I'm putting this in the debateable section to invite conversation and comments. Love to hear opinions for or against. Love to hear personal experiences one way or the other.
One of the issues that some folks have taken in the past with my way of raising hatchling sulcatas is the "high" temps. My general strategy is to set a background ambient of no lower than 80, 24/7. Then during the day I offer them a basking spot under an incandescent flood bulb of around 100. This light is on a timer usually set for 12 hours in winter and 13 hours in summer. In my closed chambers the heat from these bulbs and the fluorescents often warms the ambient up into the low 90s on a warm day. Humidity always hovers around 80-85%. Some people think this is too warm and "unnatural".
I have always countered this argument with two points:
Point #1. Have you looked at the temps in their natural range? In the middle of their "winter" the temps reach daily highs right around 100. Some days are only low 90s, while other days are 112. I watched nighttime lows dip into the 50s, but they were usually mid 60s. This is roughly the same pattern I have here for summer. In summer over there the temps are always over 100 during the day and 70s or 80s at night. I'm still watching the temps to see just how hot the summer days and nights will get over there, but it's making me sweat just thinking about it... In my underground burrows in our summers, when temps are simulating the coolest part of the year in African sulcata territory, the temps hover within one degree of 80, with no added heat of any kind, all summer long. This is why I think babies should be kept warm all the time. Even though winter lows might get cooler than 80 over there, they are underground somewhere and not exposed to those cool temps. In the heat of the day, they have the option of warming up, but no one really knows if they partake, or not. Given what I've seen in 100s of captive hatchlings, I am going to make an educated guess that they DO like to warm up. Which brings me to point #2...
Point #2. It works. Plain and simple. I have healthy babies that grow smooth and thrive in every way, using these temps. I still have to feed them a good diet, get them sunshine and exercise, and keep them hydrated, but the temps work. Can they be kept cooler and survive? Yes. We all know they can. Is it better for them to be kept cooler? Not in my opinion, which brings me to my newest point...
Point #3. I consider myself very lucky to know some of the people I know, and I'm very thankful for the doors they have opend for me and the conversations that I have had. Recently, I had the great pleasure and good fortune to meet and have a conversation with one of the men who is generally believed to be the largest producer of sulcata babies in the US. The man handles and raises more sulcata babies in one year than I have ever even seen in my whole life. It would be generous to compare my level of experience to this man's, as a drop in a bucket. We talked about many aspects of sulcata care, including how to start and raise hatchlings. Of course, I enthusiastically talked too much, but he was polite and indulging anyway. One of the things he had to say was that he thinks people keep babies too cool. He never lets his get below 80 at any time. During the day they all have a basking light where "they can get as hot as they want". During the day he lets the ambient climb to 96 degrees, before the swamp coolers kick in. That's AMBIENT, not basking temp. He wants to see the babies take cover away from the hotspot during the heat of the day. This is the closest routine that I have seen or heard of, that mimics what happens in the wild. My friend Tomas from Senegal raises his babies in outdoor pens, with shade, plants and cover available of course, and this would be similar to the temps they are exposed to.
Interesting, the things you see and learn as you go along...
One of the issues that some folks have taken in the past with my way of raising hatchling sulcatas is the "high" temps. My general strategy is to set a background ambient of no lower than 80, 24/7. Then during the day I offer them a basking spot under an incandescent flood bulb of around 100. This light is on a timer usually set for 12 hours in winter and 13 hours in summer. In my closed chambers the heat from these bulbs and the fluorescents often warms the ambient up into the low 90s on a warm day. Humidity always hovers around 80-85%. Some people think this is too warm and "unnatural".
I have always countered this argument with two points:
Point #1. Have you looked at the temps in their natural range? In the middle of their "winter" the temps reach daily highs right around 100. Some days are only low 90s, while other days are 112. I watched nighttime lows dip into the 50s, but they were usually mid 60s. This is roughly the same pattern I have here for summer. In summer over there the temps are always over 100 during the day and 70s or 80s at night. I'm still watching the temps to see just how hot the summer days and nights will get over there, but it's making me sweat just thinking about it... In my underground burrows in our summers, when temps are simulating the coolest part of the year in African sulcata territory, the temps hover within one degree of 80, with no added heat of any kind, all summer long. This is why I think babies should be kept warm all the time. Even though winter lows might get cooler than 80 over there, they are underground somewhere and not exposed to those cool temps. In the heat of the day, they have the option of warming up, but no one really knows if they partake, or not. Given what I've seen in 100s of captive hatchlings, I am going to make an educated guess that they DO like to warm up. Which brings me to point #2...
Point #2. It works. Plain and simple. I have healthy babies that grow smooth and thrive in every way, using these temps. I still have to feed them a good diet, get them sunshine and exercise, and keep them hydrated, but the temps work. Can they be kept cooler and survive? Yes. We all know they can. Is it better for them to be kept cooler? Not in my opinion, which brings me to my newest point...
Point #3. I consider myself very lucky to know some of the people I know, and I'm very thankful for the doors they have opend for me and the conversations that I have had. Recently, I had the great pleasure and good fortune to meet and have a conversation with one of the men who is generally believed to be the largest producer of sulcata babies in the US. The man handles and raises more sulcata babies in one year than I have ever even seen in my whole life. It would be generous to compare my level of experience to this man's, as a drop in a bucket. We talked about many aspects of sulcata care, including how to start and raise hatchlings. Of course, I enthusiastically talked too much, but he was polite and indulging anyway. One of the things he had to say was that he thinks people keep babies too cool. He never lets his get below 80 at any time. During the day they all have a basking light where "they can get as hot as they want". During the day he lets the ambient climb to 96 degrees, before the swamp coolers kick in. That's AMBIENT, not basking temp. He wants to see the babies take cover away from the hotspot during the heat of the day. This is the closest routine that I have seen or heard of, that mimics what happens in the wild. My friend Tomas from Senegal raises his babies in outdoor pens, with shade, plants and cover available of course, and this would be similar to the temps they are exposed to.
Interesting, the things you see and learn as you go along...
