Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can someone compare for me a chuck vs. a uromastyx. I've kept uros before and know their quirks. Every picture I see of a chuck seems to depict an animal that is very lazy, basking most of the day but not very active. A few specific questions:

1. how active are the western chucks?

2. are the females much smaller than males? I want something that will not get bigger than one foot

3. are they skittish, in other words will they run and hide whenever you approach the cage like a lot of uros? Do they ever bite?

4. can you keep the cage less hot than a uro cage?

thanks in advance,
Dan

Here is one persons experience having and currently keep both.

1. Chucks are rock dwellers. Their safety and security depend upon someplace to hide if threatened so they spend a lot of time on Rocks. Captive are less weary and like to be out more often. Not all of them just "sit on their rock" all day long.
2. Typically the female is half to 3/4 the size of a male. There are exceptions here also but generally she is smaller.
3. Wild caught will depend upon the animal as to whether or not it is skittish. None of mine run and hide when approached. I have been bitten by wild caught never by captive. They bite if they feel threatened. Here again it varies by individual.
4. Uro is 105-130 basking and chuck is 90-105 or so. I have seen them active in AZ on 70 to 80 degree days. The rocks need to be warmer than the air temp so that they can warm up. They are definitely cooler yet they are found in areas well above 100 degrees although they are in their crevices usually in the middle of the day. My northern chucks like it cooler than my south mountain. Cooler is relative here however because it may only be 5 or 10 degrees.

Hope that helps, it is only my experience and others have different ones to share. Thats the beauty of this forum. I would definitely go captive bred, you will be much happier with that choice!

I don't have any uro experience, but I do have 1 cb and 1 wc chuck. I've had the wc for over a year, she still goes running if I reach in the cage, but doesn't wedge herself in a rock at the slightest provocation anymore, and usually doesn't retreat when I just approach the cage like she used to. My cb chuck doesn't budge when I reach in the tank unless he thinks I've got a mealworm for him in which case he comes strolling over. My guys are't too active, but they do really use the whole tank. Most of their activity seems to involve moving between the food dish and the two basking sites

-Alice