worlds best gila monster exhibit?

By about a million miles--I love "Life on the Rocks"

An impressive exhibit, but I hope no one whose last wish before dying is to see a Gila Monster will pick ASDM, the chance of spotting one is slim, to say the least.

They are also exhibited in a traditional terrarium situation in an older part of the ASDM, so that dying wish could be satisfied, together with those of us who prefer our gila monster viewing less pre-packaged.

Must be a pain in the neck when it comes to cleaning the exhibit or veterinary control & treatment of the animals...

Below the area in the picture are rock walls with underground burrows that have glass on front. There is usually one gila monster "locked" in this section and three more in the open section on top (according to a staff person I spoke with). So the one in the burrow is always visible.

Also, for those of you who read my other posts about this section being closed off during summer Saturday nights, a keeper told me they are working on additional path lighting and hope to reopen Life On The Rocks and Small Cat Canyon for night viewing this summer. YES!!!

Life on the Rocks literally embodies a new paradigm for keeping reptiles in captivity. Instead of being confined in tiny, easily-cleanable boxes, they have the option to seek out microclimates and vary their surroundings. Visitors "discover" the animals in ways not dissimilar from looking for them in the wild--lifting rocks, looking into crevices etc. It is brilliant, and a hundred times more stimulating and revealing of what reptiles are about than any "herpetarium" jewel-box collection I've ever seen.

The vast majority of ASDM's exhibits are brilliant, and the main reason why I consider the park to possibly be one of the best 10-15 zoos in North America. Almost everything is of an exceptionally high quality, and the surrounding desert adds to the ambience of the location.

This is an impressive set of exhibits. On my most recent visit though, we unfortunately were at this point of the museum right near closing so I was quite rushed and didn't really get to soak this exhibit complex in the way I would have liked.