This diurnal rock-dwelling species is found in wadis in mountainous rocky desert with Acacia trees. It retreats to cracks and crevices between large boulders, and sometimes burrows into the beds of wadis. It is generally not present in cultivated areas. The species mainly feeds on Acacia leaves and climbs these trees. It tends to live in colonies, often in holes.

This species ranges from southeastern Egypt (with a northernmost record of Wadi Gul'an) and the Red Sea coast of northern Sudan (Lanza 1990) inland to Dongola and Um Durman (Wilms and Böhme 2000) into Eritrea, Djibouti and the Borama District of northwestern Somalia, as well as immediately adjacent areas of Ethiopia (Wilms et al. 2009, Largen and Spawls 2006, Largen and Spawls 2010). Records of Uromastyx macfadyeni from the Guban (Somalia) are instead attributable to this species (Wilms and Böhme 2007). Within this range, the species is often found in isolated subpopulations due to the species' habitat requirements (S. Spawls pers. comm. 2011). The single record from Djibouti (originally attributed to O. macfadyeni based on comparisons with specimens from the Guban, now considered to belong to U. ocellata) is from Wadi wada Weyn, in the Ali Sabieh region (Ineich 2001).

This species is listed in Appendix II of CITES. Egypt has banned the export of this species. An export quota is in place in Ethiopia, which was of 500 animals in 2005 (reduced from 3,600) (CITES 2006), although annual exports have never reached this level (UNEP-WCMC). There are protected areas within its range, including three protected areas in Egypt covering about 50% of the species' national range. Monitoring of harvest, trade and population status of this species is  needed to ensure that excessive collection for the pet trade does not cause serious population declines at local scales, and particularly in Sudan. Implementation of effective national legislation on the harvest and trade of this species is recommended.