A 34-year-old Colorado man died after being bitten by his pet Gila monster lizard final week, in line with the Lakewood Police Division.
Christopher Ward was bitten by one in all his two pet Gila monsters at his dwelling within the 100 block of Holland Avenue the evening of Feb. 12, a Lakewood animal control officer wrote in an incident report.
Ward’s girlfriend referred to as 911 after discovering Ward in a room with the venomous lizard latched onto his hand. The lady had been within the different room when she heard Ward say one thing and it “didn’t sound correct,” in line with the report.
Ward shortly began displaying signs and commenced vomiting, handed out and stopped respiratory, the girl informed Lakewood Animal Management.
Ward was taken to St. Anthony Hospital and placed on life assist and later died, in line with Lakewood police.
The animal management officer knowledgeable Ward’s girlfriend it’s unlawful to personal Gila monsters in Lakewood and the girl requested officers take away the lizards from the house as quickly as attainable.
The lizard who bit Ward was named Winston, and Ward bought him at a reptile exhibition in Denver in October when he was round 1 12 months outdated, in line with the report.
The second Gila monster, Potato, was purchased as a hatchling from a breeder in Arizona in November.
The Lakewood animal management officer, together with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Division of Pure Sources officers, eliminated the lizards from the house on Wednesday and deliberate to relocate them to Reptile Gardens in South Dakota.
Gila monsters are the biggest lizards in the USA and may measure as much as 22 inches lengthy, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Their venom is as poisonous as that of a western diamondback rattlesnake and whereas they’ll maintain on for greater than 10 minutes, they produce a “comparatively small quantity of venom” after they chew, in line with the group.
Whereas Gila monster bites will not be normally lethal, there is no such thing as a antidote for his or her venom, according to the San Diego Zoo.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Workplace couldn’t be reached for touch upon the case. Coroner’s officers declined to tell the Associated Press if Ward died on account of the venom or one other medical situation.
