Sulcatas will eat anything that smells "interesting" or looks delicious (anything bright yellow, pink, red, or green is usually fair game). This is especially apparent if the animal is kept in a sparsely planted enclosure (a store floor being the example in this case). I've noticed that during the spring, when there is prodigious growth of suculents and grasses, my big sulcata Jerry is very unlikely to take a shot at overturning my potted plants. However, when summer comes along, scorching the once suculent grass into a bitter tasting hay, his attention cannot be swayed from the green promises those plants provide. Two summers ago, he began randomly consuming legos that my four year old nephew had splayed out across the lawn. Luckily, he only consumed two lego men, and these soon passed through his digestive tract embedded in grassy feces.

The key with sulcatas is to limit their access to potentially harmful items and items small enough for them to consume. Also, planting the animal's enclosure with grasses and suculents is a good idea. Granted, in a crowded situation where two or three animals are confined in a twenty by twenty foot space or where animals are housed indoors, this may prove difficult. However, I've found that there is no substitute for a large, warm, sun lit,well planted space. Let's not forget that these are intelligent creatures with the spatial needs any one hundred fifty pound animal generally requires. A large environment will not only keep them out of trouble, but it will keep them from boredom and stress as well.

T.G.

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