Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male chuckwalla, almost 2 years old. He has always had a good appetite but for the past month has only picked at food when offered by hand. I have tried varying his diet with different fruit and veg but this hasn't helped. He appears to be in good general health. He has also been VERY aggressive with me for a few months now, though remains ok with my mother -who is abit wary of him after seeing my bite marks! I don't know if this is connected to the appetite thing or not. The local reptile vets have never heard of a chuckwalla, but we do have a specalist reptile vat in a nearby town that I could take him to, but I thought I would ask if there is anything I should try first. All help greatly recieved. Thanks

Please give us info on the tank set up. How large is his tank(include dimenstions), temps, type of lighting, what do you have in his set up (type of substrate,hiding spots, etc...), what was his normal diet, how long have you had him, was he WC or CB, how big is he (do you know how much he weiighs or how long he is snout to vent), how much is he presently eating when he is eating?

If he were eating more every other day that wouldn't suprise me, but if he's not eating much at all that's another thing.

All of this gives us a better picture of your lizard and what might be bothering him.

the cage is 4ft long, 18 inches high and a foot wide, the substrate is calci sand, I've had him nearly a year. The substratr is calci sand, he has a basking light , 2 hide spots, one at the cool and one at the warm end. I think hes about 7 or 8 inches snout to vent, but I've not actually measured. He is captive bred - in England, but I don't know the breeder.He has a 8.0 UV and the tank is set in a thermostat at 80 degrees. His diet has always been a mixture of leaves such as lollo rosso, romaine and ither types of lettuce, kale, broccoli, pepper, fruit once a week and a supplement once a week. He used to eat best part of ais bowl of food daily, but now is having the odd leaf or two every 2 or 3 days, with encouragement. Otherwise his behaviour patterns are as before. Thanks

He's not warm enough if the temp under the basking light is on 80 degrees F. It should be more like 100-105F ish. THe cool side of the tank is okay if it is 80-85F. He's sleepy and probably trying to bruminate. His schedule is messed up. A piece of slate under the basking light and increasing teh temp should improve his disposition. How long do you keep his lights on? Regular clean play sand, for future reference, works just fine and is usually much cheaper. He would do better is a wider tank (18-22 inches). He may be feeling a bit cramped as well as crabby.

You should notice a marked difference in his appetite and disposition in just a few days if you increase the temps and keep them at these levels for 12-14 hours in the summer. He may only eat significant amount every other day though after he readjusts. if this does not help I would get a fecal test done on him to make sure he's not got a parasite, but I think it is just a temperatuer issue. If he isn't warm enough for long enough periods of tiem it can hamper his ability to digest food properly and impare his immunity system.

Let us know how it goes. you might try one of the ceramic heaters to increase the temps. Remember to check regularlly as you do this to make sure the tank doesn't get too warm.