Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi there i have both an ionide and a salvator both are about 30" , but seing some of the bites from crocodile monitors has made me wonder if any of my two are capable of that when fully grown or do crocodile monitors have considerably larger teeth than both the ionide and salvator as i have been bitten by my salvator the now and it hurts like f**k but he's worth it, has anyone been bitten by an adult salvator, whos bite would be worse out of an adult croc, salvator or ionide?
thanks again for helping me with my stupid questions
best wishes keith

Im not sure but I can tell you what a 4ft Albig can do, I had more than half of my right ear bit through, it would fold forward to the side of my eye, it felt like someone flicked my ear with their finger, thats all, lightning fast. I had a 4ft albig bite down on one finger while feeding him (just a quick accidental bite, and release), I still have a piece of broken bone that floats over a year later in the end of a finger.
The 2 of them have different design teeth, jaws, and jaw muscles. A salvator has longer sharper teeth designed more for cutting, albigs have a an extra set of muscles in the jaw, a thicker jawbone and are more designed to crush (and can they ever crush!). A crocs teeth are designed similar idea to the salvator but a bit longer, they are therefore needing a design advantageous to more time in the canopy capturing prey. I dont know about the bite of a croc, but Ive been bit by 2 similar sized salvators and 4 albigs, the albigs a worse bite. Does it really matter though because if you require medical attention after a bite, you add to the statistics against our hobby, I had one bite treated by the pros. I wouldnt want to get bit by a large monitor thats bigger than what I have been.

I would have to say that Crocs probably have the largest teeth out of all of Varanus(that we currently know about). Being an arboreal animal, long teeth, as also the case in arboreal snakes, will help the animal secure its meal up in the treetops. This would prevent a meal from accidentally slipping away, and plumetting to the forest floor, where it may then become a wasted meal.

That is why handling crocs, despite how "tame" or "calm" they are, generally is not a good idea.. One quick turn of the head, and you'll be in the hospital undergoing reconstructive surgery..I've seen plenty of horrifying pictures of bite victims from crocs...far more damaging than any other bite wound i've seen... Perhaps komodos, because of their massive size and shape of the skull, and the sheer power behind it, could inflict a more serious bite, but then again, who's actually keeping these as pets, where that becomes something to worry about?? Take caution with crocs, never take your eye off of them, unless you would like to have horrible, noticeable scars....

Look to my post a few threads down, I have included a pic of some teeth and part of the lower jaw bone(probably half of the jawbone) of an 8' male croc that I have in my collection... Compared to some of the other skulls that I have from african,asian,indonesian, and australian monitors, nothing compares to a croc...

Cheers,

bob

A Lacies teeth are the same as a croc monitors teeth. Only lacie monitors do not get has large. Of course this can be argued, but it would end up being a very very close decision.

Also, for conversations sake, I get the feeling, adult crocs feed on the ground,(most of the time) just like adult lacies do. I am sure juviniles of both feed in the trees. Cheers FR

Yup, forgot about lacies as well... Do you not think that crocs do most of their hunting up in the trees? I was under the impression that they spent a good amount of their lives up in the trees...I'm not doubting that they come down once in a while... Why else would they have adapted a prehensile tail ? compare that to the many other species of monitor lizards who frequently climb and utilize trees for shelter. For instance, Daniel's butaan over there... Same thing goes for the prasinus complex. I was always under the impression that crocs were a highly arboreal animal.. But then again, I could be wrong... What are your thoughts on this Frank, or anybody else??

cheers,

bob

Hi Bob,

I agree with you - I too think V. salvadorii are predominantly arboreal lizards. I do have photos of them in Irian Jaya sunning themselves in a glade, as seen many times with komodo's in their island, but I believe they go back into their trees, resting during the heat of the day, hunting dawn and dusk hours on prey. For larger adults, same as Komodo's, by ambush, but they do this from above, landing directly onto, or perhaps via surprise and then impaling their victims with those serrated knife-like teeth to cause severe trauma, infection, blood loss and so on - one thing I noted in the skull I have of a 7-footer is the teeth are hollow, so they probably break off, cause further septic condition if the animal gets away, but obviously not for long...

I see the V. salvadorii as the closest thing to a Utahraptor dinosaur (see Robert Bakker's 'Raptor Red' book)...both are truly amazing and humbling instruments (& examples) of Mother Nature.

cheers,
mbayless
cheers,
mbayless

I can't imagine that tail being used for anything on the ground.

I can attest to the teeth breaking off. I picked out two of them from my arm last night. They are from a young croc that decided to taste me. They are sharp as any blade but very weak. I doubt they are used for grasping prey. They seem to be designed simply to slash, quick and easy.

Further evidence is how they bite, they do not bite and pig dog onto the food , such as other monitors. If they bite they seem to prefer to twist and pull back.

" I can't imagine that tail being used for anything on the ground. "

It's used both on the ground and in the trees to get the attention/distract prey much in the same way as an Angler fish use the little worm lure that comes out of it's head . In a tree under the cover of heavy foilage they can easily conture themselves around branches and blend right into their surroundings while lowering their tails through the foilage and moving them around as if they were a small snake . I've seen rats be so busy watching the tail that they thought was going to eat them only to be struck in the head from behind completely by surprise.I really believe these are arboreal feeders for the most part but if opportunity arises they will feed off the ground also.

Stella St.Pierre
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

All three, as adults, are bad, kinda like preferring a different caliber bullet to get shot with. Or trying to decide which bomb to get hit with. Or what will kill your deader, being hit by an 18 wheeler, with or without the trailer. Or which cliff to jump off of, one thats 100 feet down or ones of 120 or 140feet down?

Do you get the idea? in reality, an adult, giving you a good bite will F#$k you up, from anyone of these species.

A wise decision is, to keep all body parts out of their mouths. But that is harder done then said. Cheers FR

V. salvator have teeth very similar to V. salvadorii, but are not as long when similar-sized animals (skulls) are put side-by-side. V. albigularis teeth in juveniles/subadults are pointed for eating insects primarily, while adult teeth, like those of V. exanthematicus, V. niloticus, V. ornatus all become round, blunt like teeth desgned for crushing molluscs/shellfish, and bones before swallowing...the bite force of a V. albigularis or V. ornatus is stronger than a V. salvator, but both and most other Varanus too have tremendous bite-force abilities. Somewhere around here a fellow measured bite-force on these animals and it was very surprising - but then you can just stick your finger in their mouth and see for yourself! It hurts!! When those capillaries, veins, arteriols are being crushed and/or sliced it hurts! Not to mention bacteria that gets in there and can mess you up...
cheers,
mbayless

To worry about the size of teeth is kind of off. Youd should look more into the design and purpose of those teeth. If the teeth are sharp serrated and long it will do alot of damage. If they are that same length but blunt and rounded it will do less damage.

Both will hurt as many have said, but they do indeed do different amounts of damage. A croc monitors teeth are big but compared to mammals they are tiny. But yet look at the damage a sharp blade can do.

Best thing to do is to take all precautions to making sure your not bit.

I have been bit by croc monitors, albigs, and waters none of them felt good. I also have scars from being bit by big cats, a monkey, and many other animals. They all punctured my skin and they all hurt.

I was just complaining about the mouse that bit me.
My blackthraot bit it back so we are even now.
I hope I never get nailed by Fluffy, this critter has already ruined 2 pairs of tongs.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

It’s not about biting force! Its about behaviour, crocs don’t shake there prays there dentition and jaws aren’t made for this purpose, salvator will drag there prays from side to side in a relatively slow motion, however albigularis will violently shake and rip their pray apart as niloticus and komodo, they have the muscle and bones structure to do the job. I would avoid a bite from any one of these as adult, especially albigularis!
Bite:
Croc; slashing, poncture,hemoragic, bacteria
Salvator; slashing, puncture, hemorrhagic, bacteria
Albigularis; slashing, puncture, hemorrhagic, bacteria, crushing, tearing, brut force!