Baby alligator info

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Decided against it for the time being, would not have been to practical for this time in my life since I will be moving for college (at the time i would have been moving in 2 years, now only 6 months) and then potentially moving for college again 2 years after that.... so keeping my collection with more manageable things for the time being.

Having worked with quite a few more crocodilians now though I may end up going with caimans instead. The Diamond caimans produced by Diamond reptile breeders are awesome things, they are hybrid spectacled X yacare caimans and entirely different from anything else. Also in love with wedge head caimans... such cute little things.
Not sure my love of gators will ever demish entirely but I may save the money and time i would take with a regular baby gator and put it aside for an albino in the future.... while getting my crocodilian fix from caimans in the mean time :)
 
i wouldnt go with a diamond either.............
 
Well im definitely getting the alligator only its going to be a year from now when i get my 1,000 hours of experience and thank you for sending me to Greg, he was a very insightful person who i definitely will be getting an alligator from :)
 
Lol. Gl........gl.....
 
Greg is a great guy.
Not sure if he still offers it but he used to do it where he would send you a baby for a couple years, just so you could get the experience with em when they are still small and relatively harmless.... and take it back once it got pretty big if it became to much for you to handle.

Lepi... I do not understand why you are so cynical on this subject... you have a caiman do you not? There is not really that much difference in them. Sure gators get bigger but they are generally much calmer to, I guess it comes down what you want to deal with in the long run. Much more time and effort taming down a smaller crocodilian? Or providing space for a larger one that calms down pretty quick and easy. They are about on the same level but with different requirements.

and just curious why wouldn't you go with the Diamond caimans?
 
Im suggesting going with something smaller. I do have a caiman(she is my baby :D )

IMHO gators arnt very suited to the average keeper. I believe anything should be available WITHOUT ANY gov interference but the keeper has to use a brain. This isnt a 15 foot python. Or even a 15 king cobra. This is a 15 foot, with record being 19 foot 2 inches(though this number cant be verifyd), 1000 lbs plus animal. If u can truly provid for it, for the extremely long life it can have and massive size then go for it. But our hobby of keeping crocs is constantly under attack because people not knowing what they are getting into buy an american alligator and get scared when it gets aggressive.

If you want a gator GL, but there are better looking, better sized and just all around better crocs to keep. Again, IMHO anyone should be able to keep what they want. I personally want some HOTs and will own some soon enough.

How are you gonna keep it? Do you have the necessary space to provide a large enough space?? Do you have the budget to feed a 14 foot monster? Gl but think before you buy such a beast.

My 10' by 13' by 6' enclosure is suitable for a 4 to 5 foot croc. even that cuts it alittle closer than Id really like. Mine doesnt need UV. Gators do. What size are you gonna need?? Land should be 1.5 times ur gators length and water 3-4 x ur gators length long, by 2-3 x ur gators length wide. So for a 14 foot gator u need 21 feet for land with water being 56 feet long, 42 feet wide and obviously a few feet deep. This is an average not written in stone.


And i wouldnt go with a diamond frankly because i do not believe some of the claims that go with them. Too many claims and frankly i believe most to be false.

Im not flaming you. Plz dont think that OP. Just as a fellow croc keep and one that constantly fears for his rights to own them(i want MORE!!) I just want any others to think before they make the leap. It is not a hobby for everyone. Far from it. But i welcome any that want to try it, just like to inform alittle. I spent years doin my research and the OP seems like he has spent 15 min and only has spent that because he has to get a permit for it.
 
i used to have two pet gators when i lived in indiana. they were the sweetest things. when you rase them urself they become very tame. i met a guy who had a 6 footer that would lay on the couch and watch tv with him, honest to god.haha. i caught a 2 footer yesterday fishing by accident but let it go because i thought it was against the law to keep them at all down here. oh well good luck if you get one
 
Ok, i looked for the pic of the one diamond caiman. It was a 3 yo female that was already just over 4 foot. Females are supposed to max right around that size...

Yeah right........
 
Well I do work with mitch of Diamond Reptiles...the original creator of the Diamond caiman and everything I have heard of them is true from what I have experienced working them. his adults are all under 7ft, I will have to double check their ages. They tame down easier than gators to... which just amazed me..... the 3 month old babies he had when i was there last where already extremely tame and comfortable around people, was hard to believe being that they were caimans....
Really any claim that Mitch makes I would take to be true (if someone else is saying though, maybe not)... and I am not just being biased cause he is my mentor... I used to question a lot of what he did or said but.... he is never wrong >=/ which is bad for me because I am supposed to always be right lol
basically... I have come to trust the guy completely when it comes to the animals he knows best...

now back on the original subject...you are very right about the gators, and the op definitely does need to strongly consider everything you mentioned.....

also beware of the dude on kingsnakes.com and where ever else that is selling "dwarf alligators" he has absolutely no proof or way of knowing that they are "dwarfs" and is just trying to con people.....
 
he might have breed them first but i dont belive his claims. sry but both species get much larger than his claims. that young of a female was already the max size he claims. they might tame down easy but i just dont believe the size claims.

the dwarf gator guy is just a moron. lol

and i know im right :D
 
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