Leo has dug his first burrow! Our temps have dropped fairly dramatically here in Maricopa, AZ - we went from highs in the 100s and lows in the 80s a few weeks ago to highs in the 80s and 90s and lows in the mid 60s to low 70s in the last two weeks. I discovered his new burrow last Wednesday, which is when I believe he started it… by Friday, I couldn’t see the end of it. I’m so impressed; our yard is really hard plus it’s covered with landscape rock but he powered right through it. Here are a couple shots I took Friday; the angle was awkward but you get the gist:
Right now, our lows are in the mid 60s. Leo showed up in late October last year, and after we were not able to find his owner we chose to keep him and I set out to learn everything I could about caring for Sulcatas. I didn’t find TFO until sometime in November, and the info I found first said that they were fine in low temps of 45 degrees and up. I bought the wrong kind of enclosure from Amazon, put down the wrong kind of substrate (fiber “carpet” plus orchard grass on top), hung a CHE and a coil UVB bulb, and started bringing him indoors at sundown. He was about 6” back then.
A couple months ago, I ordered a larger enclosure from Animal Plastics - 96” long, 36” deep, 24” high (IIRC). The lead time on AP enclosures is quite long (18-34 weeks); best case scenario is that I receive it in early November, but I may not receive it until March. I have prepared his current indoor enclosure (with coir substrate and a cover, all of which were added when I found TFO last year) but he’s now too large to go through the “doorway” into the smaller third of his enclosure. I also have an insulated doghouse with a Kane heat mat that is currently on our back porch, but he only goes in to eat and drink (we discovered that it prevents wind from blowing his greens away, plus it kept his food out of the hot AZ sun in summer). I wish he’d use the doghouse for shelter, but that didn’t happen. I’m not handy enough to build a night box, but I’d hoped this would suffice… but I’ll need to start bringing him indoors.
I went to retrieve him yesterday, but he’d already gone into his burrow… far enough that I couldn’t see him at all. Should I block it off now? Our yard is west facing, so it gets the hottest afternoon sun; I didn’t start bringing him indoors last year until early mid November last year but I’m worried about him getting too cold and catching an URI… the monsoon here usually ends in the first week or two of September here but it’s still not ended this year so we’ve been getting some rain still. Not daily, but still happening. Just want to keep him safe and healthy.
TIA for your advice!
Right now, our lows are in the mid 60s. Leo showed up in late October last year, and after we were not able to find his owner we chose to keep him and I set out to learn everything I could about caring for Sulcatas. I didn’t find TFO until sometime in November, and the info I found first said that they were fine in low temps of 45 degrees and up. I bought the wrong kind of enclosure from Amazon, put down the wrong kind of substrate (fiber “carpet” plus orchard grass on top), hung a CHE and a coil UVB bulb, and started bringing him indoors at sundown. He was about 6” back then.
A couple months ago, I ordered a larger enclosure from Animal Plastics - 96” long, 36” deep, 24” high (IIRC). The lead time on AP enclosures is quite long (18-34 weeks); best case scenario is that I receive it in early November, but I may not receive it until March. I have prepared his current indoor enclosure (with coir substrate and a cover, all of which were added when I found TFO last year) but he’s now too large to go through the “doorway” into the smaller third of his enclosure. I also have an insulated doghouse with a Kane heat mat that is currently on our back porch, but he only goes in to eat and drink (we discovered that it prevents wind from blowing his greens away, plus it kept his food out of the hot AZ sun in summer). I wish he’d use the doghouse for shelter, but that didn’t happen. I’m not handy enough to build a night box, but I’d hoped this would suffice… but I’ll need to start bringing him indoors.
I went to retrieve him yesterday, but he’d already gone into his burrow… far enough that I couldn’t see him at all. Should I block it off now? Our yard is west facing, so it gets the hottest afternoon sun; I didn’t start bringing him indoors last year until early mid November last year but I’m worried about him getting too cold and catching an URI… the monsoon here usually ends in the first week or two of September here but it’s still not ended this year so we’ve been getting some rain still. Not daily, but still happening. Just want to keep him safe and healthy.
TIA for your advice!
