Hi Bill,
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> Bill Kinney
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> comments/questions : I am currently living in Baja California, in Todos Santos,
>approx. 1hr. North of Cabo San Lucas. A young man woke up from sleeping one morning
>and had received some kind of bite during the night, and his leg was very swollen.
>He didn't take care of it and it became infected in a day or two and he eventally had
>to be hospitalized in La Paz. They immediately pumped him full of penicilen (
>they're cure-all ), of which he was allergic, and almost died. They then almost took
>his leg off. He is currently doing much better and will be OK. One of the Drs.
>there speculated that he was bitten by a Gecko.
If he was, there is no possible way he could have been poisoned by one. There are NO
POISONOUS GECKOS! Mexican Beaded Lizards have poison, but they are slow and clumsy and
it is very difficult to be evenomated by one. Their bite is very painful though and he
would know if he was bitten by one. They are not seeking out people, one would have to
be seeking out them and on top of that be very foolish with one to be bitten.
> Now all the people are out to destroy all the geckos they can find. I'm am trying
>to convince them that they are harmless, but as the info came out of the hospital, it
>is being believed.
This Dr. should be reprimanded for causing an unsubstantiated rumor. I have seen a lot
of disrespect for wildlife in Mexico as it is. If there is an e-mail address for his
superiors I would like it. Geckos are harmless, they eat bugs that probably bit him in
the first place!
> Is there ANY way that this could have happened?
No.
> I realize that any bite can become infected, but as far as I'm aware, geckos don't
>even have teeth.
Yes they do have teeth. The geckos living down your way are small though, and very
fast. They are afraid of humans and avoid them. You would have to grab one and be real
stupid with it to get the small bite it could produce. For your information I am
speaking primarily of the native genus of Coleonyx, of which there are various forms,
most are not bigger than your biggest finger. There are also small Asian house geckos
of the genus Hemidactylus which are nocturnal. Coleonyx are also nocturnal, you will
rarely see them active in the day. There are some other geckos living there I am not
familiar with, but none are very big regardless.
> Any info you can provide would be appreciated by me and I'm sure all of the geckos
>residing here. Thanks for your help Bill Kramer
>
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Thank you for writing me. If you would like to contact a non-domestic veterinarian at
UC Davis in California please call them at 530-752-1393. I can also get an e-mail
address from their top vet there if you like.
I am forwarding your e-mail to the Global Gecko Association international e-mail list
so they may also forward useful thoughts and information to you. Thank you so much for
e-mailing me and letting me help in any way I can.
Regards,
Julie Bergman
http://www.geckoranch.com
GGA lifetime member
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