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  • Home
  • About iDigBio and the AR Collection Card Project
  • ARPEO Project
  • PROJECT REPORT 2022
  • Macrofungi: The Daisy Earthstar
    • New England Vascular Plants: The Cardinal Flower
    • Take a Closer Look: Reindeer moss
    • Take a Closer Look: Daisy Earthstars
  • The Consortia of North American Lichens and Bryophytes: Greygreen Reindeer Lichen
    • Keys to the Cabinet: SE Plants: The White-topped Pitcher Plant
  • Invertnet Collection Network: The Thorn Bug
    • Take a Closer Look: Thorn Bug Treehopper
  • Paleoniches: Brachiopods
  • Ammonite
  • iDigBio: Channel Catfish
  • Great Lakes Invasive Network: Zebra mussel
  • Tri-Trophic Thematic Collection Network: Stink Bug Parasitoid
  • Macroalgal: Elk Kelp
  • Insect Fossils: Tsetse Fly
  • SCAN: Earth-boring Scarab Beetle
  • InvertEBase: Carolina Mantis
  • EPICC: Fossil Crab
  • Animal Communication: Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Poweshiek Skipperling
  • RINGTAIL
  • Tarantula Hawk
    • Take a Closer Look: at the Tarantula Hawk
  • Sonoran Mantid
  • California Leaf-nosed Bat
    • Take a Closer Look: Bat Wings
  • Pipevine Swallowtail
    • Plants to attract Pipevine Swallowtails
  • Desert Hairy Scorpion
  • Gila Monster
  • Ocotillo
  • California Poppy
  • Anna's hummingbird
    • Plants to attract Hummingbirds
  • Monarch
    • Plants to attract Monarchs
  • Bumblebee
    • Plants to Attract Bumblebees
  • White-nosed coati
  • Asian Long-horned beetle
    • ALB Life Cycle
  • Learning Resources
    • Latitude and Longitude Game
  • Special Thanks
  • Give Us Your Feedback!
  • Contact Us
  • Specimen Cards
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TEST page
  • Human Evolution lab
  • Skull 8

GILA MONSTER: Did you know?

Picture
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Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum



Picture
​Gila monsters are slow-moving lizards that can grow up to a foot and a half long. They have black and pink stripes and bumpy skin, thick bodies, and short, thin legs.  The color patterns on their skin helps them camouflage under vegetation in the desert. Nothing else looks quite like them! 
There are only two venomous lizards in the world, and Gila monsters are one of them. However, they only bite to defend themselves. If you see a Gila monster, the best way to not get bitten is to watch them from a respectful distance.
Gila monsters live in the Sonoran Desert but you will rarely see them, since they live about most of their lives underground! When the weather gets cold in November they go into hibernation. When it starts to warm up in February or March, they come out to bask in the sun and hunt. Since Gila monsters are cold-blooded, they will only be out when it is warm.
Gila monsters need high-protein food, but they cannot chase fast-moving prey like other meat-eaters. Instead, they eat eggs from birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises, as well as newborn lizards, ground nesting birds, rabbits, hares, mice, and rats. They will also eat dead animals, or carrion.
Gila monsters can live for up to 35 years in captivity!
Gila monsters are protected by law, because there are people who like to collect them from the wild to keep or sell as pets. If everyone collected Gila monsters, there would be very few left. It is important to leave wild animals in the wild, where they belong. 



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