DIFFERENT SPECIES TOGETHER

Hi all, today I want to talk about keeping different species and  different sexes together. Firstly, you can keep different species together; I have kept both Hermanns and Spur Thighed together for  over 36 years and never had any problems. What I have never done however is keep the girls and boys together as this can be very stressful for both . The girls live happily with other girls and I only put one boy in when  I know it is mating season and both parties are happy.  If the girl is not ready she will not let the boy have his way and normally he will leave her alone. I only allow a short time and then remove him as it can be stressful for him as well. Now, this obviously works really well as all my girls are really happy and produced  lots of hatchlings last year and many years before that.  So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE  remember, always keep the girls and boys apart other than at mating times so as not to cause any stress. The mating window is small and after that the girls want to relax as  when it comes to laying the eggs.........Well, that takes  about 5 hours...  With hatchlings it is a different matter; both sexes should live happily together indoors . They should go into the garden full time year 4 or 5 and by that time out door pens areas should be ready. If you get a male trying  his luck or being a bit of a bully before this then he should be seperated from the girls straight away. He is too young to mate but it can be  an act of domination.  Also, if you add  another  tortoise or  two each year to  the  hatchlings  you already have you can sometimes get some rivalry when  the new one can be bullied for a few days by the ones who are already settled. This usually settles down after a little while but again if it doesn't then the offending tortoise should be seperated for a few hours at a  time until things have calmed down. I must say I have never had anyone of my buyers tell me they have had this problem  and as long as the housing is large  there should be sufficient space for all parties to live in peace.