Tinking ahead with our reptiles

Question
please can you tell me - can horn mountain lizards live with leopard geckos in the same habitat??

We have both living apart at this time and was wondering if its safe to put them in a bigger tank together?

Many Thanks
Paul

Answer
Hi Paul,

Those two species have almost exact opposite environmental needs. Leos are the from the arid regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan while MHD's live in the humid mountain forests of Vietnam and Laos. Even with a bigger tank you could not provide the correct environment for one without seriously compromising the health of the other.

Mixed species tanks are a somewhat controversial topic in reptile keeping and the safest advice is to stick to single species enclosures. Aggression and disease transmission between species are the most cited reasons. Community tanks are kept successfully however by both reputable zoos and hobby keepers but the enclosure needs to be quite spacious. Richard and Patti Bartlett are two veteren breeders and authors in reptile keeping. This is their article with suggestions on creating a successfull mixed tank.
  
http://www.petplace.com/reptiles/planning-the-perfect-community-reptile-tank/pag

Picking animals that are both healthy, the same size and require the same environment are the basics. After that, gender, natural species aggression and other behaviours should be considered. Animals that occupy different areas and are active at different times will reduce interaction and food competition. Combining an arboreal with a ground dweller and a nocturnal with diurnal for example. A leo and MHD actually fit those last few criteria but completely miss the very important one of same environment!