# Inside a komodo dragon head



## Snake_Whisperer (Aug 23, 2011)

Congrats to Dr. Bryan Fry for making BBC news! Job well done mate!

BBC Nature - In Pictures: Inside a komodo dragon head


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

Thats very interesting cheers


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## SamNabz (Aug 23, 2011)

Interesting indeed, well done Bryan.

So are Komodo's (as well as other goannas that have venom glands) able to actually inject venom? If so, how?


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

they cant inject it but it leaks out at the base of the teeth, there are also venom compartments on the mandible of varanus sp.it is also interesting that bearded dragons have the initial stage of venom glands i do believe.


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## FlippinBirdies (Aug 23, 2011)

SamNabz said:


> Interesting indeed, well done Bryan.
> 
> So are Komodo's (as well as other goannas that have venom glands) able to actually inject venom? If so, how?



With tusk like nipples they shimmy at a prey item..


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## Justdragons (Aug 23, 2011)

cadwallader said:


> they cant inject it but it leaks out at the base of the teeth, there are also venom compartments on the mandible of varanus sp.it is also interesting that bearded dragons have the initial stage of venom glands i do believe.



so your saying that beardies can give the same devastating infection that the komodo can just to a smaller scale...... Being not so devastating i guess lol, sorry bout caps lock


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

*s*

Yes that is true
if they bite you hard enough


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

no jks they have an incipient or initial stage of venom glad formation, same as the iguana. but they have the Beginning of the gland formation but dont produce it or have a way to excrete it to the bite site. and komodo dragon dont give the infection they just give the wounds that then get infected.


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## snakehandler (Aug 23, 2011)

The infection us secondary and has nothing to do with venom, but the water that they drink and the prey lives around. The doco couldn't cover all that was said by Bryan, he actually debunked the whole bacteria/infection theory!


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

What doco are you talking about sounds interesting, the venoms major factor is anti-clogulation and hypertension but the venom plays such a little roll in the killing of the prey items the teeth and power of them do so much more damage with severed arteries etc


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## K3nny (Aug 23, 2011)

FlippinBirdies said:


> With tusk like nipples they shimmy at a prey item..



goannas have nips?


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## snakehandler (Aug 23, 2011)

Its one due to come out later this year, its called Komodo - Secrets of the Dragon. Well thats what we have been given anyhow...it aired in Europe a short time ago and was given a great review by Sir David Attenborough!! I am not sure when it is to be released in Australia!


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## longqi (Aug 23, 2011)

Its interesting that the experts now say they have no venom
A pack will herd a few deer into a swamp
If the deer are large they bite once and let go
Then they follow
Eventually the deer falls over and its dinner time


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## snakehandler (Aug 23, 2011)

What experts say they have no venom???? Current research clearly demonstrates they do have venom and many other lizard species have the glands but no ability to deliver it!


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## SteveNT (Aug 23, 2011)

I would hate to see a komodo head from the inside!


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## Wally (Aug 23, 2011)

FlippinBirdies said:


> With tusk like nipples they shimmy at a prey item..



Tell me more.


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## cadwallader (Aug 23, 2011)

i would say 5 years ago experts would say they have no venom but haven't read any recent paper on them having no venom or that they have evolved to use bacteria as a weapon...


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## longqi (Aug 25, 2011)

Sorry I picked it up wrongly as I was reading

But going by the way they hunt larger prey I have a feeling the venom might be stronger that suggested
Infection from bites usually takes days to kill prey
But anything they bites drops in a matter of hours

They cleaned up a couple of Dutch Yachties a few years ago


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## snakehandler (Aug 25, 2011)

Several papers have been done by Bryan on the topic, if you go to www.venomdoc.com I believe he has them there. Bacteria infections are a secondary problem for any animal that gets an open wound, the water hole on Rincha were the dragons and buffalo share in rank, you can smell it well before you see it, especially at the end of the dry season, which is when the documentary which was shot to help promote Bryans research! It's also interesting to learn that the Komodo once was found in Australia, but migrated north as food size decreased from the extinction of the megafauna! 


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