Habitats of this diurnal, semiaquatic, semiarboreal species include stream courses with considerable stands of trees still intact in Lowland Moist and Wet Forests and into Premontane Wet Forest (Savage 2002). It is an egg-laying species.

Range includes humid lowlands on the Atlantic versant from eastern Honduras to western Panama and on the Pacific versant in southwestern Costa Rica and adjacent Panama. In Costa Rica, this species is also found in the premontane zone of Río Reventazón valley, in the central area of the country (Savage 2002). Elevational range extends from near sea level to 775 meters (Wilson and Johnson 2010).

It is found in some protected areas. There is a need to monitor the harvesting of this species for the pet trade, although at present this does not appear to be a major threat (many in the trade are captive bred).