Hatchling living with 1 year old

[Steeeew]

I want to get Wonton a friend because whenever she sees her reflection she tries to interact with it but I can't find a Sulcata the same age as her around here. I was wondering if I could buy one of the younger sulcatas and put it in with her. And if I do this should I get the new one checked out by a bet before putting them together?

 

[Laura]

they don't need or want friends....they do better by themselves. Especially once they get older.

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

ditto. They dont do well in pairs and one would get bullied.

 

[Tom]

One more ditto. Other tortoises are seen as rivals, competitors and combatants, not as friends to play with. If by chance two of them met up in the wild one would be seen as the dominant and the other would quickly leave the area. They don't have this option in captivity and it often leads to serious problems. Your tortoise will be much happier all alone, but with YOU for company.

 

[wellington]

Ditto. Serious, I jury, illness or death could come from it and the littler one will probably lose. Stick with the one, unless you want to house two apart from each other.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I believe Wellington meant to say, “we the jury"! But all kidding aside, most reptiles don't want any “friends" except the ones they can eat.
Sulcatas come from an area of few resources and competition for those resources is serious business. Another tort is competition for those resources and one will become dominant even if you don't see it.

 

[mercurysmom]

Maybe getting 2 hatchlings could help balance out the rivalry of a pair? It's a gamble tho, you never know how it could turn out. I housed my two hatchlings with my 5" juvenile while he waited for his outdoor enclosure to be finished. They tolerated each other fine. He seemed a bit annoyed tho, lol. He tended to migrate to wherever the babies weren't.
I have a sweet pair at the moment( they're always together. They dug a burrow together in their terrarium and sleep right next to each other. They eat together, and are always active at the same time. It's interesting; but I can't know that it'll always be that way!