New Gila Monster and info
Well figured it was time to let this guy have his own thread that I can update and folks can ask questions on. After talking with my wife, and consulting with folks who maintain our collection when we travel, we made the decision to add one of my bucket list reptiles to the group! Gila Monsters are lazy lizards that is sometimes confused with being docile in nature. Truth be told, they rarely bite unless highly molested, but when they do bite tragedy can occur. Drop for drop the Gila Venom is as potent (LD50) as a Western Diamondbacks. The fortunate side of that story, however, is their bite is rarely capable of delivering the needed amount of venom to cause systemic issues aside from standard issues surrounding what most consider a dry to low yield bite from a venomous snake. In our bite protocol study on the species, 80% of victims who were envenomated (60% of bite victim cases reported) were seen with localized pain and swelling. As we add symptoms the affected percentages drop tremendously. Things such as: increased heart rate, nausea, diarrhea, shock.
Because their is no antivenin presently made for Gila Monsters, treatment usually only involves treating the systemic symptoms as they arise. The largest threat to life when dealing with Gila Monster bites is the risk of anaphylactic reactions. Not a single fatality can be attributed directly to the result of a Gila Bite, and most bites were caused by captive specimens or of course individuals handling wild specimens. Further, roughly 60% of the cases studied showed alcohol to be present.
Without further reading, allow me the pleasure of introducing our newest family member: Chomper (named so from the character in the land before time).
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Head shot.
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And of course, a bow since this was a gift from my wife to me for early Christmas.
Working on building him a desert burrow habitat, so will keep this posted as it progresses :) any questions, let me know!
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Re: New Gila Monster and info
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Reinz
Thanks for the great info.
In the 60's Gila Monsters seemed to be a big thing. They were scripted into a lot of movies and TV. As I remember, a bite would ensue instant death all of time. :D
They could also spit venom at you and their breath was toxic enough to kill 50 men.
Fun fact: the Latin name suspectum comes from the Latin meaning of suspect. This was due to the namer suspecting it was venomous. Heloderma means bony skin. Which is what the beads are - bones.
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Re: New Gila Monster and info
Love these guys, would love to own one. Unfortunately they are illegal here:(((
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Re: New Gila Monster and info
Yeah Gila have a lot of regulations around the US.
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Re: New Gila Monster and info
Very cool. I always thought their patterns looked like Indian or Incan art/hieroglyphics. I am sure if you look close enough you'll find Kokopelli in there somewhere. Congrats on your new addition and I hope you are getting something equally awesome for the misses.
Re: New Gila Monster and info
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Najakeeper
Amazing animal.
I kept a few of these and I need to get back to it for sure.
With careful handling, they get super docile in time.
Docility not to be mistaken with lazy... He's already incredibly calm once out of his enclosure. He only hisses when I startle him inside. But the risk is always there, albeit at a lot lower risk IMO than even a copperhead. But a risk not justified but always using engineering controls (gloves) and respect.
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Re: New Gila Monster and info
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rlditmars
Very cool. I always thought their patterns looked like Indian or Incan art/hieroglyphics. I am sure if you look close enough you'll find Kokopelli in there somewhere. Congrats on your new addition and I hope you are getting something equally awesome for the misses.
Hah! Yeah she is. I think she'll be quite happy on Christmas Day. I already caved and let her keep one of the foster cats as an early Christmas present, so even if I did nothing else she'd still be happy!
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