Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone help me with finding care information on the piebald chucks. I want to buy a trio and start a breeding program but wanted to get as much info as possible before I purchased them. Also does anybody know a reputable source to purchase them through. I won't be buying them until I am confident that I can care for them properly and I have their home set up (hopefully by the beginning of February) but would like to be able to contact a keeper/breeder in case I have any questions.
Thanks

I don't know who your planning on purchasing a trio from, I'm sure you know what your doing, but first of all these are highly protected animals, and you must fill out a ton of paperwork in order to get one of these. As far as I know there is one person I believe in Arizona that has some for sale, or did have some for sale, and even though I personally had the money ($750.00 each) the paperwork and the two to three months to get an o.k. to keep them I considered prohibative and let it go. I am not trying to disuade you, however their are many Angel Island CHuckwallas that are for sale at a reasonable price, Sauramolaus Hispidus and they get up to 24" long and do very well in captive care. I believe this would be an excellent choice for an exotic chuckwalla. Most of the people purchasing Varius are experts, Zoos, etc. I hope I'm not insulting you in anyway, as I have no idea as to your expertise in this field, but Angel Island Chuckwallas come from the same geographical area in Baja California and are readily avialble for under $175.00 each. I believe there is one guy selling unrelated pairs on Kingsnake.com. Perhaps Tom Greb could chime in on this as he has worked with these as well. Good luck if you decide to go forward with your purchase it will take some time to get your paperwork in. Most of the time you need to be affiliated with a Zoo, an institution of learning, or some other group in order to be o.k.'d to keep these--however it's not impossible. Hope this helps some. I will forward a brief care sheet I did for someone on the internet who was starting to work with Angel Island chuckwallas, this might help you.....Cheers!!!!
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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

Thanks for the info I actually found a breeder from Arizona that is helping me out with the steps that I need to take. I am willing to wait for the permit which is probably better anyway because it will probably take me a while to get their habitat set up and do more research on them. I think that more people should breed these beautiful lizards.