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Atlas / Library / Iguanidae / Chuckwalla
Iguanidae

Chuckwalla

Sauromalus ater

Traceable. The figures above appear in the page we cite, which we opened on 10 Aug 2026. That means you can check them, not that we have confirmed they are right. thebiodude.com

Photograph: Mike Ostrowski · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. The sheet states a night temperature, so the rail follows it.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 102 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/sauromalus-ater

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature26–31 °C
Humidity15–65 %
Enclosure122×61×61
Diet1 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
26–31°Cool side
18°Night
Warm side: not in our data

The cool side, 26–31°C, dropping to 18°C at night. This sheet states the cool side only. It gives no warm side or basking figure, so the hot end is not in our data. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet statescool 26-31 °C / night 18 °C

Humidity

15–65%Target RH

The sheet statesbetween 15-65%

UVB

T5 14%required

The sheet statesArcadia T5 HO Dragon 14% UVB | UVI (UV Index) of 4.5-6.0 | basking area 9-11" below the UVB bulb, the distance should be increased to 14-16" if you want to mount your UVB inside the enclosure

Identity

Origin

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

15–65 % RHUVB tube4 ft2 ft
UVB tube
50100150200 cm
4 × 2 × 2 ft · 122 × 61 × 61 cmWidth × depth × height
74dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our dataWater: not in our dataWarm side: not in our dataHides: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesno smaller than a front-opening 4'L x 2'W x 2'H (120 gallon) enclosure

Temperature
cool 26–31 °C / night 18 °C
Humidity
15–65%

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 1 dAs the sheet states
28Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesroughly 85% plants, 5% dry foods, and 5% seeds and insects | Juvenile chuckwallas should be fed daily while they are growing. After about 1 year, this should be reduced to 4-5x/week

Common questions

Does it bite?

Very rarely. When it is scared it runs into a rock crack and puffs up instead of fighting.

What does it eat?

Vegetarian: leafy greens, flowers and a little veg. Adults need no insects at all.

What equipment do I need?

A dry enclosure with a stack of stable flat rocks, a strong basking area and UV lighting. Make sure the rocks cannot topple.

How long do they live?

Fifteen to twenty-five years is normal, sometimes longer.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 122 × 61 × 61 cmbecause enclosure — no smaller than a front-opening 4'L x 2'W x 2'H (120 gallon) enclosure
A thermometerbecause temp — cool 26-31 °C / night 18 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause temp — cool 26-31 °C / night 18 °C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — between 15-65%
UVB 14-14% (T5), stated as requiredbecause uvb — Arcadia T5 HO Dragon 14% UVB | UVI (UV Index) of 4.5-6.0 | basking area 9-11" below the UVB bulb, the distance should be increased to 14-16" if you want to mount your UVB inside the enclosure
Not stated: The heat sourcethis sheet names only the cool side: « cool 26-31 °C / night 18 °C »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

thebiodude.com — lu le 2026-08-04gbif.org — lu le 2026-08-08

Others in this group

Green IguanaIguana iguanaGreen AnoleAnolis carolinensisChinese Crocodile LizardShinisaurus crocodilurusRhinoceros IguanaCyclura cornutaDesert iguanaDipsosaurus dorsalisKnight AnoleAnolis equestrisArmadillo Girdled LizardOuroborus cataphractusLong-tailed Grass LizardTakydromus sexlineatus

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.