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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Bill Chambers

Beaded Lizard

Heloderma horridum exasperatum

Physical Characteristics

  • One of only two types of poisonous lizards, beaded lizards have a dark body with yellow bands on the tail. There are small bumps (beads) covering the entire body. There are venom glands in the lower jaw.
  • Size of average adult
    • length: 36 inches
    • weight: 5 pounds

Diet

  • Wild: small mammals, birds, lizards and eggs

Behavior

  • Hunt for food year around
  • Primarily nocturnal (active at night)
  • Climb, burrow and swim
  • Reproduction
    • breeding season: February - March
    • lay eggs approximately 2 months later
    • incubation: 6 months

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: Subhumid tropics to arid areas
  • Distribution: Mexico, mostly along Pacific coast
  • Status: CITIES Appendix II
    • habitat destruction: slash and burn agriculture
    • suffocation in burrows: slash and burn agriculture
    • over collection

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