Stronger pavlovian response: Crocodiles or Alligators?

[Mount_Prion]

Let me preface this by saying that I AM IN NO WAY TRYING TO KEEP EITHER OF THESE TYPES OF ANIMALS.

Illegality aside, I've no interest in a pet that capable of and willing to kill me.

Trying to settle an argument:

I think that Alligators and Crocodiles have approximately the same type of pavlovian response to feeding. Like, both of them will react similarly in terms of learning where to go to get food and react to their keepers, etc.

The argument sprung from discussion of the greater aggressiveness of crocodiles and why people keep alligators but rarely crocodiles as pets. She thinks it's because a gator can learn more about it's keepers and crocs are more aggressive. I think, from a human perspective, they're both aggressive enough so that they are impractical, but the fact that crocs prefer brackish/salt and therefore are more difficult to keep than a gator which could be kept in a simpler, smaller enclosure, is more of the reason for this.

So, I know some of y'all work at zoos and/or are crazy keepers, so what's your experience?

Do alligators learn their way around their keepers better than crocodiles?

 

[A. gigas]

Crocs are more expensive and don't originate from the southern half of the US....

 

[Nim Dibbley]

Crocs are more expensive and don't originate from the southern half of the US....

+1

 

[krichardson]

Crocs are more expensive and don't originate from the southern half of the US....

I once saw a young Nile Croc in a store and it was priced at five hundred dollars.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Shenanigans]

They are both quite intelligent animals. Both have quite a capacity to learn and do learn quite a bit. I think aggression, size and how hard they are to obtain makes crocs less likely to be pets. Alligators get big, crocs get much bigger and are harder to handle.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Ahh generalizations.....

This is all sp by sp then animal by animal. Its not a croc v alligators v caiman v gharials. Generally an american gator will prob tame down better than a nile croc. Any sp of gator will likely calm down and train better than a dwarf caiman. Each sp is gonna act different and each animal of those sp is gonna act different.

If u want small, chinese gators, dwarf crocs, dwarf caimans. The chinese would be probably the easiest to tame down. Cheap is ruled by american alligators. Aggression is dwarf caiman typically and the dwarf crocs.

All have the ability to learn far more than we give them. They are FAR from impratical from being able to be kept, in fact they are relatively easy if u have the time, space and respect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mygNZh2nWd8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[fwprawn]

Oh boy.... what a can of worms ...and you didn't even ask for it

Buddy - to keep on track : I think they both have equal capacity for learning - and I would like to repeat: learning. (as opposed to just a pavolvian response) I don't see why one, or the other, would be more capable in that case. In addition to that, they, along with other reptiles, vary widely in their aggressiveness from individual to individual, especially within the same species.

So, to sum it up - I'm with you on this argument.

Why would more people keep alligators, than crocs - Crocs are much more expensive, so there's that big factor. They also get bigger, which is another factor. I don't think it has anything to do with aggressiveness. (Keep in mind that many people who can, choose to keep dwarf caimans, rather than alligators - and they are much more aggressive, even though they stay smaller.)