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Location:

Children's Trail - Small Wonders building

Small Wonders - Reptiles & Insects

**Animals in Small Wonders may change frequently. Last updated: 4/7/2026


Moving counterclockwise (to the right) around building:

  • Boyd's Forest Dragon

  • Giant Cave Cockroach 

  • Madagascar Hissing Cockroach 

  • Two-Spotted Assasin Bug

  • Gooty Sapphire Ornamental Tarantula 

  • Brazilian Salmon Pink Bird-Eating Tarantula 

  • Emperor Scorpion

  • Black Tree Monitor 

  • Madagascar Flat-Tailed Tortoise - hatchling

  • Radiated Tortoise - hatchling*

  • Giant Horned Lizard

  • Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake

  • Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

  • Collared Lizard

  • West African Gaboon Viper*

  • Henkel's Leaf-Tailed Gecko 

  • Standing's Day Gecko

*Click READ MORE or scoll down for picture

Identifying Features:

  • Tortoise hatchlings may flip over. They will flip themselves back over given time.

History:

  • Received Gaboon Viper from AZ Fish & Game ~9/2022. Ownership transferred to Phx Zoo ~12/2022.

  • Radiated Tortoise hatched 12/25/22 as part of SSP recommended breeding

  • Received 2 Henkel's leaf-tailed geckos from Riverbanks Zoo & Aquarium 4/2024




More Information:

Boyd's Forest Dragon

  • Australia's Tropics

  • Arboreal

  • Easily abducted from environmnet



Giant Cave Cockroach 

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach 

  • Adults have wings and can fly. Will flash wings in display to one another

  • Very clean, make soil

  • Pushes air out of sphericals on their abdomen which makes hissing sound

  • Important as food source and as decomposers



Two-Spotted Assasin Bug

  • Venomous predatory true but of west and southwest Africa

  • Prey typically consists of cockroaches, crickets, flies, darkling beetles and caterpillars.

  • Needle-like mouth used to suck juices from leaves and other insects

  • Inject their saliva into prey which liquifies the tissue, allowing them to suck up fluids



Emperor Scorpion 

  • Native to rainforests and savannas in West Africa

  • One of the largest scorpions in the world

  • Lives 6-8 years

  • Black body, but glows pastel green or blue under ultraviolet light


Blue Death Feigning Beetles

  • Darkling beetle native to Southwest notably the Sonoran desert

  • Adapted to hot environments

  • Omnivorous - dead insects, fruits, lichen, and other plant matter

  • When threatened, able to feign death

  • Becoming popular in pet trade due to ease of care, hardiness, and longevity

  • Blue color is natural sunscreen


Tarantulas

  • Hairs can come off and be irritating 


Black Tree Monitor 


Galapagos Tortoise (Iguana Cove)


Louisiana Pinesnake 


Speckled Rattlesnake 


Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake


Radiated Tortoise Hatchling

  • Adults located mixed exhibit near King Vultures and temporarily in Meerkat exhibit


West African Gaboon Viper

  • Blends in with the leaves - so look carefully!

  • Calm, rarely bites humans

  • Bite can be fatal

  • Fangs 2 inches long, longest of any venomous snake

  • Broad head mimics a fallen leaf

  • Largest vipers in Africa, weighing more than 45 lbs and reaching lengths of more than 6 ft.

  • Can have heads nearly 6 inches across at widest point



Malagasy Leaf-Tailed Gecko

Henkel's Leaf-Tailed Gecko 

  • From Madagascar

  • Lay bodies flat to blend in

  • Will open mouth and scream at predators

  • Vulnerable - threatened by deforestation and pet trade


Standing's Day Gecko

  • From Madagascar





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