Re: DRINKING

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Posted by Terry on December 09, 1998 at 11:26:54:

In Reply to: DRINKING posted by DAVID on December 09, 1998 at 08:54:41:

: My two male Sulcatas (10 pounds and 30 pounds)have never drank water. I never really worried about it before because their diet included lots of moist grass and weeds from grazing, with green produce in the winter. I always felt their stools were too "runny". This winter, I have been feeding them hay, of which they consume vast quantities. Their stools are drier and firmer in consistency. I believe this new winter diet is healthier than previous years, but I am concerned about their refusal to drink. At thirty pounds, the big one is too large to soak. Any comments?

Hi, add some greens to the hay, you can even go out and clip grass for them to eat. When my sulcata cant go out, I clip fresh grass daily to add to her diet.It only takes a couple of minutes and is not as dry as hay, but still high in fibre.I have always added grass to my sulcatas diet, most days however she can go out and graze for herself.I have never had a problem with runny stools., I feed no fruit . Only the grazing diet with leafy greens added 2-3 times aweek.Hibiscus, grated yam or cactus every now and then. Make sure water is always available for drinking.
Try to grow some hibiscus bushes,chicory, cactus and other edible plants.This will cut back on the cost of indoor winter feeding. And provide a diet higher in moisture.
Marissas idea of a kiddie pool is good.Also some sulcatas refuse to drink from standing water, so if you can run the garden hose a bit , it may drink from that.For the 10lb sulcata I would still soak once a week.My sulcata is 15 1/2 lbs , I soak her once a week in a very large plant pot saucer , bought without the plant pot. It is shallow enough( about 3 1/2") that she can get out if she wants. Sometimes she'll take a nice long soak, other times it's straight out.!! She has water available , but now the weather is cooler is only drinking once or twice a week.
I would add more fresh foods to the hay , if the stools are overly dry.
Terry.

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: : : My two male Sulcatas (10 pounds and 30 pounds)have never drank water. I never really worried about it before because their diet included lots of moist grass and weeds from grazing, with green produce in the winter. I always felt their stools were too "runny". This winter, I have been feeding them hay, of which they consume vast quantities. Their stools are drier and firmer in consistency. I believe this new winter diet is healthier than previous years, but I am concerned about their refusal to drink. At thirty pounds, the big one is too large to soak. Any comments? : Hi, add some greens to the hay, you can even go out and clip grass for them to eat. When my sulcata cant go out, I clip fresh grass daily to add to her diet.It only takes a couple of minutes and is not as dry as hay, but still high in fibre.I have always added grass to my sulcatas diet, most days however she can go out and graze for herself.I have never had a problem with runny stools., I feed no fruit . Only the grazing diet with leafy greens added 2-3 times aweek.Hibiscus, grated yam or cactus every now and then. Make sure water is always available for drinking. : Try to grow some hibiscus bushes,chicory, cactus and other edible plants.This will cut back on the cost of indoor winter feeding. And provide a diet higher in moisture. : Marissas idea of a kiddie pool is good.Also some sulcatas refuse to drink from standing water, so if you can run the garden hose a bit , it may drink from that.For the 10lb sulcata I would still soak once a week.My sulcata is 15 1/2 lbs , I soak her once a week in a very large plant pot saucer , bought without the plant pot. It is shallow enough( about 3 1/2") that she can get out if she wants. Sometimes she'll take a nice long soak, other times it's straight out.!! She has water available , but now the weather is cooler is only drinking once or twice a week. : I would add more fresh foods to the hay , if the stools are overly dry. : Terry.

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