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"COLORADO (KCNC) — The Jefferson County coroner has confirmed that a 34-year-old Colorado man died this month, days after being bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters.
“I think this case highlights that any venomous animals should be respected,” said Dr. Nick Brandehoff, a medical toxicologist and expert in reptile bites with the Asclepius Snakebite Foundation, who was consulted on the Lakewood Gila monster case.
Gila monsters are venomous reptiles found in the southwestern United States. While their bites can be painful, they are normally not fatal to humans. Experts say that the last report of a human dying from a Gila monster bite was in 1930."
Personally, I feel that there are domesticated animals we keep as companions (I prefer those with fur) and then there are wild animals and reptiles, amphibians even, that are not human companion material.
I dislike the "Darwin Award winner" label because, frankly, all of us have done really dumb stuff, and fortunately most of us have been lucky.
But to people who have as pets venomous animals...well, duh!
If it were something that is KNOWN to be deadly, I'd agree, but these things rarely ever have killed people. People have bees as pets, which are far deadlier (and unpredictable) than these things. A Gila Monster isn't a Komodo Dragon.
It sounds as though he may have suffered an allergic reaction to the venom.
I'm a big reptile buff and allergic reaction killing him days later is not likely the case.
My money would be on something like the initial swelling, circulatory issues lead to a compounding issue of either a blood clot or sepsis where he didn't get treatment and there was dead tissue at the local area of the bite.
If it were something that is KNOWN to be deadly, I'd agree, but these things rarely ever have killed people. People have bees as pets, which are far deadlier (and unpredictable) than these things. A Gila Monster isn't a Komodo Dragon.
But keep in mind that -- as a person who lives in Arizona now -- gila monsters are something very, very, very few people will ever have direct contact with. That has an effect on the low stats. I know many people here who have run into rattlesnakes, particularly while hiking; none have ever even seen a gila monster.
What a bizarre pet. A solitary, venomous animal with a nasty reputation. Well, I suppose some people would acquire a wolverine as a pet if they could get away with it.
This may have been a rare event, but it's even less likely to happen if you don't take a Gila monster as a pet.
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