From the Archives of

The Colorado Herpetological Society

Lizards

Care Sheet for the Chuckwalla
Sauromalus obesus

by Scott Patterson

Physically, "chucks" are robust, pear-shaped lizards that can grow to a length of 16 inches [40½ cm]. Males are usually black, with red or orange coloring along their sides and a gray or yellow tail. Females, and the young of both sexes have bands across the body and tail.

When selecting a chuckwalla, one should procure a young lizard as they adapt better to captivity. Older males can be especially difficult. Also, check your chuckwalla thoroughly for mites and ticks; with their thick scales "chucks" are prime targets for these parasites. I use olive oil to alleviate this problem.

Give your chuckwalla a large cage -- 3' long by 2' wide [90 x 60 cm] should be adequate. Gravel or sand can be a good substrate, but caution should be used when placing rocks in the cage as chuckwallas are powerful and may displace the rock causing injury to themselves or to cagemates.

In captivity, chuckwallas will eat dandelions, kale, endive, collard greens, broccoli, carrots and other nutritious vegetables. Depending on the individual, they may also eat waxworms, jumbo mealworms and grasshoppers. I have one chuck who enjoys anole lizards. Rarely do they take water from me. I sprinkle their greens with vitamins on a daily basis.

Chuckwallas need to be kept warm! I use a spotlight aimed at one side of the cage, keeping the other side of the cage at room temperature. This way your chuckwallas can thermoregulate themselves. Chuckwallas also need ultraviolet light! You can use a reptile blacklight (true UV) or a full-spectrum light to provide this. Remember, the closer your reptile can get to the light, the more beneficial the light will be. Many of these lights will use their effectiveness after a year or so. And always, the best light for your chuckwallas is natural sunlight -- whenever possible, give them sunshine.

I hibernate my chuckwallas every winter. To do this, for seven days I give them heat, but no food. The next seven days they are kept at room temperature with no food. (You must allow their stomach to empty, if not you may face dire consequences.) I then keep them at 50° to 60°F [10° to 15°C] for two to three months. Following this period, I keep them at room temperature for ten days before I add any heat when bringing them out of hibernation.

Finally, my female chucks have laid between six and ten eggs. However, despite great success with other desert species, I haven't yet been able to hatch any chuckwallas yet, and they are rarely bred in captivity.