Chuckwalla II

I found and caught a chuckwalla recently out in the Hayfield Road area off the I-10. I was looking for reptiles in anticipation of teaching a reptile and amphibian class for the Boy Scouts. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-80s. I was scanning the rocks as I hiked, looking for these wide-bodied reptiles that really stand-out, if you know what you are looking for. 

I've found that chuckwallas are quite curious. If you walk a few steps and wait, 

then walk a few more steps and wait, 

the chuckwalla will allow you to slowly get close to it. 

Even if they scramble out of sight for a moment, if you bide your time, they will eventually came back out to look you over. 

I took pictures as I moved closer. I ultimately was able to grab his tail while he tried to wedge himself in the rock and got a good enough hold that I was able to pull him out. 

The Sonoran Desert chuckwalla males, which have orangish to pinkish torsos, are prettier than the Mojave Desert chuckwalla males which are mostly black and gray. 

The female and immature chuckwallas are smaller and have scattered spots or bands of gray and yellow. I love their thick, sandpapery skin, with loose folds on the side, which allow them to greatly expand their bellies and wedge themselves in the cracks of rocks. Their tails are big and thick near the base, then taper to a blunt tip. They almost look like geoduck. The tails are thick and strong enough, that if you catch them near the base of the tail, the tail will not come off if you use it to pull them from rock crevices. Judy named the chuckwalla "Chuckie" and we had it for about three weeks. I set up a large aquarium with a large heatrock and a heatlamp and found that Chuckie loved the heat. 

Chuckwallas are primarily vegetarian, so I fed Chuckie spinach, some flowers, such as rose petals, and pieces of cut-up fruit and vegetables such as apples, banana, zucchini, and yellow squash. Chucky was not happy in captivity: he constantly scratched at the side of the aquarium and hung from the top of the wire mesh using his claws. While holding him, he would often flail away with his long sharp claws. I was happy to be able to take him back out to Hayfield Road and release him. 

As I reached into the bag to grab him, he bit me, the first time I've been bitten by a chuckwalla. 

What a magnificent lizard. 

I have posted previously on chuckwallas, but thought that this experience merited a separate post, rather than just an update of the old one. 

It was very fun to have a chuckwalla for a few weeks and get to know more about them.