New Gila Monster and info

[reptileexperts]

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).



Head shot.


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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