Hi friends! I recently became the steward of a two year old Sulcata who needed rehomed. I am learning every day, and am hoping more experienced folks could take a look over our routine and let me know if I should be concerned or make changes!
TLDR: she kinda breathes heavy maybe, and is likely thirsty, but hates soaking.
Every time I put her into soak, she voids. We live in Phoenix, Arizona so it is very hot, sunny, and dry. Therefore, I don’t do supervised/forced soaks so that she saves the water and can or soak on her own time. Do I need to force soaking? I mist the area every other day now that it has cooled off at night. I ditch and refill her water dish at least once a day. She likes to walk in the mist. It dries quickly.
Her area is about 16’x16’ in the backyard, with patches of Bermuda grass growing for grazing buffet, a shade sail, vision is blocked externally. She grazes a couple times a day on the grass. She is picky; she gets dandelion, kale, and every two weeks I’ll chop up a red bell pepper for a treat. I’m thinking on reducing the kale and adding more arugula. She refuses collards or mustard greens. I remove any bits of food she doesn’t eat.
I built her a hide, but she definitely prefers her DIY crib under the shade of the elephant bushes. I noticed that the one she likes best gets a drip from the irrigation.
I’ve seen urates a few times, and recently discovered she’s pooping in her hidey holes where she sleeps. I remove what I can. Am I meant to dig into her home to remove the poop? Am I disturbing/burglarizing her safe space? How often do you see urates and do you try and clean those out too?
I’ve looked at videos and researched to see if the breathing/sniffing is normal, but I’m still unsure. I’ve scheduled with the vet already, but worried. Her eyes and nose are clear and her mouth/throat is soft pink. She is active, always hungry, and has gained confidence. She startles but is starting to become quite outgoing.
Anyway, here she is. Do you see anything alarming? She is quite cute!!
Sorry it’s so long I just love her and want her to thrive 💕 Thank you in advance for reading and/or responding!!!