Having Aquatic Turtles in the same Enclosure

Hello! I am new to the owning chameleons and have a question about keeping other pets in the same enclosure. I have read online that having different reptiles in the same cage can put stress on the chameleon and create competition between species. However, I was wondering if you have a larger enclosure that has half of the base of the terrarium as an aquatic habitat, would I be able to keep an amphibious turtle there? The two species have different diets, and would occupy completely different areas of the same enclosure. Constructing a proper habitat for both will not be an issue (I understand it would need to have length and width to separate aquatic and terrestrial as well as height to allow for the chameleon to climb vertically), I just do not want to harm the chameleon by having it share its habitat. Any advice on this project is appreciated!

Welcome to the forums! Unfortunately this is not a good idea. It is hard enough to create an appropriate complete microenvironemnt for your chameleon in such a small space without having to take the needs of another species into consideration. It is virtually impossible to meet the appropriate temperatures and humidity and environmental needs of an animal from another habitat type. Other animals may introduce illnesses or parasites that your chameleon is particularly susceptible to having never been exposed to anything like it. If your chameleons tail drops down too low a turtle would see it as a worm and take a bite out of it. And I can not think of a dirtier animal than water turtles as far as bacteria goes. It is just not a good idea unless the cages are completely separate and just placed near or on each other for aesthetic purposes without the risk of interaction.

Exactly what she said above!

I always wanted to do something like this... But as everyone said its not a good idea... Well its a good idea, its just an idea that cant happen..

Especially since my tank is a piranha tank.. haha. That could really get bad.

aquatic turtles are bacteria factories...their water is never clean and youd need enough space for the turtle.. some serious filtration and good movement to keep any water from sitting still to reduce pathogens and youd have to keep the cham from being able to fall in the water or if so it could get out easily...so as others havestated, not the best course of action without doing extensive research prepping and planning and a lot of space to work with

Thank you guys for sharing your wisdom! I have decided to give up on the idea of keeping anything in the same enclosure as my chameleon, and am just going to make a kick *** vivarium for him.

So nice to see someone who asks for advice, maybe does not get the answer they want to hear, but then follows the advice! I wish everyone who came on here had your attitude! Well, be sure and post some pics of your kicka$$ viv when it is all finished!!!

carol5208 said:

So nice to see someone who asks for advice, maybe does not get the answer they want to hear, but then follows the advice! I wish everyone who came on here had your attitude! Well, be sure and post some pics of your kicka$$ viv when it is all finished!!!

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I agree.

It's disappointing when you hear you can't make a dual enclosure, but hey, at least you'll have a happy cham!