General information
The distribution of the Sauromalus hispidus,also called Angel Island Chuckwalla is on the Island “Isla Ángel de la Guarda” (Baja California, Mexico) and the surrounding Islands, San Lorenzo Norte en Sur Islands in the Gulf of California.

Habitat
The climate is characterised as a semi-desert to desert climate with large temperature differences between day and at night time. The area is very dry. The habitat consists mostly of rocks, trees and cacti, but there are always places with sand nearby for the females to lay eggs. The Angel Island Chuckwalla is very territorial, and lives in small groups of 1 man and several females. From December to March, they will hibernate. Chuckwallas are diurnal animals, mostly found basking on the rocks during the day. They will retreat to their caves when they sense any danger or when the temperatures get too high. If there are several dry years in a row this can lead to great numbers of death among the hispidus. The Angel Island Chuckwalla also likes to climb the trees and cacti in search for the flowers and the fruits.

Description
Sauromalus hispidus can have a total length of about 60 cm half of with is tail. An adult Angel Island Chuckwalla weighs about 1,5 kilo. They are sturdy, strong lizards with a big broad head and neck. The are great diggers and are often found in burrows. The have a dark brown almost black colour, and their body is covered with small spiny looking scales. This gives the Sauromalus hispidus his prehistoric appearance.

Housing
Chuckwallas are sun loving animals, and they are really active during the day, so it is recommended to provide a large enclosure with a minimum floor space of 250cm x 100cm. Kamiel keeps his hispidus in a cage with the dimensions : 290cm x 100cm x 75cm. The bigger the enclosure the easier it is to keep a temperature gradient that is good for these lizards. By making a back wall in the enclosure with several different levels you can create extra floor space. Play sand can be used as substrate, but also a clay sand mix with sand or peat. Provide a proper decorated dessert terrarium, you can use rocks or flagstones, etc, (make sure to secure them well so they can not fall and crush the animal) but also lighter material as stumps, branches and bark is used. provide adequate shelters (min. 1 per animal). Chuckwallas love narrow hides, keep this in mind when decorating your enclosure. As Chuckwallas are true sun lovers there can never be an excess of light in the cage. For the heating of my terrarium I use a 60 watt flood lamp, and a 100 Watt self ballasted ReptileUV UVB lamp. In order to create the right temperature gradient you must have more than 1 lamp. An average daily temperature should range between 30 ° C-32 ° C. Under the basking spot the temperature can go up to 55 ° C +, under the other spot 45 ° C. It’s important to have a temperature gradient in your enclosure, in other words make sure you have a hot spot for the animal to bask, and a cool end so your chuckwalla can regulate his own temperature. In the cooler places and in some shelters, the temp should be approximately 25 ° C to 29 ° C. A night temp of 15 ° to 20 ° is enough, so you probably do not have to worry about the night temps. During the summer months, I keep the lights on for approximately 12-14 hours a day. In winter times I slowly reduce this lighting to 6-8 hours of light a day. Very important in the chuckwalla enclosure is an UVB light bulb, I use a 100W self ballasted ReptileUV. Due to the UVB the animal will create D3 witch is important for its health. Besides that, lizards are able to see more colours than humans, some of witch are in the UVB spectrum.