Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.
The numbers
Temperature
One ambient band, 24–31°C, dropping to 23–28°C at night. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.
The sheet states24-31 °C / night 23-28 °C / basking surface 50-50 °C
Humidity
The sheet states60-80% day, up to 100% night
UVB
The sheet statesStrong T5 (UVI 3–4); replace ~6 mo
Identity
Adult size
The size the sheet states for a grown animal.
Why
Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.
How common this animal is
Relative Google search interest for the species as a pet, 2020. The scale is relative within the study: 100 is the most searched reptile it measured, not a count of animals. Reptiles only, and only the species the study measured. An absent value means the study did not measure that species, not that nobody keeps it.
Valdez JW (2021), Using Google Trends to Determine Current, Past, and Future Trends in the Reptile Pet Trade, Animals 11(3):676
NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.
US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset
Enclosure and conditions
What your climate adds
This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.
Diet
Behaviour and handling
Reproduction
Life course
Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.
Why
The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own. The sheet also reports a record of about 25 years; that is a reported maximum, not the range to plan for.
Common health problems
When to see a vet
Good to know
- Grows from a tiny hatchling to 1.5 m+: one of the most abandoned/rehomed reptiles.
- Has a 'third eye' (parietal eye) on top of the head that senses light.
- A strict vegetarian giant: never feed it meat or insects.
- Grows from a tiny hatchling to 1.5 m+ — one of the most abandoned/rehomed reptiles.
- A strict vegetarian giant — never feed it meat or insects.
Common questions
Does it stay small?
No. 1.5 m+, needs a room-sized space.
Can I feed it meat/insects?
No: strict herbivore; protein harms the kidneys.
Beginner pet?
No: big, long-lived, demanding.
What it needs
Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.
- Room-sized tall enclosure
- Strong T5 UVB (UVI 3–4)
- High-wattage basking + guard/thermostat
- Misting system
- Greens + calcium
- Large water tub
- Hygro/thermometer
Sources
Others in this group
What this sheet states
This sheet states 6 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: enclosure size audit. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.
UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.