A Colorado man is dead after a pet Gila monster bite

A Colorado man has died after being bitten by his Gila monster, in what would be a rare death by one of the desert lizards if the creature’s venom turns out to be the cause.

Christopher Ward, 34, was taken to a hospital shortly after he was bitten by one of his two Gila monsters on February 12. He was soon put on life support and died Friday, Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said Tuesday.

Jefferson County coroners declined to comment Tuesday on the death, including whether tests showed whether Ward died from the pet’s poison or another medical condition.

Ward’s girlfriend handed over the lizard named Winston and another named Potato to Lakewood animal control officer Leesha Crookston and other officers the day after the bite.

Ward’s girlfriend told police she heard something that “didn’t sound right” and went into a room and saw Winston holding Ward’s hand, according to Crookston’s report.

She told officers that Ward “immediately began exhibiting symptoms, vomiting several times and eventually passed out and stopped breathing,” the report said.

Ward was on life support at a hospital. Within days, doctors had declared him brain dead.

Ward’s girlfriend told officers they bought Winston in October at a reptile show in Denver and Potato in November from a breeder in Arizona, according to the animal control report. The woman advised Gila monsters were illegal in Lakewood and told officers she wanted them out of her home as quickly as possible, the report said.

Officers working with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources sent the lizards to Reptile Gardens outside Rapid City, South Dakota. Twenty-six spiders of various species were also taken from the home to a nearby animal shelter.

Gila monsters are venomous reptiles that naturally live in parts of the southwestern US and adjacent areas of Mexico. Their bites can cause severe pain and cause their victims to faint, but are not normally fatal.