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!
Something else I didn’t know! What an unusual reptile…definitely not pet material!
Thanks Nathan.
I think you should try getting one as a pet and let us know how it works out 🙂
Very interesting. I was going to say when my boys were younger they ate like Komodo dragons (large volume of food) but that wouldn’t be nice so I’ll refrain from mentioning it. (ha, ha).
Where can these lovely reptiles be found (if not guarding castles). What country? Maybe you have some viewers from that country since you have quite a few from around the world (which is fantastic).
Thanks Nathan!
I like your joke about your boys eating like a Komodo dragon and I would probably laugh except for the fact that I am one of your sons. Of course, you meant to say that it was your eldest son that ate like a dragon!
These magnificent creatures can be found on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores and Gili Motang in Indonesia. I would be very interested to know if any of my readers have ever seen a Komodo Dragon in real life. For the record, it is important to know that there are not many of these animals left in the world (somewhere around 5000, I believe).
Thanks for the humour and the question!
I’ve actually watched these fellow ram a tree to get their dinner down on a documentary on TV. It was amazing. Quite impressive.
It didn’t mention the regurgitation part or maybe I just missed that portion of the program. Really an interesting fellow!
It is a pretty impressive animal. It has a few interesting characteristics that would be worthy to be a Wild Fact. Don’t be surprised if this dragon resurfaces down the road.
I bet that would have been a pretty interesting documentary!