Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious if the insular chucks would be tolerant of the humidity here in south FL? They would be housed outdoors year round. I just want to be certain they will thrive in my climate. I'm not really wanting to experiment with the animals well being.
Thanks,
Ron

Hey Ron!

My gut tells me not for the long haul. While the Angel Island, and San Esteban chucks are a little more tolerant of humidity, based on their native habitats, they both come from extremely dry desert like islands. They do get a fair amount of humidity during the summer monsoon season, but those wet spells are somewhat short. To counter this argument you could look at Rock and Rhinoceros Iguanas. All of these giants come from islands that are found in a very tropical portion of the world, however the Rhino Iguana is said to come from one of the driest "deserts" with the highest levels of UV light! These Iguanas do extremely well anywhere, especially Florida!

The things that you would want to keep an eye on would be respiratory infections/diseases, and external sores, which are usually fungal infections due to high humidity.

Other types of reptiles to look at for comparison might be the Uromastyx, and Bearded Dragons. They are often times compared to Chucks. How do these types do in your area. You would probably find that any of the Chucks will do about the same.

I would give it a try regardless of my gut, if things don't work out you would always be able to house it inside with drier conditions or sell/trade it.

While I am not an expert, nor have I had the pleasure of raising
either S.Varius or S. Hispidus I have taken risks and chances
that ended up being well worth it in the end.

Just my 2cents,
-Kory

Near as I can research, Relative humidity there is 30-55%
Here is 55-65% in the afternoons, much higher in the morning and eve averaging 82-84%. That doesnt seem THAT bad.
A concern is rainfall. We recieve more in one tropical depression they do in an entire year.
Thank you for the input...and any one experimenting with humidity and NA chucks, your input is also appreciated.
Ron

The rainfall would not be an issue, so much as the humidity that comes once the ground saturates and heats up. It's very similar to what they would experience on their native islands, except that the moisture evaporates and soaks into the desert soil much more rapidly.

You might just set up a cage inside for the wetter season!

-Kory

Howdy-I live near San Antonio and have been keeping Angels for years since the early 70's, and when I moved to Texas I had a Trio of Angels, and one of them the Male--I lost, it is my considered opinion the contributing problem was indeed the humidity had respiratory issue and the vet also had the same opinion. SO here is my suggestion.... If you keep them outside, Make sure they have a deep cage say three feet wide so when or if it rains and you don't get a tarp over it the rain will keep the back of the cage relatively dry. This seemed to work for me, of course I was always around for rain and covered it with a tarp. But my concern is in the fall and winter it would also be my opinion you should winter these in the garage. IF you have a good tight garage, having them in a large container with a UVB bulb and a basking bulb will work fine. When it drops down real cold they will stay in their den, as the temps are cooler they will come out through the winter from time to time and lay out and bask for a bit but they seem to do well this way in my opinion. Keeping them outside for the whole year, I would not do. Again you need to really think out your caging with respect to the elements. Other issue, is that Angels are not part and partial to the sun as much as Desert Chucks, They come out in the morning go down for the heat of the day and come out in the afternoon often that is their normal daily m.o. So be careful there is a cool spot on you caging area outside so they can get out of the sun. While you will get many different ideas about the cage size, I kept mine in a 3ft wide by 6 ft long by 24 inches high outside cage made of 2 x 4 and vinyl coated wire mesh, 1/2inch. This worked well. To much wood coverage on the whole cage sends the temps up soaring. However let me caviot that with one end I had covered completely top and sides so when the rain came the lizards could find shelter, They like rocks and especially for over all health a hide is an excellent idea. In nature these lizards dig dens so not duplicating a hide or a place of their own is missing the boat on husbandry for these. I also provided a large branch the size of the lizards width and they often would lay on it and bask. These are very hardy lizards and healthy lizards seldom get sick, but my male was totally doing fine and then in two days he just went down for the count and was sick and eventually expired, and anti-biotic that were administered did not turn him around.... I also had some URO'S here that I kept in California for years with no problems and several got respiratory problems and I ended up getting rid of them as I felt unless I set up a micro climate in the house or garage, they were not going to do well with the humidity. It was my choice. So all I am saying there are a lot of people with South western lizards including myself (fringe-toed Sand Lizards) that are having a good experience with them here in Texas. I just am giving you my experience with the angels, and my current lizards are in the garage and the humidity is kept in check due to the micro environment in each cage and the garage is drier than outside.......Cheers!!
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