Water, water and more water! Just for the record - I live in a county island surrounded by Peoria, about 15 miles south of Lake Pleasant. So at some level, we are neighbors. I have raised two of my sulcatas from hatchling stage - rescued them from the wild critters and the oldest laid eggs this year for the first time (which we tried to dig up immediately afterwards), and we have 1 new hatchling this year (missed one egg, obviously).
A Sulcata in the Phoenix area needs the following to be happy in the summertime: A place to hide that is 15 - 20 degrees cooler than the ambient air temperature, and out of the sun during the day. It will LOVE a mud puddle in the shade big enough to sit it - sometimes even almost to the neck. When it is really hot they will sleep all day, and be active after dark. Usually they will sleep outside at night. They need a nightbox, but don't be surprised if they choose to not use it until the weather cools down much closer to 60 at night. Hay and grass with plenty of water to drink is the main diet. However, they will choose to eat most anything else offered first, and pay no attention to whether or not it is healthy for them. So the idea here is to give them foods that carry plenty of water - watermelon is a favorite - ideally, you eat the red part, they eat all of the scraps; strawberries are also favorites, so be careful if you paint your toenails red. Cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash, cactus pods, cut if necessary to accommodate small mouths. Once they're big enough, you don't even need to do that. I clip the needles - they really don't care. Fluids are the MOST important goal. While they will eat most anything, limit the cabbage products - especially cabbage itself - too much sugar.
Tucker looks small. Protect him from dogs, cats, coyotes, owls, hawks, birds and people who dream of turtle soup. It's best he live outside, but he needs a temperature controlled space to stay in because it goes below 60 degrees.
