Reptile & Amphibian Forums

But I find them very interesting. I was wondering what you experienced Chuck keepers think about an outdoor enclosure.
see I live in the California Mojave Desert and I see Chucks very close to my home basking on lava rocks.
I want to keep a couple in an outdoor enclosure.
I have done my homework and looked up a couple basic caresheets
and also a few research papers put out by a couple institutesit was basically I'll I could find(I'm a research fanatic I tend to look up anything and everything I can possibly find).
I used to be in the Horned Lizard hobby for a couple years and kept them outside they did much better out doors than indoors.
But anyway I'll try and narrow it down.
Are any of you out there keeping your Chucks outdoors?
I know they have at least sometimes spent time in burrows
Do you think If I dig them a deep enough artificial burrow they'd be able to stay out there all year around?
The average winter nights in the coldest winter months are in the 30's. The Hottest Summer Months can get up to 115.
I know in the wild they desperately rely on rock crevices to survive.
I can't quite remember but i think from what I read it said a greater majority of their diet in the wild is the Creosote Bush.Particularly when the spring desert weeds become scarce.
can anyone confirm this to be true?
and Lastly do any of you have any advice for a new Chuck keeper that might not be written?
I would GREATLY appreciate any advice on this I can get.
thank you all for reading

Sorry about the delay in answering you you are very welcome here, glad to have you.

Yes there are some who keep their chucks out and I'm sure someone will jump in here and talk with you, just been a tad slow . Living on the east coast mine stay indoors so I can not advise ya on how to make your enclosure. But I do know you have to watch as they do dig themselves out and take off in some instances happened to a pal of mine.

Be patient, good and knowledgable Gang here( the people are nice too, hahahaha lol) you will get some help by days end

Enjoy the forum
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PHEve / Eve

Hi, Sorry about the late reply.
I have never kept chucks outdoors either. I think Gus at Rio Bravo Reptiles may know a lot more about the outdoor housing. If you check his website out, I think he has instructions on how to build an outdoor cage like his.
You live in a perfect place to house them outdoors all year round, as long as they can escape the temperature extremes.

As far as diet goes, I have found wild ones who were obviously eating creosote, as it stains their faces and chins. I would not say it is the main staple of their diet. They seem to be prety opportunistic about food. I have seen them in trees eating seed pods. A lot of their scat that I have seen in the field contains wild grasses. They also eat the leaves of ocotillo plants. It would be easier for you to just feed them a good mix of fresh leafy greens and various other veggies from the grocery store. Did one of the care sheets you found have a list of good veggies?

I hope this helps.
Nick

I would suggest checking out Agama International website. Bert Langerwerf was a pioneer on constructing out door terraria that are low maintenence. Or google him and terraria and you can find plans to build.

Thanks everyone for your reply's
and I'm very sorry for my extremely late response.
I'm still planning on get a chuck or 2 or 3. lol
but I'm going to wait a bit since I now have space for them indoors.