21
Jan
One thing nobody has mentioned yet is that it is NOT a good idea to mix different species. In the wild they are solitary but they can be housed together in a captive situation if its done carefully.
As Arnie has said its a no-no.
Horsefield tortoise can they live together. If keeping only males i wouldnt reccomend it because they are very territorial and will likely fight. Keeping tortoises together is fairly common with hobbiests but alot of room is needed for each turtle and they must be closely monitored for a while to see how they react to each otherTorts can easily be solitary animals. Horsefield tortoises are a popular choice for a pet as they are can withstand cold temperatures better than other species and so can live in most types of climate.
They are available from a large number of pet stores. They can live both inside and outside but you will need to ensure that you provide your pet with a habitat where they can thrive. The breeding season for Horsefield tortoises is in spring and you should place your tortoises together during this time.
If they are housed together throughout the year you may be able to stimulate breeding behaviour by separating the tortoises for a few weeks prior to reuniting them. Multiple tortoises of the same species can happily be kept together As mentioned above keeping more than one tortoise of precisely the same species does not in theory carry any risk of cross contamination of infection provided of course that neither is harboring an infection that does affect the species in question. In the wild tortoises live relatively solitary lives.
They usually come together for breeding purposes but live most of their lives alone. Female tortoises may guard their nests but they do not protect or raise their babies. That means even very young tortoises naturally live on their own.
In the wild they are solitary but they can be housed together in a captive situation if its done carefully. One thing nobody has mentioned yet is that it is NOT a good idea to mix different species. Just one more opinion for you.
Horsfields tortoises should always be kept on a dry substrate so not to increase the humidity inside their enclosure too much. We keep our tortoises either on beech woodchips or ProReps Tortoise Life substrate. Tortoise do not climb but they do like to dig and burrow.
So choose various pieces of natural wood or decoration to enable them to do this. You can keep a sample in a sealed container overnight in the fridge if necessary and its always good to have a tortoise checked out for worms etc as they are easily cured but can cause problems if they build up too much in the system. At least for testudo species if you want to keep multiple females together you should get 3 or more.
This way they are less likely to fight and the bullying will be divided a little among them. During the Summer the tortoises happily and peacefully lived outside in the large tortoise garden I built them. Even if your ratio of males and females is correct your tortoises will still quite literally be living on top of one another if their enclosure is too small.
The absolute minimum space requirement for a single tortoise is 4 foot by 2 foot or 12 metres by 06 metres. Russian tortoises dont tend to do well if indoors all the time. Provide an enclosure at least 2 feet by 4 feet with sandsoil as a substrate ideally deep enough to allow burrowing.
A basking spot at about 90-95 F 32-35 C should be provided with temperature gradient down to about 70 F 21 C. As Arnie has said its a no-no. Apart from the outdoor enclosure problems there is also the risk of cross contamination between the two species.
Each species has its own unique pathogens which another species may not be immune to. Also horsfields can be agressive and so probably wouldnt mix well with hermanns anyway because of that issue. Mix a few materials such as hay wood chips sand soil and gravel together.
Place rocks around the housing for the tortoise to climb on or use as a hiding spotvisual barrier. A hiding spotvisual barrier reduces stress and climbing helps with exercise. Flat rocks are excellent for serving food on for him.
Horsefield Tortoises are natural burrowers in the wild so unlike their Mediterranean counterparts it pays to provide them with a little more substrate depth within your table to allow them to dig. It is very important to choose the correct sized feeding and water dishes for your animal and we feel the ProRep Tortoise Pools to be best for young and adult tortoises alike. Males may also fight with other males for dominance if they are housed together.
If you do house multiple Horsefield tortoises in the same enclosure you must be prepared to separate if any problems do arise. Horsefield tortoises should never be kept with any other species of tortoise except other Horsefield tortoises. Tortoises and rabbit cannot live safely together.
While rabbits are social creatures that love to have others around tortoises are fine by themselves. Tortoises can get sick from eating rabbit food and rabbits can get sick from the bacteria carried by tortoises. Rabbits will gnaw on just about anything possibly even tortoises.
It is preferable if outer perimeter walls are opaque as if tortoises can see through them they will continually attempt to breach whatever defences are in place. We have found that concrete or cement construction blocks make excellent perimeters for such pens. If however they dont wear down you can clip them but they do have a vein running through the nail which you need to be careful not to cut.
If you are not confident of doing this yourself you may want to ask your vet. My neighbour has a tortoise. Is it OK to put them together once in a while for some company.
You can do this using Passive Infrared Sensors PIRs and movement detectors as described below which should warn of any trespassers before they get near to your tortoise. It is very difficult to protect the whole perimeter of a garden from trespassers so consider locating the tortoise run or compound close to your house so that you can keep a close eye on your tortoise.