Setting up a new enclosure for my 5 ft. Caiman and need Help...

Hi all,

New here.. I'm building a new enclosure for my Caiman. Its 16ft. wide by 6ft. deep by 4ft. tall. The enclosure is made from cider blocks as a frame to build on. If you can picture a box the size of the dimensions I mentioned above only with a 10 ft. wall running the entire width of the back portion of the box.

So if you look at the side it looks like this |
4ft. high Front -> |_| <- 10 ft. tall wall
^
6 ft. deep (depth)

Also if your looking to the front side of the tank there is another 10ft. wall on the left side. If you can picture that.

I was hoping some people here could offer opinions and pictures of there set ups and how you think I should go about doing mine.

So far I have this disigned to work like a pool.. ( w/o chems though).

A pool skimmer is used and skim the top and a pool jet on one side to circulate the water toward it. There is a bottom drain/sucker for filtration and to not allow the water to sit stagnate.

Pumps will be housed within the enclosure with a small door to switch things around. Valves for filtration or to drain the pond for cleaning.

Would like one light to light the pool at night till about 11pm. And two to shine up at the 2 water falls coming off the 10 ft. wall (one on eathier side).

Few questions, 1.) was to see everyones set-ups for their croc's and opinions on what to have/use.

2.) What type of heating should I use?
This is a lot of water and it gets very cold here in MD. Sometimes down to -5 degrees. I relize that that is COLD!!! But just ideas on how to keep the water warm 78-85*?

3.) Air circulation and heating during winter?

4.) I want it to be made out of a concrete like material. (Gunite is the only thing I can think of that is used for this type of application but is there anything else?) Because this stuff is $$$!...

5.) Filtration? What do you reccomend. Also I would like to incorperate a very large UV filter... to not have all that alge junk in there.

O any for got to tell everyone. My caiman is about 5 ft. long now and pretty damn heavy at that.

Shes great but to all the people trying to buy them... It is a lot harder then you think. And a hell of a lot more $$$ then you'd think. I have had mine since I was in 8th grade (what the hell was my mom thinking!). Now at 3rd year in college. And although they are cute when there 10in. long. THEY GROW FAST and get very snappy and borderline mean. Mines sent a few friends to the hospital... Dumb guys at partys getting into the tank when I was'nt there. And they paid the price. But then again I had trianed my to reconize colors (or so I think) diff. color gloves mean diff. things. Cleaning, feeding, handeling etc. And as of now she eats off a fork

But I would like to complete this tank so I can put some big fish in there for her.

Alex

Alex, kudos on taking seriously the housing of these awesome animals!

As far as finishing the Pond... a good mortar mix will suffice, and you can apply it by hand...A good type S, with 12-14 heaped shovels full of sand and 3 shovels full of marble dust mixed thoroughly will give you a good result. Practice on a small area and learn a little before diving headlong into it...working time is limited..
Look into building your own pond filtration, and adding your UV sterilization inline of the outflow of the filtration, several great aquarist sites are out there. I also recomend you contact Danny Conner at www.reptileadventures.net He you will find is an absolute wealth of experience and knowledge of crocodilian keeping.

Can I buy the marble dust at a local store (ie. home depot or lowes?) also will this prevent it from cracking?

I used to work concrete and everything! cracked no matter what. Thats is why the big delema.... I always wondered how the Zoo's do it and what they use. I have a Slalb already poured underneath the "box" (enclosure) about 6in. thick but there is a crack that ran through this winter long ways and caused the Cinder to crack right up on through the entire side. I need to find somthing that will allow this to move during the freeze period as it will move up and down again.. every year.

Any ideas on keeping it whole as one piece that moves together. This is gonna be one big, heavy enclosure and filled with thousands of gals of water so I don't want it cracking and moving at all, you know...

I know I could use lots of rebar and lots of wire mesh which I will be doing.. as well as add fiber to the mix...but I just can't see that being enough. this marble power dust is new to me. Does it help to solitify it?

Thanks again,
Alex

Any info on this yet?

Alex

i live in md to alex but i thought we were not allowed to have these in md even with a permit.

I was contacted by my county " Animal " dept. last year and believe me I went through the ringer with them. A Very uncomfortable situation to be in and not easy people to deal with. They almost forced me to get rid of her for no reason other then that "they" felt it was an exotic pet and that normal citizens should not have the right to own them.. pretty much this is the way it made me feel and its the way it is. Unless your a "zoo" or have a special permit saying that "you make most if not all of your income from people looking at the animal".... basically a zoo, then your out of luck. They basically said, "you can either give her to a zoo (4 hrs away!) that we have picked for you or you can do nothing and we will come and euthanize the animal." This really set me off as you can imagine. I mean who are they (who is anyone) to tell me that? Not only do I and others, that have the same animal, have thousands upon thousands invested in the survival of them over the course of thier lives but I had had her for 8! years prior with out any issue. Always had been well kept, and always had check ups and paper work to prove it. Shes my baby. So we went to town.

I was under the impression that you were grandfathered in if you aquired the animal before it was made illegal in this state. I was wrong. After I fought them for days and days they finally allowed me to be put on a "list" and basically turned their heads. I had to go through a ton of stuff including allowing an "animal" officer to come and "inspect" the living conditions. I have no problem showing them her enclosure as its more then enough to house her and others if I ever wanted to (although now I dont see that happening). But the way they handled the situation was just not right. The officer came to my door, ready to actually take her away on spot. But thankfully I passed and even surpassed their expectations. When the officer saw her she gaspped and said that she would'nt even go near it lol.. so I don't know what to tell you all about our officers. or depts. Just that I did not appreciate what they put me through.

Don't get me wrong. I know that most people get in over their heads with these animals because of one reason or another but it is not ok to treat people like dirt when you don't even know them. I do however feel for the animals not getting the life that they deserve and I commend the state for taking action in trying to help them. I just wish they handled it a little differently with me.

lol a little long winded. sorry for all that. But that is what it took for me to keep her. Now if you currently live here in md and want one to own. I would say that you would probably have to contact you country animal dept. and find out what it takes. They will probably say no way and that you cant own one if you dont currently own one. Good luck like that.

Otherwise it might be possible if you lived in another state that it was legal to own them and you then came to this state with them and contacted the county dept you were going to live in and told them prior to you coming; they would probably allow it. As long as you get the living enclosure inspected beforehand and your income was enough to support it. I would deff. submit tax returns to prove your able to care for them and make sure the enclosure is inspected beforehand. With that I see no issue expecially if you have owned them for a long time and have demonstated that you are a responsible owner....

All that is my own opion and you should in no way count on it to work.

okay thank you for letting me know its not like i was tryin to nit pick or complain but i was just askin but hope you were able to fix the cage for ther caiman and i will look into it but thanks for the info.

Alexvb22; its good for you to tell your story because too many people just roll over on things like this. Just use discretion who you expose it to because too many people can get their hands on cheap animals that shouldnt.

true... and will do.