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hermenns tortoise and rankins dragon

22 14:26:51

Question
Can a hermann's tortoise and a rankins dragon be kept together in the same viv? The reptile shop we bought them from said that this is possible but I have since heard otherwise. We have had our male tortoise for a couple of months (he is about 9 or 10 months old) and 1 week ago we added a pair of rankins (both around 2 months old). It is taking a long time for the rankins (1 girl, 1 boy) to settle down. They are not very active and do not eat much if at all. The tortoise isn't showing any signs of stress or upset, however he does seem to trample over the rankins - whether this is an attack or just because they lay in his walk way path I do not know yet. The people from the reptile shop said that it may take a good month or so for the rankins to settle down but I do not know if they are saying this just to cover themselves? They seem a little "off" with their instructions on how to look after these reptiles. Any help would be grately appreciated.

Answer
Hello Carina,

Absolutely not a good idea, hon.  Their husbandry is too different plus they carry different parasites, etc which they really should not be exposed to either.
Their tank setups are not the same, so the Rankins are not getting the proper temperatures, etc.  What is the humidity in the tank?
Are you using any UVB lighting?  If so, what type & brand are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil bulb?  What type of basking light are you using?
What are the temps, & how do you measure them?
The tortoise could trample over the dragons & hurt them.  It is best to separate the tortoise & the dragons, it is just not a good idea to mix species like that.  The petstore is wrong with that information.
The Rankins need a basking of at least 95-100 & so does the tortoise however, the rankins need a higher UVB emission than the tortoise & a lower humidity.  

Tracie