Wild Fact #962 – A Real World Dragon – Komodo Dragon
Now don’t get all excited because the title says today’s fact is about dragons. The Komodo Dragon does not breathe fire or guard princesses in a tall castle, at least I am not familiar with any that do. Don’t get me wrong, just because they don’t breathe fire doesn’t mean they are not an interesting animal.
The komodo dragon is the largest member of the lizard family averaging around 6-10 feet long and weighing about 150 lbs. Obviously, not an ideal candidate to keep as a pet in a terrarium. Besides the size of this particular lizard, it’s eating habits would also make keeping it as a pet to be difficult. The komodo dragon feeds mostly on carrion (dead animals) but have been known to hunt pigs and small deer. What is impressive about this is the way they eat their prey. For the larger animals they will tear off junks and swallow them whole while holding down the prey. For the smaller prey, up to the size of a goat, they will simply swallow it whole! It will take them about 15-20 minutes to swallow an animal this size even if they have to ram it against a tree to help it get it down. I know it is crazy to think that a lizard can swallow a goat sized animal whole, but they are capable of doing this since they have a loosely articulated jaw, flexible skull and an expandable stomach. As well, they have a small tube underneath their tongue that connects directly to their lungs. This allows the dragon to breath while trying to swallow it’s food. The komodo dragon has a very slow metabolism which means they could technically survive on 12 meals/year. Imagine how much cheaper your grocery bill would be if we could survive on 12 meals/year.
This slow metabolism can cause problems for the komodo dragon since if the dinner they swallowed does not digest quick enough, it will become toxic and poison the dragon. Finally, when the dragon swallows its prey whole it will proceed by recurgitating a mass of horns, hair and teeth which is called the gastric pellet. As I mentioned earlier, the eating habits of the komodo dragon make it very difficult to keep as a nice pet!
I hope you enjoyed today’s fact! Have a great day!
