Re: Dromeo Danger

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

franklin e. bliss writes: 

> Tokay Geckos are the worse for not letting go.  I held one that was  
> attached to me underwater for 10 minutes and he never let go.  I ended  up 
> using a couple of pencils as leverage.  Bad attitude.  

A friend of mine had a pet shingle-back lizard (a large member of the skink 
family) as a pet. He made the mistake of playing 'chicken' with it one day, 
wiggling his fingers and pulling them back in time to avoid the jaws. Except 
for the last time he did it, when that hugely muscled head clamped down on 
him. It took quite a bit of prying to get it to let go, but it's short teeth 
didn't do much damage (the jaw pressure alone made it quite painful though).
http://www.honoluluzoo.org/images/shingleback_skink.jpg 

> Varanus species can be big and  obnoxious to 
> handling too.  Never seen a cuddly one.

There's a Komodo monitor at Toronga Park Zoo in sydney that is very 
'cuddly'. He actively seeks out a scratch on the head from his keeper each 
morning. Apparently tame Komodo monitors particularly enjoy a scratch around 
the eyes and eyelids. 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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