Hello. I'm purchasing a 3 month old sulcata in a few weeks. I'm in the process of setting up an enclosure and have bedding and a light already. Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!
Remember the Sulcata will get very large (heavier than most large dogs) and live a very long time.... Got Grandchildren? Lucky for use it takes a long time to get REAL big. Mine is 11 yreas old (had it since hatching day) and weighs in at around 80-85 lbs.... Can't wait till he tops the 100lb mark!
PS make sure you got a good size yard in the next 5-7 years!
I have a Sulcata named Bob who just topped the 100 pound mark. He was already 5 years old when I got him. I would suggest that you do 4 things to raise a healthy non pyramided Sulcata. Give him lots of exercise. In the wild they walk for miles everyday taking a bite of food here and another bite there. So 1. Exercise. The second thing is to feed a good and varied diet. No fruit no veggies. Grasses weeds, and you'll have to feed grocery store produce. So 2. is a varied diet. next is strong UVB. Get a good Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) or lots of sun, get him outside as much as possible. And last is lots of humidity. You will need to work hard to keep him from pyramiding. So you should shoot for about 80% humidity.
So to recap...
1. Lot's of exercise
2. Good and varied diet
3. Good UVB
4. 80% humidity
Keep up on those 4 things and you will raise a healthy non pyramided Sulcata...