Mexican Beaded Lizard
Recently, there have been reports of the dangerous captive reptiles gaining access to homes via the use of unsecured doors, unlicensed contractors and employees, along with improper transporting. An envenomated man was hospitalized in an Illinois hospital after being bitten by a Mexican beaded lizard while visiting friends in the area. The patient experienced extreme local pain, swelling, vomiting, and severe vomiting. One week later he returned to the same hospital to undergo another medical examination, this time under general anesthesia.
Examination revealed that the man did not have an existing medical condition or illness that would have caused the lizard to bite him, nor did he have direct contact with the reptile prior to the incident. Further laboratory testing revealed that the blood sample tested positive for the venom extracted from a Mexican beaded lizard, which is a venomous snake. This confirmed that the man had ingested the venom while playing with the reptile and subsequently developed severe symptoms from doing so. This case demonstrates the importance of properly documenting all bites, especially when in intimate contact with any wildlife or if working with reptiles and lizards.
Another case occurred in Florida involving two adults and one child, who were playing with a pair of juvenile Mexican beaded lizards. One adult placed the lizard on its back and began to rub the lizard’s abdomen repeatedly, at which point the lizard bit the adult on the back of its leg, causing multiple punctions. This incident demonstrated that reptiles can cause significant harm or injury to humans and other animals, regardless of whether the injury results from physical contact or venom injected by a foreign body.
During an inspection of the home of a deceased Mexican beaded lizard collection keeper, it was noted that a brown scale had traveled from the back of the lizard’s tail to the anterior part of its head. This is a common occurrence among this species and is caused by a failure in the lizard’s metabolism as a result of starvation. Other Mexican lizard species do not have this problem. The scales generally fall off after the death of a lizard but they are retained by the grieving pet owner and cause scarring due to constant rubbing of the scales by the reptile.
Several other incidents in which the presence of heloderma horridum was noted included the fatal poisonings of pets, small children, and adults. Heloderma horridum is capable of producing poisonous saliva in order to immobilize its prey. Its poisonous saliva can also cause severe burns when it bites into the skin of its prey. If you have a Mexican beaded lizard in your home, you must make sure it undergoes regular de-worming to remove any parasitic worm that may reside within its intestinal tract. You can achieve this by using digestive enzymes available on the market. The presence of a parasitic heloderma horrid worm within a Mexican beaded lizard’s intestinal tract can result in severe damage to the animal’s immune system, which in turn will lead to a more dangerous situation.
Some Mexican beaded lizard species are also considered dangerous because they are considered capable of preying on their own young. The vivarium lizard is one such species of this genus, which is responsible for the creation of its young by its own species. When I found this out, I immediately brought my beaded lizard specimens inside of a terrarium and separated them from their other two species which had not yet been preyed upon. By doing so, I was able to better monitor and protect the vivarium lizards which were still in the process of developing their juvenile stages.
In addition to preying on their young, the vivarium-lizards of the north American continent are capable of preying on their prey using their tail. This is commonly referred to as “taming” because they are able to tame (and often, restrain) their venomous tails to make it easier for them to eat their prey. Although these predators reside solely in the wilds of north America, I have successfully introduced these predatory reptiles into captivity. By removing the protective covering of their tail, I was able to successfully capture some of these lizards. It was very interesting to me to see the transformation that this simple method of capturing prey had on these animals. Rather than eating their prey right away after the capture, I found that these creatures were better suited to consuming their prey bit by bit, almost as if they were eating raw meat.
Finally, Mexican beaded lizards are not only found in Mexico, but they are also found in several other areas of Mexico, namely el chaparral and south America. Because of their size, these animals are seldom seen in the wild, which is why it is so important to learn more about them. These lizards are an excellent study subject, because, just like with most reptiles, they lay eggs. I have even successfully raised hatchlings from eggs that I captured, which allowed me to study their development even further.
