Dwarf alligator on craigslist

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krzr3000

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May 9, 2006
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This will likely get flagged so i'll quote the text, there is a pic of what looks like a baby gator. "Artificial selection" ????


http://hartford.craigslist.org/pet/1956484258.html

Dwarf Gator

Date: 2010-09-15, 11:31PM EDT
Reply to: comm-a43nx-1956484258@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

For all you psychopath lunatics out there who rag on the private ownership of reptiles I would like to make it known that the private reptile trade has done more for reptiles, especially endangered ones, then any stupid bureaucratic institution that takes years, and millions of dollars, to get things done. THIS IS AMERICA, NOT COMMUNIST CHINA, WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL WILL AND THE HONOR OF RESPONSABILITY AND FREEDOM TRUMP ALL. If you want to harass somebody go harass the alligator farms that are selling their meet and skin. NOT THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE, SHELTER, AND FEED THEM !


He is about 5 inches long and is eating great. I got this guy from a breeder who used artificial selection to lower the size of the gator. He should only get around 3-4 feet in captivity.
Typically these guys don't get that big in captivity especially if they are on a fish diet. It's not like they are in the wild where they have to get big to survive or gorge themselves.
I am asking a re-homing fee of $65.00. If interested shoot me an email at fbergman30 at yahoo.com

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1956484258
Click to expand...
 
$65. Not too bad for a baby alligator.
Im sure whoever buys this is going to have a great time with their "pygmy gator". They will be in for a suprise.
 
The idea is possible but
I don't know of anyone selectively breeding gators in that way....
There is a 12 year old gator at the CARE foundation though that is only 2 ft long so it's definitely a possibility.
 
To my knowledge though there is not a gene for a "dwarf" gator. Two smaller parents are more likely to make smaller babies but nothing is certain. And who knows if the parents where actually smaller by nature or just young or underfed...
 
here is a link to the guy breeding them, something does not sound right with it.

http://www.venomousreptiles.org/classifieds/detail/31872

I think that this sort of project would take much longer than this guy has been alive since it would take 10's generations of gators to do.
 
Alligators live a LONG time and continue to grow through out their lives, unless it was an on going documented business that has been going on for ... probably over a 100 years.... I wouldn't trust it to have any credibility in true dwarf gators.
He is probably just breeding young gators that haven't actually fully matured and have slowed their growth rate but not topped out....
 
Have to add in....
Super dwarf retics are NOT created by breeding two dwarfs together... TRUE super dwarfs (the only ones that are actually damn near garaunteed to stay around 12ft or smaller) are a very restricted locality snake.. not a line bred animal....
And there is no gene for a "pet".. Mitch from Diamond Reptile Breeders breeds species of caimans that are a bit less aggressive than a few other crocodilians and then spends enough time with the babies that they become somewhat desensitized to handling and tame down easier. But they are still crocodilians and still require work. He has not necessarily bred anything based on its adult behaviors... and having seen all his adult crocodilians myself...they are not necessarily something i would walk into the cage with and chill out... and not nearly as calm as most of the alligators I have seen... not that they couldn't become that way if he had more time to work with them.....
just trying to make the point that he isn't really selectively breeding them in the sence that this person is trying to say...
 
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