Komodo Dragon Information | Komodo Dragon Articles

Komodo Dragon Information | Komodo Dragon Articles

Feeding Habits Of the Komodo Dragon

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Well here is where the terror of this creature really lies. Komodo dragons are of course carnivorous, but little know that they are also cannibalistic. They typically eat large prey such as deer, wild boar, goat; they will basically eat anything they can overpower and this includes smaller lizards (including other Komodo Dragons). As is evident, the Komodo Dragon has a wide range of possibility of prey. Evidence from droppings however shows that a few types of prey serve as the main food choice of these lizards. From the droppings, humans are able to observe that the deer is the meal of choice. Boars are also a popular choice. Dragons acquire these animals in two ways: hunting, and finding carcasses.

Mysterious: A tale of the dragons

What may sound shocking is true, there is relatively little known about these dragons. Now, while it may be easy to believe that there are countless unknown species of beetles in the world, it is relatively difficult to believe that an animal so large as the Komodo Dragon went undetected.

Six Senses of a Komodo Dragon

Touch: dragons come covered in body amour. These bumps are called scales. With a skin made of these scales, it is difficult to feel anything. This is why dragons have special spots that are sensitive to touch. These spots are connected directly to nerves. These plagues are on every scale. The scales around the ears, the lips, chin, and the bottom of the feet have at least 3 or more plaques.

Young Dragons

From the moment a Komodo Dragon is born, it is left to fend for itself. At this time, the dragon is only about 8 to 22 inches long. The young dragons look very different from adult dragons and that is not just because of their size. The four-ounce dragon pup is brightly coloured. It is greenish-black and white with yellow specks. It also has small reddish circles around its body and alternating dark and light bands around its tail. These designs help to conceal the dragon in the shade of the trees, where it will hide for its first year or two of life.

When Komodo Dragons attack!

Dragons are (obviously) dangerous animals with a force to be reckoned with. Despite their benign appearance, they are powerful and deadly creatures. If anyone has ever seen these creatures take down prey, or feast on prey for that mater, they know that they should not be toyed with.

Feeding Habits Of the Komodo Dragon

Well here is where the terror of this creature really lies. Komodo dragons are of course carnivorous, but little know that they are also cannibalistic. They typically eat large prey such as deer, wild boar, goat; they will basically eat anything they can overpower and this includes smaller lizards (including other Komodo Dragons). As is evident, the Komodo Dragon has a wide range of possibility for prey. Evidence from droppings however shows that a few types of prey serve as the main food choice of these lizards. From the droppings, humans are able to observe that the deer is the meal of choice. Boars are also a popular choice. Dragons acquire these animals in two ways: hunting, and finding carcasses.

When the dragon's hunt, they do so by the method of surprise attack. They usually do so by clearing a small space (big enough for them to fit in ), where their game is likely to be. Once the prey appears, the Dragons ambush them and seize them in their powerful jaws. It should also be noted that these dragons typically go for the neck or throat. Afterwards, they fiercely throw their prey on the ground and slash open the prey with their teeth. The prey typically dies with two minutes, and escapes are very rare. Even if they were to escape, it is not likely that they would survive. For, if the dragon had bitten them, they will probably die due to poising, which is due to the fact that dragons saliva contains harmful bacteria.

When a Dragon is eating, it often appears to have red saliva. This is not the case, although there is the reason for this. Dragon’s teeth are covered with thick gums, when the dragon is eating; the food pushes the gums back. The gums then start to bleed, and this blood mixes with the dragon’s thick saliva. This thick saliva is very important to the dragon, and it is produced in large amounts to help the food slide down the dragon’s throat. You see, a dragon cannot chew its food, as its teeth are made for cutting. It can however manage to swallow the prey whole. If the prey is very large, it will take a long time to reach the dragon’s throat. Therefore, the dragon breathes by use of a tube. This is a tube that is attached to the base of the tongue and travels directly to the lungs.

The monitors are now ready to digest this huge and filling meal. So how does it work? Well, the dragons have a very strong stomach acid that digests everything digestible, however, things like horns, hair, and teeth are not. However, the dragon does not pass these items through its body, it instead coughs them up. These masses of fur and other useless parts are called a gastric pellet, and they are covered in slime, mucus slime. This pellet smells horrid, enough so that even the dragons hate it. They will typically rub their face after coughing one up, in order to remove the mucus from their face.

You may think of the dragon as a bloodthirsty demon, gorging himself every day with these lavish feasts. However, this is not the case. You see, most dragons (the adults) eat only twelve meals a year. They are very energy efficient animals and make use of every bit of food they digest. Oftentimes, after a dragon has finished eating, its belly drags, due to the large amount of food it has eaten. Typically, the dragon will lay out in the sun after a big meal, in order to help with the digestion process. Another interesting thing about feeding is that it is the only time that these dragons may be seen together, as they sometimes eat in large groups.

Mysterious, A tale of the dragons

What may sound shocking is true, there is relatively little known about these dragons. Now, while it may be easy to believe that there are countless of unknown species of beetles in the world, it is relatively difficult to believe that an animal so large as the Komodo Dragon went undetected.

Yet, despite its size, it was only 96 years ago that it was found. Yes, it was discovered by scientists in 1912. With that said, the people of Komodo knew of these dragons for hundreds of years, they constantly told stories of the dragons, yet no one believed them.

These stories however were a bit far fetched, there were stories of 9 meter long dragons when in truth they grow t be just a bit over 3 meters long. When scientists finally started travelling to the islands, they learned that the dragons were real and not just legends. The natives call the Komodo Dragons Ora.

Due to its relatively short discovery, dragons have not been well studied, and many people fear them. Despite this, dragons are very popular among tourists. Nowadays, dragons are becoming more and more acknowledged as scientists discover more and more about them each day.

Six Senses of a Komodo Dragon

Touch: dragons come covered in body amour. These bumps are called scales. With skin made of these scales, it is difficult to feel anything. This is why dragons have special spots that are sensitive to touch. These spots are connected directly to nerves. These plagues are on every scale. The scales around the ears, the lips, chin, and the bottom of the feet have at least 3 or more plaques.

Sight: The eyes of the dragon are big and brown, with round pupils. They are like that of a mammal. Dragons have good vision and can see in colour.

 

Hearing: Dragons have visible earholes, but act as though they are deaf sometimes. They can hear very well though, although they just don’t respond to most sounds because they are not interested in them.

Smell: At the end of a Dragons snout, you can see the nostrils. These monitors can smell through their noses, but it does not work as well as ours. That is because the lizards do not have a diaphragm, and so they cannot draw air into their noses. The only way it is able to get information is if a breeze passes by or the object is only a few feet away.

Taste: There are no taste buds in the mouth of dragons. However, they are able to detect the flavour of items in their mouth. This is due to an organ at the roof of the mouth that performs a job similar to taste buds.

The sixth sense: this sense is called vomeronasal, it is a combination of smell and taste. The dragon's special forked tongue gathers chemical information from the air and when it withdraws into its sheath, the chemicals rub onto the pads on the floor of the mouth. The pads than are pressed against the two pits on the roof of the mouth that contains a little organ to translate the chemicals into information that the brain can process. That is why dragons flick their tongues outside their mouth.