tortoise with uro?

Bartman · 08-15-03, 04:44 PM

what is your thoughts on houseing a russian tortoise together with a mali uromastyx. They both have the exact same requirments except russians need water. They live in the same heat and habitat. I havent tried it yet but i saw them do it at the reptile expo last month or maybe it was the month before but i know i saw them do it with 2 russians and 2 uro's. What are your thoughts on houseing them toghether?

KrokadilyanGuy3 · 08-15-03, 04:55 PM

Im a fan of inter-species housing simply because Im a fan of naturalistic enclosures. However, Being a tortoise, I imagine they get to be a fairly rubust size and uros being a fairly soft animals Id be afraid of the Uro being crushed or killed by being rammed (As I hear most if not all tortoises inhabit ramming). Just something to consider.
Xain

Scales Zoo · 08-15-03, 05:16 PM

Russian tortoises stay fairly small, so crushing wouldn't be much of a problem.

I don't know much about uromastyx, but assumed they like a lot of heat (a quick search on google confirms that, basking up to 130F or 150F, and 90F cool side).

Russian torts do not like a lot of heat, they should have a small basking area and room temperature, or cooler, on the cool side.

For that reason I would not consider them suitalbe roomates.

Maybe you read a poor caresheet.

I usually try and read a variety of caresheets (I love google) - and pick from what seems to be most consistent by those people who should know. On google, I just type in "russian tortoise care" - and I see many very good caresheets.

Ryan

Bartman · 08-15-03, 05:34 PM

i have two basking spots..one is 120 and one is 100 and than on the cool side its around 75ish. Would that still be suitable. I have housed them together temporaroly just to see how they get along and they do fine. Im asking about permenent housing so they prob cant be together? I tried keeping them together for little bits at a time so that when i build my outdoor enclosure they will already know eachother and wont mind the company. So you think permaneny housing should not be tried?

Scales Zoo · 08-15-03, 05:38 PM

A basking spot that is too hot could potentially kill a tortoise.
A cool end that is too cool could potentially kill a uro.

To me the answer is simple, I would set them up individually and get their high and low temperatures just right.

Ryan

red bootz · 08-15-03, 05:53 PM

Why would you want to keep them together? Your uro is from africa and your russian tort is from middle eatern asia. Pathogens are a concern, especially with tortoises being notorious feces eaters. The points that scales brought up are also very good to consider.
Just me personally but in the confines of captivity, I don't think your tort really needs the additional stress of having a faster moving animal in such close proximaty all the time.

zhiv9 · 08-15-03, 06:30 PM

Same habitat? You have got to be kidding! Like red bootz said one is from russia and one is from mid eastern asia. Plus they have extreme differences in their temperature requirements. Generally interspecies enclosure are stressfull for their occupants and are usually created for the convenience of the owner - be it cost savings or esthetics.

My 2 cents

eyespy · 08-15-03, 10:03 PM

Russians also have a hindgut, a special chamber filled with very specialized bacteria that they use to break down plant fiber. Mixing a hindgut digestor with any other species can introduce bacteria into his system that will kill off the bacteria he needs to properly digest his food.

That's some heavy-duty bad news should that happen.

Most Russian tortoises go into estivation, a type of summer hibernation, at temps above 95 so that basking area would be way too much. You'd not see him thrive in those conditions and he could easily end up starving to death because of bacteria loss and estivation.