We recently became owners of a sulcata. A family member's teenage son had kept her in a 20 gallon tank under their bed. She was found there with marker and paint colored all over her shell. We brought her home and visited an exotic animal pet store that we love. The employee was very helpful and stated she was a sulcata, about 10-12 years old. And aside from her size she was in good shape.

She currently measures about 6 1/2" from shell end to shell end long, 5 1/2" wide and about 3" HIGH. We have had her about a month and did not measure her when we first got her, but she does seem to have gotten bigger. Does anyone know if her growth will rebound?

We moved her into her new home, which is a 3' * 4' Pallet that we constructed to enclose her. We used play sand as our substrate with a shelter and a heating lamp. So far no UV light(she gets outside time for now until the snow comes and then we will get the light).

As far as her diet she eats when she gets her outside time which can vary from 30 min. - 3 hrs. She just grazes on the clovers and dandelions.

We included some pics of Clover, Please any help or info. would be greatly appreciated.

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She look spretty good for being abused. 6 1/2" for a 10year old is nuts! My 4 year olds are all bigger than that.
Outdoor grazing is the best thing you can do.
Do me a favor and punch the kid in the face.

I know being kept in that 20 gal. tank all the time gave her no shot., however, will she always be small for her size or will she catch up to where she is supposed to be now that she is in a larger home? How large are your sulcatas?

Congrats on your new buddy. I just adopted/rescued two more sulcatas. That makes four. Mine were in a kids room in a display case. They were rarely outside and only ate romaine lettuce. Nothing else. Good luck!

Oh I forgot to tell you. My 10-11 year old weighs about 54 lbs. He was a rescue but taken care of properly.

My 4 year olds are about 10" and 8"

If she was the proper size for her age, I probably wouldn't have taken her home. Now that I have her and know more about sulcata's, I'm Hooked.

It doesn't matter if she does'nt fully grow, as long as she is happy and healthy. SHE KICKS ASS!!! Even the Dog has fallen in love with her. He sits with her, sniffs her and wags his tail. growls at the cat if he looks at her.

OMG that poor baby, At least she is in good hands now, the poor thing. How long do you think she was living under the bed? I am not real sure if she will or will not get to a full sulcata size. But hopefully she will get close.

My sister, who found her, said maybe 6 months. She found her while cleaning her new stepson's bedroom. They began taking better care of her, when the other stepson drew on her shell with permanent marker. That's when she called me.
I guess underfeeding is better than missfeeding, cause she is in good shape(except for her size, of course). We'll see what happens, she loves to eat and explore and burrow in her little flintstones castle.

How much should she be eating daily?
I don't want to over feed, she grazes on the lawn, so I don't know exactly how much she is eating. I want to be careful that she is not gorging herself thinking she might not be fed again.