Sulcata owners!

[amanda509]

I just got this little baby about 2 weeks ago Any advice/information?

I have a few questions:

1. Supplements. What should i do? I've heard so much conflicting information, and i just want to make sure it is getting the right amount of supplements. As of right now i just have scattered cuttlebone throughout the enclosure, but it hasn't taken a huge interest in it. I've been dusting it's food with reptivite once a week. Is this okay? What about D3?

2. Hay: It was fed a diet of mostly fruits and veggies before i got it (which i know isn't good), but it doesn't like the orchardgrass hay i got it unless i cut it up and soak it in water to give it the presence of being vegetable like...any tips or tricks?

3. Human interaction: What is the best way to get it used to human interaction? I usually just sit there and watch it for long periods of time. I try not to pick it up or handle it too much (it pees on me, i dont blame it lol), but I've tried hand feeding it to no avail

4. Substrate: What should i be using? It came with sand, but I'm going to mix some coconut husk in because the sand seems way too dusty when it digs.

Did i miss anything? Anyways, Here's Tiny Tina! (Tiny Tim if it happens to be male in the future)

"Kitty?" :3

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Congrats on the little one!

1. I didn't use any multivitamin with my sulcatas. Just good diet, which will be varied nutrients and vitamins that it needs, and calcium. I dusted the food 2-3 times a week - just a light coating. And I put in a cuttlebone for them to munch on too. It helps keep their beak in good shape and lets them chose more calcium if they feel they need it.
2. That's the best way to get them to like hay. Hatchlings often need it to be soft by soaking like that.
3. Sitting and staring is the right way to start. Eventually it will take food from your hand once it's more comfortable with your presence. It's a slow process at first, just like with chams.
4. Sand alone is not great. Too dry, too dusty and they can eat it and get dehydrated or impacted from it. I used coco fiber dirt because it's organic mixed with sphagnum moss and 1/3 sand to help with drainage. Keep it moist and they'll burrow in it and benefit from the humidity.

Also make a humid hide chamber like you would for geckos. An upside down Tupperware with a door cut in it is usually sufficient and keep wet moss in there all the time. It will significantly reduce the risk of pyramiding.

These were my methods for my sulcatas who are now 12 years old and 70-80 pounds, super friendly, and very healthy. So I speak from experience.

 

[fluxlizard]

I have a couple of sulcata as well- both rescues. The male was an animal someone was trying to raise in their basement and once he hit a certain size, all that poop was no fun in the house (sulcata eat and poop a LOT- it's like having a cow in your home or something). The female was be raised by a gradeschool teacher who kept her in a 10 gallon aquarium and fed her supermarket greens for the first 5 years of her life. She came to me about 6 inches long with a very soft shell and super heavy pyramiding.

Even with that female, I did not use supplementation. They have a decent sized pasture that I made for summer weather which they stay out in all summer as long as temps are above 50. It is 42' x 25' (If I remember right on the width- might be 30'). Every couple of years I scatter seed in there sold at the feed store for planting in horse pastures especially on any bare spots. It probably doesn't all take but seems to take some and supplement the wild grasses and weeds already growing there. That is all they eat during the summer months- wild grasses and weeds and they have thrived and the female's shell hardened up and she's getting close to twice as large as she arrived here 3 years or so ago.

During the winter they eat orchard grass hay which I also use as a substrate for the indoor pen, which sadly is much smaller- used to be 10x10, after the fire I rebuilt it 4x16' so they have more length to walk and also so I can reach in and clean without walking into the pen with my dirty shoes. A humid hide boxed into one corner with a house over the humid substrate. I came across a study onc that linked pyramiding with lack of humidity more than anything so I provide that hide, although both came to me pyramided already- but the male who I have had longer has a clearly visible difference in the old pyramiding vs the new grouth as he's gotten bigger- now it looks like studs in the middle of each scale on his shell, rather than pyramiding all the way to the edge (the study found protein content in diet to be irrelevant- even growing babies fed high protein had smooth shells when kept with high humidity- but the study didn't address the other problems those babies may get 10 or 20 or 30 years down the road from all that protein). Indoors about once a week I'll treat them to a little fresh veg or some kind of pellet which I figure acts as a supplement to the hay - tortoise pellet or alfalfa or iguana pellet. I've kind of lost track, but I think I've had my male coming up on 10 years soon and he's done well. He was 4 or 5 when I got him and already pretty large. I had third female that I raised from a baby that was looking great as well, but lost her in last year's fire. It was almost miraculous that the other 2 survived.

Because of the outdoor pasture feeding them in the summer and mostly hay in the winter, I really think they have been some of my easiest herps. But I wouldn't want them in my home- winter quarters are in the lizard building. They make too frequent a mess and all the hay which smells nice outdoors would not be so nice indoors. Spot cleaning a couple times a day keeps on top of things. They are pretty neat though. The big male especially will follow me around when I'm in the pen and check out what I'm up to. Especially if I have a carrot or something else from the garden. He seems to love carrots though- and his tongue cracks me up- looks human.

 

[amanda509]

I redid her enclosure! She is so cute :3 i cleaned the sand really good and she was in my scooper every chance she got! I added coconut husk and organic soil and stirred it around with the sand...she loves digging in it! I also added a humid hide too. She loves it :3