Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I am new to the forum. Just thought I would share a pic of my new Chuckwalla outdoor setup here in Nevada. I have 1 male and 2 females in the set up and just observed mating a few days ago. Hoping to get a nice clutch of eggs and hatchlings. I raised chucks back in the 90's and had several catches of eggs, but all proved to be infertile. I think this time I will leave the eggs in the cage to hatch on their own, any thoughts?
These animals are wild caught nearby and all are doing well. I have some pics of wild one's in their natural habitat and some mating if their is interest. Not sure how to post more than 1 pic at a time though?.....
" alt="Image">

Yeah would be interested in any chuck and habitat shots. I don't know how to post multiple pics but who cares put one in per post. I just reply to my own post and put the pic in that line so they are at least all in the same post. LOL. Look forward to the pics.

Tom Greb

Thanks Tom.
Nevada wild female chuck eating desert Marigold from the safety of her rock shelter......
" alt="Image">

Nevada wild male chuck. A big guy at 17" TL, 8" SV and 14.5 oz weight. I caught this animal for a friend who has a female Hispidus but no male Hispidus to breed it with. The female Hispidus is considerably larger than this male and we assumed the male might be intimidated and not breed. We were wrong! He recently bred with the Hispidus. My friend has been looking to buy a male Hispidus with no luck, any tips?...
" alt="Image">

I will try to help find you a male hispidus.

Thanks Tom. Actually a Calico or Varius male would be fine also. Deerfarms may have a clutch of Calicos this year, but no confirmation yet.

Although people have talked about cross breeding with Island chucks and aters, I have not seen a single picture or heard anybody say the mating proved successful with viable offspring. Anybody out there got proof? Love to see some pics!

Hi Maureen they do occur in the wild, on Alcatraz Island. Not naturally. All 3 species were put there by the Seri Indians. You need to get the book, "Singing the Turtles to the Sea" by Gary Paul Nabhan. I picked a really nice used hard cover up on ebay for like 7 bucks shipped. It is a great book and I really think you would like it. It is one of my favorite books.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC2.Xsinging the turtles to the sea.TRS0&_nkw=singing the turtles to the sea&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Tom

Thanks Tom! I will look for it. Have you ever seen a "hybrid" Chuck before? (Besides Calicos) Ater to Insular??

No not in the hobby but have seen pics in several books from ALcatraz. Lee Grismer's book A&R of Baja and in the book mentioned above. Actually pretty ugly but not the best picturews so it is really hard to tell. It would be cool to see a hispidus size red back though! Paleoman's son may have a few good eggs though so we will see.
Tom

Now THAT would be awesome!!!!!!

Captive Chuckwalla breeding from last week. I previously had a different male in the cage with the 2 females. However, he did no head bobbing and seemed to have no interest in breeding. The male in this pic is a wild animal and was placed in the cage to stimulate breeding. It worked! Both animals began head bobbing as soon as they saw each other. The wild male ran over to the older captive male and bit him, than saw the female and immediately mated with her. They were paired up over 10 minutes, longer than I suspected. He then went over to the food dish and ate 2 Coreopsis and a Hisbiscus. Possibly the tamest Chuckwalla I have ever seen, shows no signs of fear when I approach. I released the other male in the wild where I had found him.....
" alt="Image">

Awesome pics and stories Paleo. A little hint as far as the hispidus-It seems like the presence of 2 males really get things going. Some of the breeders I know think that is key. Not that they won't if only one male is around but it really increases the probability. That first male is awesome. I am looking for a female from a locale were the animals stay banded as adults such as that guy. I have a really nice banded male but no female. I don't want to breed him to just any locale.

Did your friend get hybrid eggs? Are you familiar with the Ireteba Mtns? Been there a few times and the chucks and the scenery is absolutley beautiful. I work almost exclusive me with red backs from one locale now. Gave up on the varius and hispidus due to space considerations here in MI. Also gave up on the carrot-tails just because I am tired of the e-mails from people saying I am a poacher and I am breaking the law etc. Tired of explaining myself!

Anyway great stuff! Keep it coming as long as you dont get bored! LOL. Also I think NV has the biggest variation in colors of chucks. Red backs in the extreme south then all sorts of black and brown variation. When I was out there in 200 I went to a locale north of the reange maps where there were cindercones and the chucks were almost entirely black-tails and all. Really cool stuff. I was friends with a guy named Steve Ferrand. He was a commercial collector in NV. Man he took me to some cool spots most of which I wouldn't have a clue how to get to now.

Thanks again for sharing.
Tom

Yeah, that male from the first picture is probably the nicest male I have seen out there. Most of the males are banded but are darker in color, like the one in the mating pic. I can try to find you a female from this area if you like, let me know. I have been going out there weekly for the past 3 months, mostly to take pics and video. Females are few are far between right now. I usually see around a dozen animals lately and they are usually all males basking or probably more likely marking their territory. Females and juveniles were more common in March/April and the few that I have seen lately were out browsing, not basking.

No hybrid eggs yet, but it has only been a couple weeks since mating took place. If it takes the hatchlings may have nice coloring, sure will be exciting to see what they look like!

Thanks for the tip on the Ireteba Mtns, I will have to check that out. My friend and I are heading out to Pisgah crater in California on Monday for a few days in search of a red back. I am not sure where the best CA redbacks come from but I know there are some reddish backed chucks in that area so we will check it out. ...

chuckwalla@frontier.com. Maybe I can help. Aren't the Pisgah crater animals known for their jet black coloration with white tails? Do you make it to AZ much? They have the best redbacks.

I have a male calico and possibly a male hispidus available.

Thanks Tom, I will sent you an email....

Great pics and info Paleo. Have you had any problems with the chucks crawling up the bricks? I hope you get a giant fertile batch of eggs!
-----

Sorry---I was looking closer at your picture and saw the clear corregated roofing material that keeps the chucks in...I use the stame style stuff---works super.
-----

Thanks Gus. My set up was modified several times. I underestimated the jumping and digging abilities of chucks! My first set up was around 8" lower. 1 chuck leaped out and escaped. I raised the walls 2 bricks higher. Incredibly, 2 weeks later I found her back in the cage! She apparently either slipped or leaped back in. The other problem was digging, the soil is rocky but the big male spent a lot of time trying to dig under and my plastic only goes under a few inches. I decided to mix some cement with the soil at around 5/1 ratio and pour it a couple inches deep and out to around 6" out away from the wall around the entire inner perimeter. Sprayed the mix with water to harden it. It worked. Looks like dirt but is solid enough to prevent digging. The chucks no longer try to dig out. I have no top on the cage and so far no predation from cats or birds. One problem is the set up acts as a trap for wild lizards. I recently found 2 small desert Spiny lizards in the cage!
No eggs yet, but I have 2 females that look like they should lay any day now!....

Hello, its look very nice what for chuckwallas to you keep?
S.ater or S. hispidus or S.varius`?

cheers hannes
Link