seeking sulcata info for western washington

[dmopar74]

hi all, im a tort newb looking to get a sulcata juvi in western WA (buckley) and am concerned about out weather patterns round here. i do have 5 acres of land and have outbuildings with heat, and want to build a dedicated heated shed for my sulcata.

so 2 major questions right off the bat-
1. how tolerant are these guys to our rainy bland weather?
2. are sulcata juvi's available locally or should i order one from tortoisesupply.com?

 

[Laura]

Hi..
WAsh can be abit cool and wet for them, but you CAN do it.
I would look at getting a rescue Adult.. big as possible, so they can handle the temp fluctuations better.
A large shed or shed with a covered warm area can be built. Look at Tuff sheds. Loafing shed and copy that design.. nice large indoor area and a covered attached outside area..
read the sulcata section here, and look for Maggie and Bob posts.. she lives up there.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I live in the Willamette Valley so it is gray and wet most of the time. It rains here 7 months out of the year and the rest is spent with snow and just plain lousy weather.
Bob is an adult Sulcata who was about 30 pounds when we moved here from California. He has a heated insulated shed that is 20'X12'. He has a 250 watt Trex basking light and a regular incandescent overhead bulb just to brighten it up in there. He has a ceder wood fence to keep him contained as he was escaping fairly often. His shed has a doggie door that I open about 10:30 everyday but he doesn't come out until about 1 or 1:30. I open it rain shine or snow. He goes out in the rain and grazes a bit and when he gets cold he goes back inside. I leave it to him to decide if he wants to be in or out. But he is 11 years old and about 80 pounds so he is mature enough to know if he's cold or not. If I had a yearling or juvenile I wouldn't let them out in the rain. You should be able to set up a large tort table with all the lights and hides for a smaller tort. There is no reason why you can't have one and raise him up in Western Washington...

 

[reptylefreek]

There are a few of us who live in western washington and at least one of those people has one or two large sulcatas (chadk). He would probably be the best person to ask about this. Maggie is just right down in Oregon like she said and her weather is pretty similar. There aren't gonna be alot of Juvie sulcatas for sale around here, or none that I have seen, so you might wanna try a rescue. I think it would be pretty awsome if you got one that wasn't wanted by its previous owner instead of purchasing one right off the bat. Also check out the adoption page here on the forum. Good luck finding one