Mixed breeds

[vwcranky]

HI
I have a Horsfield and a Hermanns sharing the same enclosure, they get along really well at night the stick together, during the day they are never to far apart, and to me if the can't see each other the Hermanns makes a point for searching for the Horsfield.

I've heard that mixed breeds should never be put together, this kind of blows the lid on that ...

So if these two are getting along so well is their anyone else who has the same situation as myself?

Do you disagree and these should be separated NOW and if so WHY?

or do just this think if a bad idea.

[Fred123]

There are a few people on here that do mix species, and I am sure that they will love this post as an opportunity to get on their soap box and promote their interpretation of tortoise care. In my opinion it is not good practice to mix species, they each have different needs and differing mating/dominance behaviour. This can cause stress to a tortoise.

You may feel that your pair are getting along, I would tend to think that one is dominating the other, or it certainly will in the future. They may get along fine and have no health issues, but I fail to see why anyone would run the risk of testing this theory. That said everyone is entitled to their opinion.... and this is mine.

[kkenny]

Originally Posted by Fred123

There are a few people on here that do mix species, and I am sure that they will love this post as an opportunity to get on their soap box and promote their interpretation of tortoise care. In my opinion it is not good practice to mix species, they each have different needs and differing mating/dominance behaviour. This can cause stress to a tortoise.

You may feel that your pair are getting along, I would tend to think that one is dominating the other, or it certainly will in the future. They may get along fine and have no health issues, but I fail to see why anyone would run the risk of testing this theory. That said everyone is entitled to their opinion.... and this is mine.

I agree with you mostly

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by Fred123

There are a few people on here that do mix species, and I am sure that they will love this post as an opportunity to get on their soap box and promote their interpretation of tortoise care. In my opinion it is not good practice to mix species, they each have different needs and differing mating/dominance behaviour. This can cause stress to a tortoise.

You may feel that your pair are getting along, I would tend to think that one is dominating the other, or it certainly will in the future. They may get along fine and have no health issues, but I fail to see why anyone would run the risk of testing this theory. That said everyone is entitled to their opinion.... and this is mine.

As opposed to your soap box, which is the right one because you stand upon it?

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by vwcranky

HI
I have a Horsfield and a Hermanns sharing the same enclosure, they get along really well at night the stick together, during the day they are never to far apart, and to me if the can't see each other the Hermanns makes a point for searching for the Horsfield.

I've heard that mixed breeds should never be put together, this kind of blows the lid on that ...

So if these two are getting along so well is their anyone else who has the same situation as myself?

Do you disagree and these should be separated NOW and if so WHY?

or do just this think if a bad idea.

I am currently keeping multiple individuals of five species and a hybrid of two species in the same large area. They breed, they feed, they grow well, and they do not fight. They are parasite free and have no indicators of ill health. Several of them, if not most of them, are exceptional in quality of growth.

Rather than species, I approach with caution around history, size, and temperament for individual animals. I have had Hermann's tortoises who wanted to fight any animal of its own species or animals over ten times their size of other species. I do not keep such animals communally and tend to place animals such as these in one-tortoise homes unless I specifically want that animal as a pet or a showpiece. I select for behavior as much as anything else.

Russians tend to battle, or so I have read, but I have never had any of mine, back when I used to keep a colony of thirty, do so. Hermann's fights among males can be intense, but I can separate animals or selectively keep only those which do not fight together. I have kept marginated with Greeks with Hermann's with Russians and even with Egyptians (once I figured out a key aspect of dealing with Egyptian babies; I used to fail with Egyptian babies and they were kept to their own species-specific enclosure at the time). I have successfully bred all of these to the tune of hundreds of babies before I gave up Testudo species entirely in order to pursue other things.

I take special care when it comes to dealing with LTC/WC/FC animals. Some can carry parasites or harbor infections and I would not want this to spread regardless of the species being the same or different. I use a significant quarantine period and regimen of my own medical care in order to ensure the safety of my groups. For CB with CB, this tends to be less of an issue.

It is up to you, the keeper, the god responsible for providing a decent microcosm for your animal wards, to decide how to proceed with the best interests of your animals in mind and based on what *you* know about *your* animals that no one else has more information about than *you*.

[Baoh]

By the way, to clarify, I am not saying you should keep them together or separate them. I am saying the decision to proceed down one avenue or the other is yours to make for whatever your reasons may be and you need not justify it to satisfy either popular or unpopular opinion.

[Fred123]

Originally Posted by Baoh

As opposed to your soap box, which is the right one because you stand upon it?

No! As I said everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I have no idea who you are so was not suggesting that you would have a soap box to stand on. That said the fact that you have 3 posts one after another and seem to be having an arguement with yourself demonstrates that you are indeed getting good use of that soap box, well done.

[Baoh]

Originally Posted by Fred123

No! As I said everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I have no idea who you are so was not suggesting that you would have a soap box to stand on. That said the fact that you have 3 posts one after another and seem to be having an arguement with yourself demonstrates that you are indeed getting good use of that soap box, well done.

Sure seems like it is and you were the one who broached the "soap box" topic as if to make it needlessly adversarial.

I will lay things out for you so you do not continue the apparent and likely willful misinterpretation.

The first post of mine in this thread quoted you and pointed out a matter of hypocrisy.

The second post of mine in this thread addressed the OP directly, and so quoted that prior to the response.

The third post of mine in this thread clarified my stance by adding something I had intended to type, but had overlooked.

This fourth post of mine in this thread quoted you to respond to your confirmation bias towards your own opinion and to elucidate how none of the posts of mine in this thread are in conflict with each other, and that your assertion of it being a series which constituted an argument with oneself is definitively erroneous.

[Fred123]

Originally Posted by Baoh

Sure seems like it is and you were the one who broached the "soap box" topic as if to make it needlessly adversarial.

I will lay things out for you so you do not continue the apparent and likely willful misinterpretation.

The first post of mine in this thread quoted you and pointed out a matter of hypocrisy.

The second post of mine in this thread addressed the OP directly, and so quoted that prior to the response.

The third post of mine in this thread clarified my stance by adding something I had intended to type, but had overlooked.

This fourth post of mine in this thread quoted you to respond to your confirmation bias towards your own opinion and to elucidate how none of the posts of mine in this thread are in conflict with each other, and that your assertion of it being a series which constituted an argument with oneself is definitively erroneous.

Dear Boah, I will lay a few things out for you, firstly this is my final response to you as there are plenty of petty posts on here already and I have no intention of adding to them by humouring you. If you are attempting to use the English language as an attempt to impress or intimidate i'm afraid that you failed to do so. All that you have done is looked arrogant. Your tautological comments simply fail to impress me.
Secondly- you can respond to more than one post in the same box, you simply need to continue typing.
Finally- if you forget to write something or simply change your mind you can use the edit button. I would have thought that someone with your extensive vocabulary would have understood the meaning of the word edit. I hope that this helps you.

To the OP I apologise that your post has turned into this, that was not my intention. The whole point of a forum is for people to express their opinion. I posted my opinion, made it clear that is what it was, and then left the way for others to post their comments. This is the only way people can read other peoples thoughts and come to their own conclusion.

[cherylahutch]

What a very odd thread not the OP nothing wrong with asking opinions. Mine is that I personally would not let my tortoises mix species because it just would not happen in the wild they come from different places and need different care. I suppose if you have ones with the same care as long as you are keeping an eyebolt then so they don't hurt each other there would not be too much harm in it. As for letting them breed I don't agree with that because they are all so different you could end up with a very deformed baby tortoise and does not seem fair to allow that to happen deliberately