Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just watching the show Wild Recon on Animal Planet, where the host finds animals and collects venom for medical research. Anyway, he was in the country Jordan, in the middle of the desert, and caught some species of monitor. He opens its mouth and collects the "venom" and says that it might be used to treat strokes.

I thought that only gila monsters, beaded lizards, and now komodo dragons are the only venomous lizards.

Oh and the show is still on as I type this, now he is in some other country and caught a Lace Monitor, and is collecting its "venom" also. Are these blatant lies!?

He must be referring to the bacteria in their mouths...there are no venomous monitors. Definitely misleading and unnecessary to call it "venom".

Actually, monitors are considered venomous...

Take a look at Dr. Bryan Fry's website: http://www.venomdoc.com

Yeah, I've seen recent references to this. Seems like the Komodo gets some help along with the bacteria.
Whatever the case, don't get bit by the big boys!

Matthew

Dr.Fry has found that there is venom in monitors. But the means by which Wild Con collects it is questionable at best. The show is about making people believe that the host is a venom researcher when it is more about show then any science. Most of what the host says about what the venoms are being used for is BS. See below post on gaboon vipers form Wild Con.

Jim Harrison

Jim you mean the venom is taken under false pretenses OH MY..And for money and ratings ,say it ain"t so ,say it.
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Archie Bottoms

I posted this question about a month ago in the monitor forum, and received a ton of info from Dr. Fry and many others. You should check it out.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1778053,1778053

Two seperate parts to your question

- venom in varanids: yes it is there in all of them (the bacteria hypothesis is rubbish). Please see this page on my site http://www.venomdoc.com/venomdoc/Reptiles.html which goes into it and there are links to papers we have published on it as well as links to other pages on the site with additional information

- now, onto the program itself. TVland is of course all about ratings. Which of course means appealing to the widest audience. Which of course means aiming for the lowest common denominator through sensationalism and exaggeration. The danger posed from venom by varanids is presented way out of proportion on the show. We have gone to great pains to stress that the human medical implications are trivial. Venom is quite difficult to collect in varanids and there is no way what he got was venom. It was a tube full of mucus. So the statement 'I've never seen so much venom from anything' was made while holding a tube full of drool. We collect venom the same way we collect it from rear-fanged snakes: knock them out and hit them with pilocarpine. We end up with much larger yields than simply collecting the lumen contents (which is tricky to do and would not have been done on the show). As for it being used to treat stroke, none of those samples actually went to our research. We are intensively working on the medical applications of varanid venom peptides but are concentrating on blood pressure lowering toxins. However, we are collecting the venoms ourself.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Bryan

>>I was just watching the show Wild Recon on Animal Planet, where the host finds animals and collects venom for medical research. Anyway, he was in the country Jordan, in the middle of the desert, and caught some species of monitor. He opens its mouth and collects the "venom" and says that it might be used to treat strokes.
>>
>>I thought that only gila monsters, beaded lizards, and now komodo dragons are the only venomous lizards.
>>
>>Oh and the show is still on as I type this, now he is in some other country and caught a Lace Monitor, and is collecting its "venom" also. Are these blatant lies!?

Not trying to argue with anyone but when he said "I've never got this much venom from a animal" it was a viper(horned or eyelash) that he was milking not a monito. And the looking in the trees was to keep an eye out for Green Mambas he stated. He wasn't looking for Gaboons in trees. We all know the samples of venom are not really used but that being said how many outside the herp community would tune in for a hour of milking snakes in a lab. He opposes s373 and I've been in correspondence with him since the Mfezi days. I can't see lumping his shows in with the Python Wars and Monstercrap. He had a vet come check in on the snakes on Venom in Vegas and took time to give them a good soak in case the humidity was to low during the ten days.
It's just like when someone see's a pet of yours and asks what type. You say Coastal Carpet Python and the only part they hear is Python. Fully listening during the shows makes it clear he is lieing no more than Bear Grylls on Man vs. Wild. It's entertainment and considering the crap Nat Geo and History channel put out he's our best bet for a media outlet on our situation.

I agree that Don's heart is in the right place. However, the program itself must be viewed as a stand-alone entity. So any misrepresentations or exaggerations have to be addressed in the context of the program and its purported aims.

I would like to add that I don't believe that Don deliberately misrepresents things.

very educational. Thank you for taking the time to post info, I always enjoy reading your posts.

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Jeff Davis
1.0 Norm? Royal Python(Rescue)
1.0 Albino Ball Python (high contrast)
2.0 Shi Tzus
1.0 Pug
0.1 Lovely Wife

Very nice work there Bryan.
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Nick Puder
www.rnpreptiles.com