Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My name is Rachelle, I have a 2 year old sulcata. He is now about 12 pounds. Is that a normal weight for a 2 year old? I have had him since he was about 2 months old and I have kept records and pictures about his weight and everything so that I can show people that he at one time was really "that small". Since I have had him I have gone through two large terririums, and once he got too large for those he was set free to roam around my house (restricted to hard floor only) however I just moved into Baton Rouge, La to start vet school and I am lucky to have a home with a large yard now. I fenced in a nice grassy area, for Spike with plenty of sunshine and shade; however I am paranoid about ants... I am so scared that one day when I am away at school or work he will attact by ants. I am so scared that I check on him and his enviroment complusively. This morning I found ants in his food bowl, so I couldn't stand it and i brought him back in the house... which he doesn't really like now and much prefers to be outside. What can I do about ants? will they hurt him? I don't want to put poison down because I don't want to poison my Spike, of course!
- please help, I want to provide the best for him...

sulcatas typically eat weeds, flowers, cactus and grasses, so you should not have a problem with ants getting into those things. If you put any treats out for him to eat occasionally, just make sure you pick up what he does not eat. The ants will then not be a problem.

so the ants won't bother him at all, like they wont get into his eyes or nostrils or in the inner part of his shell on his neck where the skin is thinner and more sensitive? Wud it affect him if I put ant poison around his fenced in area, as long as I don't but it inside? The ants don't really get on to his food that often, but even if I leave treats out there for one or two hours the ants are already on it! (pesky lil'buggers)

I live in TX and house my box turtles and baby sulcata's outside. I have not had any problem with ants in the area as long as I keep the area clean of food. When I first put up my outside area, I did put out fire ant bait in the immediate around it to get rid of any in the immediate area. Now I only treat mounds that might pop up close to the enclosure...but never put anything inside the enclosure.

Sweet! Thanks