Mixing species. Pancake + Russian or Leopard

[Akuma]

I'm contemplating on getting either a Russian or a Leopard Tortoise.
They are fairly expensive in the breeders shop I found (200€ per tortoise) but I am confident that if I buy one I have the enough space and resources to house one.

The tortoise I have right now is a Pancake and the massive size of the enclosure would without any problems be able to house 4-5 tortoises the size of Russians/Leopards.

What are your opinions on mixing the species?

The setup I have currently in my enclosure is 2 Flourescent Reptile Glo 5.0 lamps and one porcelain heat lamp 75 Watts. Contemplating on getting a Solar Glo lamp as well for a second basking spot

What are your thoughts?

 

[dreadyA]

no way.you would want to quarantine them for a good while. and you shouldn't mix species.at all.period


Imo

 

[Yvonne G]

The three tortoises you are talking about all require different type of habitats and upkeep. 1) You should NEVER mix species 2) You need a quarantine period before you add the same type of tortoise to an existing tortoise.

We've talked about this before, but I'll repeat it because you are fairly new to the forum. This is my opinion: All tortoises have different micro organisms that live in their bodies and over the centuries each species of tortoise has become accustomed to his pathogens and they live in peace together. These organisms are not the same inside each species of tortoise, so when you introduce a new type of tortoise and his pathogens, one or the other of the tortoises will become ill from these new micro organisms and maybe even die.

Yes, it is convenient to have one habitat for all tortoises, but the risk isn't worth it as far as I'm concerned.

Yvonne

 

[Tim/Robin]

We do not think it is a good idea. We have separate enclosures for all our species, both inside and outside enclosures. We certainly would not do it.

 

[reptylefreek]

I started on the site asking this same question. Trust me these guys do know what their talking about. Some people do house other species together, because they grew up together and they didn't know any better, but almost all animal owners know they have to quarentine. It's better to have one sick animal then two or three or more. Plus leopards get quite a bit bigger then the other two. That could turn out to be dangerous. So maybe you could split the enclosure in half with a nice thick barrier and have two seperate that way.

 

[Phoenix]

Very very bad idea...

Never mixing species is a golden rule

Particularly with those species, who come from very different place, have a BIG size difference, behavior etc.

 

[Akuma]

I just read that Leopard Tortoises can turn up to become more than 50 cm long (18 inches) and that is just waaaay too big for me. That would probably be a very bad idea trying to take care of a tortois ethe size of a small-medium sized dog.
There's no way I'm getting a Leopard.

Oh, and don't worry, if I get a Russian I won't put him together with Peter.