Gila Monster
Range: Southern tip of Nevada and Utah south into extreme southwestern California into Arizona and western New Mexico and North Western Mexico.
Habitat: Dry shrub lands and deserts, including lower mountainous terrain and some dry forested habitats.
Reproduction: Maturity reached between 3-5 years, females lay 3-13 eggs in the spring. Incubation takes about 4 months, young hatch out fully prepared for life.
Diet: Small rodents, bird eggs and nestlings, insects, lizards, and carrion.
Our Gila Monster
Turtle Bay’s Gila monster arrived in October 2018 after he was discovered in someone’s yard in Happy Valley. It is unknown how he got there or how old he is.
Fun Facts
Gila monsters are named after the Gila River in Arizona.
The venom glands on a Gila monster are located on the bottom jaw. Grooved teeth help to deliver the venom into the victim, and they will sometimes chew and roll over to increase the flow.
Gila monster venom is thought to be used more as a defense rather than for obtaining food. They will often raid rodent nests underground and eat the immobile young, or can be seen climbing into cacti to raid a bird nest for eggs.
Their bite is incredibly painful but rarely deadly to humans. There is no antivenin produced for Gila monster bites.
Gila monsters often get a bad rap in folklore, and are portrayed as an evil animal. Some stories claim they spit venom, sting with their tongue, jump several feet to attack, or can kill you with just their poisonous breath.
Gila monsters spend most of their time in rocky burrows and may only come out 4-6 times a year in search of food. During the hot summer they may be more active at night, and on a warm winter day are sometimes observed sunning just outside of their burrow.
The venom of the Gila monster has been used to produce diabetes medications. The protein that allows a Gila monster to stabilize its blood sugar during fasting has been found to increase insulin production in Type 2 diabetics.