My mom loves lizards just like I do but she is worried that my Sav. Monitor is "poison" like a Kamodo Dragon. I tell her it's not but she still doesn't believe me. What's she really concernd about is that it will "fatally bite" my 6 year old little sister. My monitor is still only about 5in big and is very lovable. can somone please talk some sense into her?
Komodo dragons are not poisonous. Komodo dragons have a mouth full of bacteria that, when the dragon bites its prey, the prey will eventually die after saliva enters the bloodstream and blood poisoning develops. This is actually a relatively slow process, which requires the Komodo Dragon to wait patiently for the animal to drop. Savannah monitors are likewise not poisonous. However, your savannah monitor will also possess bacteria in his saliva, just like every other animal (think about how bad your breath would be if you ate raw meat and never brush your teeth.) Any deep bite from an animal, in general, should be treated with antibiotics as a general rule. Humans have more potentially lethal forms of bacteria in our saliva that could cause a fatal bite if contact is made with our saliva and the bloodstream (i.e. E.Coli.) So your sav would probably be in more trouble if your 6 year old sister bit him, rather than vice versa. Properly raised captive bred savannahs are pretty docile by nature, so as long as you do your homework, you shouldn't have a problem. My sav has never bitten or even hissed at me, and she's almost three years old and 32 inches long. I would focus more on preventative measures to keep potential accidents from occurring, such as: -keeping your sav supervised whenever he is in contact with someone who is not familiar with his mannerisms. -handle him frequently to get him used to interacting with humans. -educate your sister, and relatives, on the proper way to interact with him. -learn how to identify the mood of your sav. if he doesn't want to play, he should be left alone.
It is a PROVEN fact that Komodos DO poses poison glands as well as septic bacteria. However, Savannah monitors do not poses poison.
