Posted on 02/24/2024 6:21:30 AM PST by Red Badger
A Colorado man died after being bitten by his pet Gila monster -- which have been known to deliver a fatal amount of venom. That's why Wyoming exotic pet dealers say that Gila monsters are usually best left in the wild.
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If a pet Gila monster is on your wish list, you should probably reconsider, some Wyoming pet dealers said.
Particularly in light of a Lakewood, Colorado man dying this month after he was bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters. Keeping those critters in captivity isn’t a good idea, Andrew Jenkinson of Gillette and Kiley Troia of Riverton told Cowboy State Daily.
“I don’t know how well you can even tame down a Gila monster. If they’re anything like monitors (monitor lizards), then no. You can’t tame down monitors,” said Jenkinson, who owns Mr. Critters, a pet store in Gillette.
Troia, who owns Critters, Scales & Tails, a pet store in Riverton, is also against selling and keeping Gila monsters.
“I think some animals just shouldn’t be kept as pets,” she said.
Fatal Bite?
Lakewood resident Christopher Ward, 34, had two pet Gila monsters, named “Winston” and “Potato,” according to news reports.
He was taken to a local hospital immediately after Winston bit him on Feb. 12. He was placed on life support but died on Feb. 16. His girlfriend surrendered both of the Gila monsters to Lakewood animal control.
The Jefferson County, Colorado coroner’s office has not yet officially ruled the bite as the sole cause of Ward’s death, according to reports, but Gila monster venom is known to be fatally toxic.
Gila monsters are a species of lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. They can grow up to about 22 inches in length and are the only venomous lizard species native to the United States.
Know What You’re Getting Into
Jenkinson and Troia say they don’t know of anybody in Wyoming trying to keep Gila monsters as pets.
But there are some who keep potentially dangerous critters, such as rattlesnakes, Jenkinson said.
Rattlers are fascinating, but people absolutely must know what they’re doing to keep them in captivity, he said.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is get in line with state, federal and local laws. Here in Gillette, you can’t keep anything venomous,” Jenkinson said.
And people should do their research and know the needs, habits, and potential dangers of owning any exotic pets, he added.
Troia said that in general, Wyoming regulations are relatively loose regarding what animals can be kept in captivity. And she’s seen too many instances of people trying to go beyond the usual dog or cat pet options, but then regretting it.
“We get surrenders here at the shop all the time, because people get different animals, but those people don’t realize what they’re getting into,” she said. “We get people surrendering snakes, lizards, Guinea pigs, ferrets and rats.”
Unusual critters, such as boa constrictor snakes, have an enthusiastic customer base in Wyoming, but they’re not a good option for novice pet owners, she added.
In addition to human safety concerns, Jenkinson said he doesn’t like to see novices try to take on exotic pets, because it can frequently end badly for the animals.
There’s a wealth of knowledge available, and experts to consult before taking the dive into exotic animal ownership, he said.
“As long as the person is responsible about it, I don’t have huge issues with it,” he said.
But owning Gila monsters is probably a bridge too far for anybody, he added.
“Some species should just be left in the wild, to live out their lives in the wild,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
We were up in the hills around Rye and came across an old cabin. It was down to the foundation. We were looking through it and I damned near stepped on one of these. They don’t warn you like a rattler. Scary five seconds. For those who don’t know, it’s pronounced “he-la” monster.
This guy was probably “disneytized”. He thought animals could think and reason like humans. If he was nice to the gila, it would of course be nice back to him.
That’s right. Personally, I’d rather have a dog 🐶 or cat 🐱 than a Gila monster.
I should get rid of my pet Black Widows then......................
If I remember correctly, Gila Monsters are a protected species. Isn’t it against the law to own them?
Yep!........................
When I lived in the Philippines as a kid, my friend and I caught a monitor lizard about six feet long with a homemade trap we built. (they look like Komodo dragons, just smaller and more slender)
I do recall something about their saliva being poisonous if you got bit, but I suspect it was less likely venom and more likely bacteria of all kinds I guess. We treated those large lizards with respect, not because they were venomous, but because they were large, strong, and very fast with big teeth, IIRC.
My friend’s dad was a LCDR involved in the SERE training on the base they gave to the pilots who were going to Vietnam. So, he was teaching his three sons survival skills. Probably his daughter too, who was in my class in school, but she didn’t talk about it.
Her brother and I were all over that stuff. It was interesting. We used to like to stomp around in the jungle, and even had our own machetes (I was 12 or 13 at the time)
Winston and Potato? I was thinking Darwin, and Dewey. LOL Got what they wanted.
Personally, I think that a Cape Buffalo would make a great, cuddly pet.
From Wiki:
...protected by state law in Arizona.......
Conservation status
Gila monsters are listed as near threatened by the IUCN.[1] They are listed as “Apparently Secure” by NatureServe.[44]
In 1952, the Gila monster became the first venomous animal to be given legal protection.[45] They are now protected in all states of their distribution. International trade in the species is regulated under Appendix II of CITES.
Sounds like fun
Looks like a good target for a .410 shotgun, much of Arizona is open country, who is to know?
I say we remove the warning labels from the Gila monsters and let nature take it’s course.
Yes, I believe in Arizona it’s a crime to even touch them. They’re venomous and have a filthy mouth, but they’re very slow-moving. Anyone who gets bitten by one must have been pestering or threatening it. I have several that trundle across my driveway and thru the backyard. Along with the rattlers and other snakes, they help keep the rodents in check. I love having them around.
We don’t need them to tell us that......it’s a forgone conclusion about Gila Monsters.
For a 12 year old boy, it was great fun. I so envied his older brothers, one a junior, one a senior, and they had their own scuba gear, wet suits, spearguns, knives, the whole nine yards. (I recall one, the oldest, was named Jake, because it was embroidered on the leather jackets he and his other brother wore, but his brother had “Lucifer” embroidered on his jacket, and I don’t recall that was his real name.
Their youngest brother (Brett) and myself had fins, snorkels, and masks. Damn. But Brett did have a speargun of his own, and also had a Hawaiian Sling that I never got much good at.
Yes. We used to think we were great jungle explorers, but I suspect, looking back now, we never went more than a mile or two from any place that people could could be found. And it was on the base, so how unsafe could that be?
We did get lost just once, walking around in circles for what seemed like hours, until we decided to climb a tree and saw a road only a few hundred yards away.
I enjoyed that life then-there were weird bugs, animals, big-fanged aggressive baboon-like monkeys, snakes, giant bats, you name it.
We spent most of our days either in the ocean or in the jungle it seemed. Paradise for a boy...
Gila Monster is the world only known poisonous lizard.
However the poison level is low.
So Gila monster has to bite and hold, while emitting poisonous saliva. The human victims (mostly drunk) usually lose a limb, but the death is very rare.
I am aware of only one death so far so this would be the second one.
While petting Gila monster is not recommended, you just have to be a real idiot to get killed by Gila monster.
Don’t mess with alligator lizards either. I fed one to a pet snake I have when I was a kid, and when I came back a few minutes later to see if he had been eaten, the lizard had the snakes head in his mouth. They are mean........
alligator lizards?
In the air?..........................
Ive got a few small rattlesnakes but I still keep them in my large habitat of brown recluse and black widow spiders.
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