experiance with Sulcatas living with smaller tortois'? Both the Greek and the Sulcata seem to live in the same conditions, but is the size differences eventually going to cause problems?

Eventually you are going to run into problems because the requirements are different. Now, if you have them loose in a very large yard you can probably get away with it. I know many people who have what I call 'yard tortoises' and they have no problems at all. If you want to get seriouse about this hobby, it is usually recomended that you keep them seperate.
As to the growth rate, it is not uncommon for Sulcatas to grow up to 2 lbs a year depending on the food availability and environment. Greeks take up to 20 years to reach 2 lbs if they get that big at all.
Ed

They are both being kept in an indoor environment. By the Sulcata growing up to two pounds in a year, did you mean their growth is steady, or is it more like humans where it will go in sperts? Also, do you think then, the greek is older than the pet store people said he was? I only ask because he would have had to grown at a much faster rate than my sulcata (2-3x faster) and from what I have read and what you said, thats just not consistant. Thank you for responding, Ill keep what you said in mind in the years to come.

You can get constant growth.
It depends on food availability and environment.
It is very difficult to tell the age on a CB animal because of the previous statement.
Ed

First off, the southern most Greek's (Graeca Graeca in southern Morrocco)live 700 miles away from any Sulcata. Keeping them together has the potential to kill them both from parasites one gives to the other for which the receiving one has no immunity. They don't come across one another in the wild for good reasons, why mess with nature and put them both at risk? What do we know that nature doesn't? They also have very different diet requirements. A Sulcata should have a 75% grasses - 25% greens diet in order to grow normally and live to a ripe old age. All Greeks are 100% greens (that includes cactus). Those diets follows the natural flora in their respective environments. If you ever visit the sub sahara (the Sulcata's natural range) the vegetation you do find it is almost all grasses. In the Greek's range through Northern Africa and the Middle East it's primaily weeds, cactus, and euphorbia.

The Greek you have will more than likely top out at 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. and be 6-8 inches long in 10-12 years. In 10-12 years your Sulcata should be 75 lbs and 16 inches long.

If your Greek is currently larger that your Sulcata it is certainly older, but your Sulcata will overtake it in size before you know it, as long as you feed it correctly.

The first point is moot if they are captive hatched.
These are pets. This would be no different than keeping a cat or dog together. If they have different requirements, I'm sure they can be provided for seperately in the same enclosure. Does this mean I'm recomending this? No. I'm simply stating that it can be done and there are risks. It is up to no one but the keeper to judge what it is they would like to do with their pets.
Ed