Caiman Lizard Update

[chelvis]

I added some live snails to the pool today and i can not belive i did not have my camera ready when i did that. He sniffed them out under the water and by then they were already suckered onto the sides. So he grabbed on and alligator death rolled to get it un suckered. It was really interesting to watch. Then hearing him crush the shells and twist the snail in his mouth and slowly spit the shell out and then gulp down the tasty insides. I have to get a vid of it one day.

 

[Rhetoric]

These things look SOOO cool! Haha yeah I've learned to always keep my phone or the camera handy when I'm hanging around the reptiles. They never fail to do something amusing.
Just as a side question, is your dog Fluke after the movie?

 

[chelvis]

Ironically no, i was given the movie after i got him. I got fluke when i was still in Middle school and my mom at the time was instant that was no way we were getting another dog especailly a beagle. We had a family dog but i wanted my own dog. Well for christmas my dad found a breeder and we went out to look at the pups at even two weeks of age i fell in love so my mom aggreed so it was a fluke i got a dog really. The reason a breeder and not a shelter was at the time all the dogs were pits and pit mixes and the HOA did not allow for bully breeds.

 

[nicklotz]

ridiculously cool animal, i love it. i want one now.

 

[james.w]

What does the diet consist of that you feed this guy? What are you plans for the adult enclosure?

 

[chelvis]

Diet at the moment consist of: Snails (cooked and wild from the asian market), Parewinkle meat (another type of snail), ZooMed Can-o-Snails (seeing a trend yet?), Ground turkey, live snails from the pet store, crayfish and salmon. We are still trying out new foods, so far clams are a no, smelt are a no and night crawlers are a no. He will also eat salmon flavored cat food, which i did give him he first week here for adjustment reasons (thats what he had been fed at the store).

As for an adult cage, one idea is the large WetLand Tub. This things are huge but i am worried not deep enough. I saw at the local zoo they give their caimans a different swimming area outside of their enclosure, so that might be an idea,its more work for me to make time to take him swimming but worth it. Another idea is to get a large horse throth and make that his home. The last idea i have been playing with is a completely 100% custom cage with a 3x3x6 diving pool. I really want to make sure he gets the swimming this guys are known for.

The reason for no concert answer on the adult cage is i just got offered a perment job (i was seasonal) and will be moving into a new place soon, so i have to learn that landloards restrictions. The animals are fine his still figuring our how much water he would allow in a fishtank.