This species favours arid and semi-arid regions (Wilson and Swan 2013), and habitats ranging including sand and spinifex deserts in central Australia (Cogger 2014). It has also been found in shrubland (Cogger 2014), including mallee and Acacia woodland with heavy debris in Dryandra State Forest and the Great Western Woodland (Pianka and Pianka 1970, C. Sanderson pers. comm. 2017). Prefers habitats with sand or sandy loam soil (Pianka and Pianka 1970). This species is diurnal (Cogger 2014) and feeds only on ants (Wilson and Swan 2013). Clutch size ranges from three to ten eggs with a mode of eight. It has been estimated that individuals naturally live to at least six years of age, and up to 20 years of age in captivity (Pianka and Pianka 1970).

This species' range extends from the coast of Western Australia through the interior of the country, including the southern half of the Northern Territory, most of South Australia and a small portion of far-western Queensland (Cogger 2014). There is some dispute over the extent of the range in Western Australia, with some suggesting it is not a continuous range all the way from the coast to the interior, but rather restricted to the inland desert regions of Western Australia (Wilson and Swan 2013). It is nevertheless considered to be somewhat continuous in most of the Western Australian range (P. Doughty and M. Craig pers. comm. 2017).

This species range coincides with protected areas such as the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve.