Lizzard in enclosure

[franeich]

I have all these flys in my enclosure. I was thinking of putting a baby blue belly lizard in to eat them. what do you think. My tort is a one year old sulcata.

 

[Madkins007]

In Vinke's book "South American Tortoises" they mention that it is reasonably common to use anoles or geckos in indoor Red-foot habitats for pest control. Of course, these are more like greenhouses than most of our open pens.

 

[RV's mom]

RV rules the back yard - her pen. We have multiple lizards and house gekko's - or did until the feral kitties moved in. RV doesn't bother the lizards or the cats unless the cats are somewhere she wants to graze..

teri

 

[NEtorts]

What about housing a Beardie or skink with a desert tort? any one do that?

 

[tortoisenerd]

I would not put anything in with a tort that they would not encounter in the wild, and even then, I personally wouldn't do it. Do blue belly lizards cohabitate with Sulcatas in the wild? Is this indoors or outdoors? If its indoors, its likely coming from your substrate. You can even bake the substrate before you moisten it and put it in, to kill off stuff. Or, try a different type of substrate less likely to have bugs thrive in it. If outdoors, there are natural remedies to make the place something bugs won't like.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Each of my torts share their enclosure w/ a toad and native lizards (Sceloporus sp.) come "visit" from time to time...never a problem.

 

[Missy]

I have put toads in my torts outside pens and the torts could care less. There is a youtube video of a women that has a cool inside room for her tort and her beardie and she has had them together for years. Don't know if I would do it but it was cool.

 

[Madortoise]

RV rules the back yard - her pen. We have multiple lizards and house gekko's - or did until the feral kitties moved in. RV doesn't bother the lizards or the cats unless the cats are somewhere she wants to graze..

teri

Do the gekkos stay in backyard? That's cool. What kind of gekkos are they and what sort of climate do you have? They are sustained by the bugs in the outside only? I'm only wondering b/c I fantasize about having gekkos in my back yard where the bamboo trees are but am afraid that the birds will eat them. I'd appreciate your response.

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What about housing a Beardie or skink with a desert tort? any one do that?

Gila monster and DT share habitat supposedly but you'll need a big yard for their territory, I'm sure.

Snakes and DTs are reportedly good match as the snakes eat rodents--predator to tortoises.

 

[Madkins007]

What about housing a Beardie or skink with a desert tort? any one do that?

I would not house a ground-dwelling lizard with a tort. That just increases the chances of poor interactions.

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I would not put anything in with a tort that they would not encounter in the wild, and even then, I personally wouldn't do it. Do blue belly lizards cohabitate with Sulcatas in the wild? Is this indoors or outdoors? If its indoors, its likely coming from your substrate. You can even bake the substrate before you moisten it and put it in, to kill off stuff. Or, try a different type of substrate less likely to have bugs thrive in it. If outdoors, there are natural remedies to make the place something bugs won't like.

I used to agree with the 'nothing they don't see in nature' stance, but since none of us are really offering much like what they really experience in the wild- substrate, foods, hides, etc.- I have backed off on this.

The flies may be fungus gnats. These show up in most damp soils, even tort habitats, in most of the US- even if they are sterilized first. They are just all over the place- like the other common pest, springtails/snow fleas. The best substrate to avoid them is the Bioactive Substrate System- and that uses microbes and soil predators to eliminate the pests.