poisonous lizard..gila?

[chamitch]

is that what it is called that posionous lizard that in liek cali and arizona i belive? how posionous is it anyway?


later

[Drew S]

Yeah, it's called a Gila Monster.

From DesertUSA:

"The Gila Monster's teeth have two grooves that conduct the venom, a nerve toxin, from glands in the lower jaw. The toxin is not injected like that of the snake, but flows into the wound as the lizard chews on its victim. While the bite can overpower predators and prey, it is rarely fatal to humans."

[chamitch]

http://www.gila-monster.org/

this lizard is wicked. nice coloration. super cool looking. eats eggs. if it wasnt posionous and didnt hibernate in teh winter and stay hiddin when to hot. it woudl be teh best ever haah.

peace

[Scales Zoo]

They are "venomous", not poisonous. A poisonous lizard would be one that you couldn't eat. But as mentioned, they don't really inject the venom, but secret toxins while chewing on you. I've heard it is very painful, and you wished it would kill you.

As it happens, for those of us living in Saskatchewan, Gilas and Beadeds (same as all lizards) are legal - as long as import permits are obtained (which are free).

Ryan

[chamitch]

can they even be kept succesfully in captivity? seem to shy to really be kept as show lizard. i dunno thoug just a pretty cool lizard if u ask me

[Scales Zoo]

They wouldn't be show lizards - they do like to hide from what I've heard and read. They can be kept successfully, and are being captively bred in Canada - we've considered some C.B babies in the past - but not for display purposes.

Ryan

[chamitch]

yea i am curious about them. u would have to leave them alone alot im guessing and just basically put in soem eggs and leave.

[chamitch]

http://www.applegatereptiles.com/articles/heloderma.html

this guy has a cool set up with tubes under teh floor for them to go hide in. but does not use UV light or any lights. just inderict light from teh sun. crazy

[M_surinamensis]

For those simply interested in some general information on the species, http://www.drseward.com is about the best web resource for captive care and a basic natural history. I had a few of these guys for awhile, they're high dollar animals though and I was made an offer I couldn't refuse...

Just as a basic answer to a couple points raised though... They spend eight-nine months straight underground in the wild, when they do come above ground it's infrequent at best. This will cause them to be pretty inclined to make use of hides in captivity... They're also generally fairly sedimentary animals, while they'll go cruising from time to time there are also long periods of inactivity. They've got some truly amazing digestive adaptations and don't eat that frequently, which makes life a bit easier, along the feeding schedule of most boids usually works... They're easily described as "lazy" and usually don't seem to react badly to handling, but this should be minimized to what's required for health/maintenance reasons as being envenomated is never fun.

They do have grooved teeth, which DOES make them venomous, as there is a specific injection method for the toxins (as opposed to say, hognose snakes, as the ducts don't open anywhere near their "rear fangs"). The website which was quoted earlier labeling them as neurotoxic is a bit misleading, there are neurotoxins present in their venom but they aren't really signifigant, the main action of the compounds found in their venom is hypertension, with some localized tissue damage thrown in for good measure, although a good deal of that is likely due to the teeth and jaw power.

And... they are diurnal, but in the wild might spend all of a week or two in cummulative above ground time. UV radiation isn't an important factor for an animal that spends the overwhelming majority of it's time under a couple feet of dirt (or a rotted out cactus skeleton).

[nolagurl]

I set a little five year goal for myself. In five years I hope to have acquired enough knowledge/$$ to work with <i>heladerma</i>

[Bighead]

How much do those suckers run and who breeds them in canada?

[Bighead]

Oooh... found a breeder. Going to have to sell a few beardies and leos before i save up enough for a group of those.. lol
"I'll trade you my truck for a breeding pair!"

http://www.gilaranch.com/

[bubba]

Does anyone know if there is a state in the U.S. that allows you to keep gilas? I heard that they were legal in Oklahoma .

[AshleyL]

I watched a show on the discovery chanel about those a couple of weeks ago. A zoo worker was talking about the time he got bit. I believe that it chewed on him for several minutes after it managed to bite him when he got distracted feeding it. he had to be hospitalized because of the bite.

[Hamster of Borg]

As long as you have paperwork stating that they are captive born, you should be able to keep gilas just about anywhere in the US (barring local laws against venomous lizards and/or 'dangerous' animals). If you don't have that paperwork, it could end up being a federal offense (Lacey act violation).

They actually acclimate to captivity rather well, with the proper conditions and feeding regimine. Check out the Gila Ranch (http://www.gilaranch.com/).

Ham

[Katt]

There are a few in Canada. They run about 2K.

[tHeGiNo]

Don Patterson is working with a nice group.

[chamitch]

cool. it would be somthing to see one day anyway.

peace