Care Sheet for CaimansAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.20 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 02/11/2005 |
Main Category: | Aquatic/Land |
Sub Category: | Caimans |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Bam |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Spectacled Caiman |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Dwarf Caiman, Culver’s Dwarf Caiman, Yacari Caiman, Piranha Caiman |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males tend to grow faster. When the cloaca is large enough to put your pinky in, you can sex them. This usually doesn’t happen until they are about 2-3 years old and about 3-4 feet. I don’t recommend probing, because a slight miss can ruin your croc. |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Take the length of your largest caiman and use 2 x that amount for the width and 3 x that for the length of the water area. Have enough land area around it for them to bask comfortably. Most of mine have always spent most of their time in the water, but occasionally like to get out for a few minutes and "hide" in the grass. |
Lighting and UVB: | I have always used UVA and UVB for daytime and heat elements without light for night time, when they have been kept indoors. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | They seem to love it between 85-90 F. Both water and air temp. |
Heating and Equipment: | When indoors, I use a heating element in the water set at 85. Outdoors I’ve always let the Texas sun do all of my heating. |
Caging Provided: | Right now the 9 big guys are in a 2500 gallon pond measuring 18 ft x 12 ft, surrounded on all four sides by a 3 foot walking path which is fenced and gated. For those long cold Texas winters we throw greenhouse plastic over the entire thing. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Chicken (not too much because the additives can affect their breeding tendencies). Live fish in the pond at times, but mostly dead fish, deer, steak, any meet that went bad in the freezer, any road kill that lands in the yard, any rabbits, bunnies or squirrels that our neighbors catch and need to discard, and I haven’t seen the neighborhood bully around for a while (just kidding!). |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Reptile calcium and vitamins on occasion. Especially if I’ve been feeding them meat without bones for a while. |
Maintenance: | Clean the filters regularly! And believe me, croc poo stinks! |
Some Words on this Species: | No matter what you are told, they do not "only grow as large as their enclosure" and you can NEVER tame them. There is 250,000,000 years of killer survival instinct going on that has not had to make any real changes in all that time. What makes you think that working with one for 30 minutes a day will make it "nice"?!
I have pictures and stories and growth charts. Contact me for the web address. |
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