A Word on Mixing Species

When mixing species always make sure that you KNOW the following BASICS.

Environmental Requirements- Humidity Range (Frogs can’t live in deserts), Temperature (Crested Geckos cannot live with Leopard Geckos), Light Requirements (some diurnal species need UV lamps to absorb calcium), Mineral Requirements (Some hermit crabs require salt water), Where does it live(desert, swamp, beach ect.)?

Behavior- is it aquatic, semi-aquatic, terrestrial, semi-arboreal or arboreal? Does it climb, dig, swim, soak, bask, jump or glide (flying geckos). Does it hide a lot? Is it nocturnal or diurnal? Is it active and curious or in-active and private? What is its temperament? Is the animal docile (like communal tree frogs) or aggressive? If it is aggressive is it aggressive only among other members of their species (such as small anole males who will fight each other to the death), or is it aggressive to everything (such as pac-man frogs who will eat anything and bite anything that comes to close)? Does it have a high or low metabolism (this will determine how much waste the animal creates)? How do they forage or hunt? Do they molt and are there any special needs (Hermit crabs need extra shells)?

Diet- What does it eat? Is it frugivorous (Crested Geckos), herbivorous (Snails and Millipedes), insectivorous (Most if not all herps to some extent), carnivorous (large Frogs Monitors and Snakes), cannibalistic (Most (NOT ALL) Geckos), opportunistic (Hermit Crabs), detritivorous (Isopods and Springtails), croprophagic (some animals eat their waste) and so on? What is its prey size (a baby gecko cannot eat a full grown cricket but the cricket can eat the baby gecko)? Are the diets of the species I want to mix similar (crested geckos and millipedes eat fruit but not each other)? Will they eat each other (Crested Geckos and Blue-tongue skinks can live together despite size differences but crested will eat baby blue-tongues)?

Size Difference- how big will they get? Will one eventually be big enough to eat the other one? Will there be enough space for all species in one tank/enclosure? What size tank/enclosure would I need?

These are just SOME of the things one must consider before mixing species and the reason why many people have failed attempts is because they mix herps like they are fish which also cannot be mixed without careful planning. Take these questions into account before you try this so you don’t have a VERY EXPENSIVE FAILURE.