Can a tortoise live in the same cage with a bearded dragon?

Answer 1

"If I were you I wouldn't try.

Geckomaster

Bearded dragons live in deserts, turtles live in water. Bearded dragons will die if it's too wet, turtles die if it's too dry. That's only information to start with. If you have a baby dragon the turtle will eat it. There are so many problems with this I can't even get into them all. All I would say it is defineately not recommended and you will have a dead reptile no matter how you balance the cage with wet and dry."

I've left the above answer there just to illustrate how poorly some people read questions. Yes TURTLES live in water, but TORTOISES definitely do not, although they do enjoy a warm bath once a week.

Many people keep tortoises in a vivarium, with a heat lamp, particularly babies as they can't get lost this way, as they could in a garden, they also have heat lamps when kept on a tortoise table. It is recommended that tortoises have access to UV, either with a UV bulb, or by being outside. They can happily live in the same substrate as beardies. So based on all this, the environments are completely compatible. They also eat much the same foods (aside from the livefoods the beardies eat) except tortoises can eat lettuce and bearded dragons should not.

I recently bought a breeding trio of 3 year old beardies and a 5 year old spur thighed tortoise from a guy who kept them in separate vivariums, but the vivariums looked exactly the same. I only got one vivarium with them, and found myself asking why they couldn't be housed together. Their sizes mean neither could eat the other (this would be the same for a baby beardie and baby tortoise) the tortoise is perfectly harmless to the bearded dragons, and although the bearded dragons have very sharp claws, the tortoise can easily retract into its shell to avoid damage. The guy told me they would not get on, and I've read nothing but advice telling me not to keep them together, but by this time i'd already put the tortoise into the vivarium. The beardies were surprisingly unfased by the tortoise, i'd expected the male to atleast bob his head in a display of dominance towards the tortoise as he does to his females and everyone else who goes near him, but he didn't, and still hasn't. They actually use him as a rock when he's still, particularly if he's under the heat lamp as his shell gets nicely warm, and don't seem even slightly bothered when the tortoise pushes their logs around. The tortoise is equally unfased by the beardies, and seems happy for them to sit on him, he just carries on as normal with whatever he was doing, he has tried to crawl underneath them occasionally.

From my experience, they are entirely compatible, and seem quite happy with each others company, if your going to say i can't tell they are happy, then they're completely indifferent. I am not telling you that you should house yours together, as every animal has a different personality, but I would say it's definitely worth a try, sit and watch them carefully when first introduced, any signs of aggression and remove the tortoise. If they are of similar sizes then there isn't really any risk of them harming one another, I would not advise putting a very small beardie in with a fully grown tortoise, as they is a (very very small) risk of the tortoise managing to catch the very quick beardie and eating it, not too likely in my opinion, but theres also the possibility the tortoise may stand on the baby and harm it.

Use your common sense really when introducing them, and do keep a close watch on them.

Answer 2

Never, never, NEVER mix reptiles UNLESS they are found in the same environment in the wild !

Answer 3

NO, abosuitly not!. The bearded dragon has to go in a tank, with a heat lamp, and is fed a different type of food. The rabbit will injure it by steping on it.

Answer 4

No the dragon will attack the tortoise as their wouldn't be enough space

Answer 5

No the bearded dragon is from a the hot dry desert and the will get a respiratory infection from too much moisture. The water dragon will die in a bearded dragon's environment.

Answer 6

No! They would never co-habit in the wild so why force them into living together in captivity !

Answer 7

No - they require completely different living conditions !