Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone know if chucks usually have very drab colors during the winter? My large male adult is extremely dull looking and has been for about a month or so. He is eating really well, and is behaving normally but just looks really colorless.

I know that the reds and oranges will be brighter in spring, but there is almost none of either color on him at the moment. His tail is also very dark... not the usual creamy tan color.

Any thoughts???

Thanks,
-Kory

Hi Kory,
My mainland chuckwalla remain pretty much normal color
just not quite as bright throughout the winter months.

Could be all that rain we've been having the last few days
not to mention the drop in temps that would be contributing
to his lack of "normal color".

I can't really check my red back males at this time as they're
all down for at least another month of cooling but I do have
a pic I took in Feb of last year showing one of my Crater
Range males and his colors were up to snuff even in early
Feb. I believe I warmed them up for one short day just to
check on them and just happened to pop him in my photo
booth for this shot.

I'm assuming your male in question is in his normal/heated
cage and was not cooled in anyway?

John

Yeah, he is in his regular cage, and he is plenty warm. He did brighten up a bit when I took him out a few weeks ago... before Christmas. We had a few days that were in the low 80's.

I may need to replace the UV bulbs in his cage. They might be getting weak.

That is a really nice pic. My chucks look much different. They are much darker in the mid section.. black, and have lots of cream, gray, and blood red speckles. Some of the adults I have seen also have kept much of the black banding on the tail. The area I frequent also seems to have extremely large chucks that have higher orange mid sections, completely lack any red, and the rear legs usually are not very "black". All of the females that I have encountered are completely speckled, including most of the tail.

I once spent nearly four hours trying to pull one of these guys out of the rocks. The base of his tail was massive.. an easy 1 1/2 diameter. The lizard was easily pushing 2ft long. I spent many trips over a few years trying to catch that guy. In fact my last trip out... April/May... that was who I was looking for!!

Anyway, a bit off topic there... Nice pic!

-Kory

Hey John, How long do you normally hibernate your chucks for? What the routine? When do you bring them out? Do they breed every year or every other year? I hatched a few 2 years ago and thought that I better prepared them this last year and had no success. Now I have them cooled but not quite hibernating and wondering what the best approach would be for the upcoming season. You obviously have had great success no any info would help. Thanks....Travis