Gila monster Facts for Kids

Heloderma suspectum · hel-oh-DER-muh sus-PEK-tum

One of the few venomous lizards, and it stores fat in its tail.

🏃 1.5 mph2.4 km/h1
⚖️ 16 oz450 g2
📏 22 in56 cm2 long
🎂 20 years20 years1
🍽️ meat
Doing fine, for now (Near Threatened)

The Gila monster is a slow, chunky lizard with bumpy orange and black skin. It lives in the desert. Most of the time it hides in a burrow.

The Gila monster, said HEE-luh, has bumpy orange and black skin, a color pattern that warns other animals to stay away. It spends most of its time underground in a burrow or under a rock, out of the hot desert sun. Its tail stores fat, so it can live off its own body between meals when food is hard to find.

Gila monsters are among the few venomous lizards in the world, and their venom comes from glands in the lower jaw. They are shy and slow and spend most of the year underground, so they rarely meet people; if you ever see one, leave it alone. A medicine for people with diabetes was developed from a substance in Gila monster saliva. Laws in several states protect these lizards.

How big is a gila monster?

🧒 our measuring child, 4 ft1.2 m🦎 Gila monster, 22 in56 cm long

Gila monster in numbers

Length	22 in56 cm2maximum
Height at the shoulder	no checked number yet
Weight	16 oz450 g2
Top speed (crawling)	1.5 mph2.4 km/h1crawling/walking
How long it lives	20 years20 years1
What it eats	bird and reptile eggs, and small animals from nests and burrows
Where it lives	the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
What kind	Reptiles
Is it in danger?	Doing fine, for now (Near Threatened)3

A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.

Wow!

Its tail stores fat for lean times, a bit like a camel's hump.
A medicine for people was made from its saliva.
Its orange and black skin is a warning.

Compare the gila monster

Friends and neighbours

Three questions

What does the gila monster eat?

Tiny sea lifeMeatFish

The answer: Meat. It eats bird and reptile eggs, and small animals from nests and burrows.

Where does the gila monster live?

OceanDesertForest

The answer: Desert. It lives in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

Which is longer, the gila monster or the cheetah?

The gila monsterThe cheetahThey're the same

The answer: The cheetah. Look at them side by side on the compare stage.

Books about the gila monster, free at the library

Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the gila monster for free.

Where these numbers come from

Smithsonian's National Zoo, checked 30 October 2026.
National Park Service, Saguaro National Park, checked 30 October 2026.
Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
Wikidata, Gila monster (Q207058), checked 30 October 2026.