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Atlas / Library / Agamidae / Masked Horned Tree Lizard
IntermediateDiurnal · active nowIUCN LC
Agamidae

Masked Horned Tree Lizard

Acanthosaura crucigeraกิ้งก่าเขาหนามภูเขาMountain Horned Dragon

Photograph: Dan Vickers · CC BY

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.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Masked Horned Tree Lizard is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 102 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/acanthosaura-crucigera

‹ All husbandry guides
Adult size25–30 cm

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m25–30 cm
1520100400 cm
25–30 cmNose to tail, adult

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.

Family / Order
Agamidae / Squamata
Origin
Adult size
25–30 cm
Lifespan (captivity)
8–10 yrs
Activity
Diurnal; arboreal
Temperament
Calm, cryptic: display species

How common this animal is

53,578Live individuals in declared US trade filings

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

Basking
30–32 °C (86–90 °F)
Ambient
24–27 °C (never > 29 all-day)
Humidity
70–80% (mist 2–3×/day)
UVB (required)
Yes
Min. size
45 × 45 × 60 cm+ vertical, planted
Furnishings
Branches, foliage, leaf litter
Water
Dripper / misting (drink droplets)

Diet

Diet type
Insectivore — variety essential
Staple insects
Crickets, roaches, earthworms (love)
Calcium
Dust + UVB

Behaviour and handling

HandlingMinimal: arboreal display
CohabitationSolo (or pair with space)
DefenseSpiky crest, gape; rarely bites

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
8–10 yrLifespan in care
110–150 dIncubation
10–15Clutch
8 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

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.

Reproduction
Oviparous
Clutch
10–15 eggs
Incubation
~110–150 days

Common health problems

Dehydration
Signswon't drink standing water
Preventdripper + misting
Respiratory infection
Signscool + damp + stagnant
Preventventilation + correct temps
Metabolic bone disease
Signspoor UVB/Ca
PreventUVB + calcium
Parasites
Signscommon in wild-caught
Preventchoose captive-bred

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear (open-mouth breathing, months of weight loss, 'stargazing', persistent regurgitation) consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Good to know

  • Master of camouflage: its spiny crest and colours mimic mossy branches.
  • A cool-running tropical species: overheating is a common keeper mistake.
  • Master of camouflage — its spiny crest and colours mimic mossy branches.
  • A cool-running tropical species — overheating is a common keeper mistake.

Common questions

Beginner lizard?

Intermediate: humidity + cool temps must be precise.

Handleable?

Best as a display species.

What it needs

  • Vertical planted terrarium
  • UVB + basking + thermostat
  • Dripper + mister
  • Branches & leaf litter
  • Calcium + feeders
  • Hygro/thermometer

Sources

Dubia.com — Mountain Horned DragonReptiles Magazine — Mountain Horned Dragon

Others in this group

Bearded DragonPogona vitticepsOriental Garden LizardCalotes versicolorRankin's DragonPogona henrylawsoniFrilled dragonChlamydosaurus kingiiOrnate UromastyxUromastyx ornataSudan UromastyxUromastyx disparEgyptian UromastyxUromastyx aegyptiaSailfin DragonHydrosaurus pustulatus

What this sheet states

46%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 4 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: thermal rail and temperature audit, humidity instrument and audit, 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.