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#2269455
K.wong
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Savannah Monitor Bite 
I’ve been reading and found that a Savannah Monitor has a venomous bite, but the website that I found this information on doesn’t list what happens/symptoms of being bitten by a Savannah Monitor or the proper care of the wound after the bite occurs... Could anyone enlighten me, as I feel this information is very important to know since my husband and I just recently purchased TWO! (please pray for us lol! We were misinformed when we purchased these beautiful reptiles and have since found out that everything we were told on how to care for and feed them were WRONG! - we have since started to correct our errors as best we can until we can get their new terrarium built.)
I found the bite info at the following web address Link
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06/10/12 03:21pm
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#2269457
Aragarnn
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Message To: K.wong In reference to Message Id: 2269455
Savannah Monitor Bite
It HURTS when your bit. I have a savannah monitor that took a chunk off my pinky and left a nasty scar along with the thousand others i have from other experiences. It clamps down hard, holds like a pitt bull and will do a death roll if you jerk away and lift up. If you get bit, clean it. soap, peroxide, whatever you have. IF its true that they have venom like a varanus komodoensis, its not deadly and is much less.
Key thing is, your monitor is not a dog or cat and doesnt sit in your lap and get petted. Its a wild varanid that needs to be taken with caution when being fed. Learn to read the animal and you wont get bit like I did.
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06/10/12 03:42pm
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#2269458
War Machine
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Message To: Aragarnn In reference to Message Id: 2269457
Savannah Monitor Bite
I don’t believe they are venomous, as more so bacterial. All monitors carry a nasty bite, that, if left untreated can become seriously infected, via bacteria. Not venom.
That being said, the Savannah monitor (not to be taken lightly) Is still a rather gentle monitor as far as monitor aggression goes. You just have to be patient with them, and dedicate a large portion of time to. Everything starts off with proper husbandry. Do a lot of research as to house them properly, for a pair you’re looking at an enclosure size of at least 10’x4’x4’. And hope you have a male and female, or you’re looking at two large enclosures.
Just do your homework, and get started on proper housing before anything. Don’t worry about touching them, or trying to ’tame’ them, for at least 3-4 months.
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06/10/12 04:02pm
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#2269461
Mxracer
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Message To: War Machine In reference to Message Id: 2269458
Savannah Monitor Bite
No monitors are venomous. But some times people have a bad reaction to the bite and it can swell and look nasty. I have never seen a monitor do a death roll before, but they try to shake back and forth violently some times. I think a pair of sav’s can live just fine in a 8x4x4, thats the size of cage mine will live in. Ever since I started keeping monitors I have only been bitten once, and it was a 6 inch sav like 6 years ago, but I provocted the bite. Typically you won’t get bitten unless your careless and get to close at feeding time.
What ever you do, don’t youtube savannah care. Cause it’s typically kids who throw what ever they have together, and they think that’s what your sappose to do.
-Terry
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06/10/12 04:31pm
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#2269470
Daryl-
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Message To: Mxracer In reference to Message Id: 2269461
Savannah Monitor Bite
Regarding the actual bite, monitors don’t usually attack people by biting them, it is mostly all front and they just hiss... If extremely pissed then they will tail whip which is worse than a bite! If they do bite you (mistake for food etc) then it is a natural reaction to flinch and pull your hand away which in turn rips your flesh due to monitors having inward pointing teeth to ensure prey doesnt get loose. Monitors are bloody clever lizards and soon realise that they they have gripped onto you and will let go after finding out they won’t be able to swallow you... If you can stop yourself from flinching, the pain is a lot less - still really hurts, but not as bad! LOL!
Also, I understand that technically monitors have ’venom’, however it is extremely mild and is basically just a bacteria build up in there mouth. I know Komodo’s have very potent ’venom’ and actually use there’s to kill large prey, but ’captive’ monitors basically just have dirty mouths!
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06/10/12 05:58pm
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#2269484
Mxracer
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Message To: Daryl- In reference to Message Id: 2269470
Savannah Monitor Bite
Komodo dragons and monitors don’t have venom. venom is injected through fangs into the blood stream. If you can prove me otherwise post links.
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06/10/12 07:09pm
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#2269513
Anotherman
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Message To: Mxracer In reference to Message Id: 2269484
Savannah Monitor Bite
It is proven that komodos do have a mildly toxic venom, but it isn’t lethal. The bacteria does that (they have both). It isn’t really documented in any other monitor though. Their are some claims but...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090518-komodo-dragon-venom.html
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06/10/12 09:36pm
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#2269515
Mxracer
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Message To: Anotherman In reference to Message Id: 2269513
Savannah Monitor Bite
Thats second hand info, not good enough to prove me wrong. I want a to see some solid documents. People all over the interenet will claim komodo’s are venomous, but they also claim monitors are to.
-Terry
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06/10/12 09:47pm
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#2269522
Norf
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Message To: Mxracer In reference to Message Id: 2269515
Savannah Monitor Bite
Varanus varius and komodoensis have both been known to secrete a venomlike protien from glands in their mouth. The "venom" causes a rapid drop in blood pressure resulting in a fainting prey animal.
All varanid saliva acts as an anticoagulant or blood thinner causing the prey item to bleed out rapidly.
It’s not an infectious bacterial bite that kills the prey.
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06/10/12 11:18pm
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#2269577
Krusty
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Message To: Norf In reference to Message Id: 2269522
Savannah Monitor Bite
Norf is correct. The term "venom" is not appropriate, but there are specialized glands in the jaws of ALL Varanus lizards that produce a protein type enzyme that is NOT saliva. When a SMALL animal is subdued by a Monitor, the jaw gland massages this protein material into the wound mechanically (not through hollow teeth hypodermics like a pit viper) and on a SMALL PREY ITEM it causes rapid drop in blood pressure and excessive bleeding from anticoagulant properties. This probably is an adaptation to either 1) hurry up and kill the prey item so the Monitor can get out of the open being exposed to predators itself and/or 2) if they bite in defense (say a raptor bird has a go at one), the bird feels enormous pain and bleeding where the Monitor fought back and maybe would reconsider attacking one again for food in the future.
I’ve been tagged/bitten/chewed on more times than I care to admit with all my Monitors (probably 50 bites here and there over the years by 6 species), and it’s really no big deal except you clean it out really well with peroxide or chlorhexidine and put some compression over it while you eventually clot and scab the bite over. I don’t keep anything enormous though, Argus are the largest @ 4.5’ males. Of all the bites, V. similis really hurt bad. LOL They sting I’ll admit. The bigger Monitors in the Gouldii group I have (V. panoptes horni, V. gouldii flavirufus) don’t hurt much at all except for bigger teeth holes.
On a gigantic human being being tagged by a pet little 2 lb Monitor, the effects are nothing more than, "Damn. That hurt a bit worse than I thought it would. Still stings." and "Wow. It bled a bit longer than your typical cuts from a sharp object.". Very rarely is it any more than this unless someone has a particularly strong histamine response bordering on an allergy type reaction (which you can have from eating an avocado or anything really) and it gets more systemic. There are tons of studies in the last 6 years about all this even on a rudimentary Google search. Read up on Bryan G. Frye’s work with this. There is, without question, a type of enzyme in a jaw gland being produced that is nothing like saliva and has a relation to Gilas and snakes even with evolutionary implications being studied as well based on exactly what animals have what going on in these glands. I think "venom" is a poor term for this though as it evokes panic and fear when it’s really nothing to get worked up about to us.
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06/11/12 10:55am
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#2269592
Daryl-
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Message To: Krusty In reference to Message Id: 2269577
Savannah Monitor Bite
MX, the paragraph I wrote was written carefully and I intended to not call the bacteria venom, but instead called it a bacteria and mentioned that it was potent when regarding the Komodo. Hence the reason I wrote, ’venom’, within the quotation marks. Krusty has much more knowledge than I do and explained it much better but we practically said the the same thing - I merely wrote ’venom’ as an abbreviation of potent bacteria.
Plus, if the definition of venom is "A poisonous secretion of an animal, such as a snake, spider, or scorpion, usually transmitted by a bite or sting." then it is not mentioned that it has to be excreted through teeth etc, only a bite - if this is the case than it can be argued that monitors do infact emit ’venom’ into their prey... Just not in the way that people expect I.e a snake bike.
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06/11/12 11:45am
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#2269610
Krusty
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Message To: Daryl- In reference to Message Id: 2269592
Savannah Monitor Bite
Most people will agree (I would hope all who have read up) that Gila Monsters and Beaded lizards (Helodermatidae) have "true" venom and that it’s a neurotoxin almost like a Coral Snake (Micrurus) yet produced in a lesser amount and has a more primitive delivery system. The animals tend to bite and hold on, rolling around to really rub the gland products into the wound of the prey/predator they bite. The forceful biting and twisting around causes the stuff to ooze out of the jaw and drip into the wound without a nifty hollow hypodermic tooth or proboscis to deliver it, yet Gilas are considered "venomous" because they do have the ability to actually cause paralysis and permanent nerve damage to a human if they’re bitten and ’envenomated’ enough. I’m not aware that anyone has actually died from a Gila, only nerve issues. There are snakes with rear fangs and grooved (not hollow hypodermic) teeth also with lesser efficiency of delivering this substance into bites. But the jump from what a Gila Monster does to a Monitor lizard is not that great with the technique of getting this stuff into a wound. The stuff Monitors are secreting is just not that biologically ’potent’ to a big animal like us messing with them and getting bitten. The primitive and inefficient delivery along with the potency make it a "gland product" to me, and not a "venom". This has ZERO to do with having bacteria in the mouths or not. Don’t confuse the two. If a large Monitor is eating stinking rotting Ox that died in the sun and they smell it --- go up and feed on it -- and have bacteria that also cause wound festering, that is a seperate thing vs the enzyme coming from the glands.
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06/11/12 01:34pm
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