A tortoise, blue tongue skink, and a bearded dragon.

[artgecko]

What is the actual topic for your project....i.e. what were the assignment guidelines, or do you just come up with whatever you want to do?

Honestly, co-habbing most species is dicey at best. Zoos can get away with it because they have very large enclosures, but most owners can't provide that. The only people I've seen successfully cohabbing year-round are people that have outdoor enclosures that are very large and they keep a group of a certain species together. Many people in Australia keep blue tongues this way, but usually the group is balanced with 1 or 2 males and many more females in a large area (like 10'x10'). Even then, particular animals might not get along and have to be removed.

If you can choose your subject for this project, I would go with something that is safer and / or more oftenly done in the hobby. Pick a species that is known for usually being ok with cohabbing... White's tree frogs or possibly pink tongue skinks come to mind. Some tortoises are co-habbed, but in larger quarters. I believe Uromastyx live together in groups in the wild, but not sure how people keep those.

Basically, it boils down to doing what is best for the animals. The project idea, as you've stated it, seems doomed to fail from the start... At the very least, you could end up with hundreds of dollars of vet bills.... Are you willing to make that investment when things go south and then provide separate enclosures afterwards?

Also of note is what will happen to the animals when you do go off to school. Most dorms do not allow animals and if you are currently living with family, they may not want to care for them, so that is a factor.

I would re-work your project idea either around doing a breeding project, keeping a single species that naturally does well in groups, or doing a bioactive setup with a single species of reptile / amphibian and also a full clean up crew... insects, isopods, springtails, etc... live plants.

Pleae note that I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just trying to give constructive criticism,