Description:
Scientific name: Heloderma suspectum
Life span: 20 or more years
The Gila monster, also known as Heloderma suspectum, is a type of venomous lizard. The creature has a huge, robust cranium. Their bodies are covered in brightly colored scales called osteoderms that give them their distinctive black, pink, and yellow or orange coloring. The other subspecies have a reticulated pattern of light and dark patterns, whereas banded Gila monsters have additional continuous bands of yellowish or orange scales.
Native Region/Habitat
The range of gila monsters extends into Sonora from southern and western Arizona. Moreover, they can be found in southern Nevada, extreme southeast California, southwestern New Mexico, southwestern Utah, and southwestern Utah.
They typically inhabit scrublands, saline deserts, and oak woodlands. These reptiles prefer to hide under vegetation, burrows, and under rocks in moist places rather than in open spaces.
Behavior:
Gila monsters are solitary, timid reptiles that prefer to hide out in caves or rocky shelters. The medium-sized lizards have maximum physical capacity and strong endurance despite their lethargic character. Gila monsters are still active throughout the daytime in the summer and in the spring. They are active at night when the weather is quite warm, but in the winter they spend all of their time in their burrows. Due to their informal social arrangements, they hardly ever share shelters.
The lizard hisses and opens its mouth widely to warn off potential predators. The male lizards wrestle each other in an effort to win females. The male who is the biggest and strongest wins. When they do eat, which is infrequently, they may consume up to one-third of their body mass. These lizards scale trees in search of bird nest eggs.
Care As a pet/In captivity:
Enclosure:
The reptile should be kept in a cage with a floor area of 3.5 square feet that is relatively large. The gila monster needs to have a proper thermal gradient, with a cool area at one end and a warm, comfortable area at the other. The temperature should be between 85°F and 90°F at the warm end and around 70°F at the cool end. The cage must have a screen lid to stop it from escaping.
Food:
Adult males and non-breeding females are typically fed every two weeks. The females are fed twice a week when mating season is in progress. Water should be maintained in a big, difficult-to-turn container.
Temperature and Humidity: The ideal temperature range for a Gila monster is as follows. The cage should have a warm side maintained in the upper 80s and a cool side in the low 80s for Gila monsters. A basking area that is between 90 and 95 degrees should also be offered. Temperatures at night may drop as low as 75 degrees. Suggest keeping your pet Gila monster’s level between 50% and 60%.
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