Skink and tortoise

Question
Hi i have a russian tortoise and i recently acquired an ocellated skink. My
question is if they can share the same habitat. My tortoise currently is in a 30
gallon with calci sand bedding, can the skink (who also uses the calci sand) live
with my tortoise? the tort is abotu 5 inch shell diameter and the skink is 7
inches long. Thanks

Answer
Hi Israel, It is not a combination that I would recommend for a few reasons. Anytime animals are co-habitated they are going to be exposed to the droppings of the other animal and what is normal, harmless intestinal flora for one reptile may be pathogenic for the other. Herbivorous reptiles have a wide range of bacteria and other single celled organisms that assist them in digesting their plant based diet. I would be concerned about your primarlily insectivorous skink being exposed to that. As both your  animals are land dwelling, that also increases the exposure. Both of them sharing the same floor space means more physical interaction which will likely lead to stress for one or both. Your tortoise would also likely be stressed by sharing the enclosure with the live insects that your skink needs.
I'm not totally against community tanks and have kept them successfully for years but they work best if the enclosure is fairly large and the inhabitants occupy different areas of the tank (ground dwelling with arboreal) and/or different activity periods (diurnal and nocturnal). I find tortoises to be poor candidates for mixed community tanks.

As a side point, you need to be cautious with the calci-sand. Contrary to the manufacturer's claims it has been implicated in a number of impaction deaths. It has a nasty habit of clumping, more then dissolving if it is ingested.