Bitterbrush and pinyon-juniper are marginal habitats. Diet includes seeds of grasses, forbs, and shrubs, leafy vegetation, and some insects. Burrows are excavated in sandy or gravelly soil at the bases of shrubs or edges of rocks.
Water is obtained metabolically from food, and from moisture in food.
Desert scrub flats with moderate canopy coverage and gravelly soils are preferred. Like other heteromyids of its size, shows reduced surface activity in periods of food stress and cold spells. Territory probably equals home range. Litter size averages 2-4. Some sympatric heteromyids are Microdipodops spp., D. microps, D. panamintinus, Perognathus parvus, and P. Iongimembris.