Alligator Setup

Hey im a 16 year old kid. I know you jerks with probably say stupid shit because im a kid, but i know what im talking about so dont say im to young to own a crocodilian. Ive owed every reptile from Burmese Pythons to huge snapping turtles to water moniters. My parents are biologists and know what the are talking about also; they make sure i know what im doing when i get a new pet. I dont have rich parents the pay for everything either. I have a job at a petstore where i work to pay for all of my animals and there expensive bills.

Now that ive got that cleared up ive got a couple questions.

I recently bought a juvinile American Alligator from a breeder. Hes only about 8 months old and 16.5inches long but he is by far the tamest animal ive ever had. He is asleep on my lap as im writing this. Is is normal for such a young animal to be as tame as it is? The breeder i bought him from said he hasnt had much handling so he didnt know how tame or aggressive he'd be. I know alligators tame with alot of handling and care but i didnt know it would be this easy? Is it just lucky that i get an animal this tame?

Is a 220 gallon pond big enough for now? Im using a preformed pond with about 125 gallons of water and about 3sq/ft of sanded basking area. How long will this last him? I figured about a year and a half but im not exactly possitive how long this will last him?

I keep the water at 75 degrees Farenheit. I use 2 200 gallon canister filters set on low to keep it clean and i use a full 5 light heating systen to keep him warm. I also have a hidebox where he seems to spend much of the time at night. In his enclosure i also keep small minnows and 4 very small turtles about the size of a 50cent peice.

What do you think of his setup? Id love to have your opinions on everything! Any suggestions and advice are welcomed! I will post pictures as soon as possible. Thanks
-NW

Nathan,

You may want to keep from calling people "jerks" when asking for advice or help....
So what your 16....most members on this site won't hold that against you. They would rather help someone and give them ANY advice they could, especially if its a younger member of the herp community (who in your situation wants to take on a project like an alligator.)
If your parents are biologists (and I am not doubting that they are), who make sure you know what you are doing, why bother asking us "jerks"?
Just a helpful hint.... you may want to change your attitude just a little bit if you want help from individuals with loads of experience.


By the way, Welcome to fauna.

-Steve Ingram

I think if u want your turtles to live you should take them out of your alligators pond. He will eat them!

Wow, you have kept some of the largest, coolest reptiles there are. Hurray for you.

I do have 2 questions though:

1) What happened to the Water Monitors, Burmese Python, and Snappers? Last time I checked they live longer than 16 years. Did they die or become too much for you to handle?

2) If you have so much experience with EVERY reptile there is, then I would think that you could figure those questions out yourself based. If not I am almost certain that you would know how to research the care of them. I'm guessing that is how you learned to care for almost everything else that you have kept. Right?

You are super awesome though. I wish I was cool enough to have kept half of the stuff you have. And just imagine how cool everyone will think you are when you walk around with a 10 foot gator.

My apologies for calling you jerks but in some of the other forums ive been in ive been insulted repeatively because of my age.

Yes my parents really are biologists. They both went to school for the full term to become biologists, however they both work as science teachers at my highschool. They met in college.

I have done my research but in my experience the research isnt always entirely correct. So i thought i would ask some of the people who really know what they are talking about.

My Burmese Python i donated to the state zoo because of my newborn baby brother. The snapping turtle i traded to a friend who had a much larger area he could devote to him. And my water moniter is currently at a friends house where we are attemping to breed her, unsuccesfully.

Just thought i would clear all of that up for you guys

Well I keep my large gators in 8x12 pins and I have a 5-6 footer. I don't use a filter but I change the water weekly. Hope that can answer your question. But again I'm not an expert.

Originally Posted by GATERMAN1390

My Burmese Python i donated to the state zoo because of my newborn baby brother. The snapping turtle i traded to a friend who had a much larger area he could devote to him. And my water moniter is currently at a friends house where we are attemping to breed her, unsuccesfully.

I may be wrong (I have a degree in biology and work as a HS science teacher, but I am not an expert) but if you don't quite have the space to house a 3 foot snapping turtle... where or how do you plan on having the space to house a 10 foot alligator??

And also... while a Burmese really would be hazardous to a newborn child, I think that a 'gator would be just as hazardous to a toddler.

The snapping turtle was a touchy situation at the time. I at the time really didn't have the space and yes it was my fault for not doing so. But now i do have the time and the money to build a proper enclosure for my young gator.
If you have read my other posts you'll understand (i believe they are on repticzone.com). I have plans to build a fully fenced in enclosure in my back yard for my alligator this coming spring.

As for the python; you cant tape together the jaws, it can kill without its jaws, and it was already huge. I just didn't like the risk. My lil gator is small still and my lil brother wont be anywhere near my gator anyway. Parents rule.

When my bother eventually is allowed by the gator it will be EXTREMELY supervised with the gators jaws taped and my brother kept at a safe distance. My gator is extremely tame however and wont even open his mouth other than at feeding time. There will be the extra precaution however to ensure everyones safety. Also, the gator wont be huge for several years and by then my brother should be old enough to understand not to go near him without supervision. He wont ever be able to get to the gator anyway because of either a fence or glass barrier. Even when my brother is older and the gator larger, they will still be supervised at ALL times.

All this extra precaution is both my parents and my rule. It wont ever be broken as far as I'm concerned. I take this precaution because i love both my gator and my little brother and wouldn't ever want anything bad to happen to them.

I hope this has cleared up your concerns. Any more questions just ask away!

ThAnKs!

Well i am not starting trouble here with you little dude.
But i am going to put my two cents in here without being a "Jerk".
Now you say your American Alligator is tame?
Well you may think for now that he or she is,but i can tell you from experience and having two female American Alligators myself.
1-is 5 years old and about 4 1/2 feet the other is 2 and 2 1/2 feet long.
They will never be tame!!!
Or be your best friend.
They may accept the fact that you feed them and know who you are because you see them everyday,but if given the chance a 6 foot Alligator will try to take you out.
And we do not meen to lunch.
Now i am not saying there are not other Alligators who may be tame to a certain part,but most will try to attack you if given the chance.
Mine hiss and growl everyday and also do what i call the stand off.
I just hope you know what you are doing,because if you dont,you will find out the hard way what an Alligator is able to do to an arm or leg or worse.
I am not trying to scare you here,but it really is a part of having the experience that just may save your life.
And you have to understand just how much room we are talking about here.
Now a female American Alligator can get to be 10 1/2 feet long and weigh??? 450-550 pounds mabe even more.
You would have to dedicate a room the size of 12 feet by 12 feet by 6 feet deep.
I think that would be o.k for a female?
Just average guessing here.
In any case we are talking large room for a large animal.
Now a female that size will eat,goats,pigs and mabe even 5-6 full grown rabbits.
Now we are talking every 1 week to 2 weeks at a clip.
Now you have to clean out the pen..Yea..here is where the fun starts.
You have to get into the pen with a 10 foot 550 pound Alligator who looks at you like lunch.
To clean up poop bigger than both your fists and feet put together
And not to mention the water needs to be changed also.
So how are you going to move this giant animal when no one else is going to help you because the are to intimidated by this monsterous animal?
Oh yea i almost forgot to mention that the whole time you are in the pen with this giant Alligator it is hissing and growling at you and is starting to come closer to you while you are trying to clean out its enclosure.
Not to mention where are you going to find a vet to care for your Alligator if it gets sick? or injured or ???
It is just something to think about.
You should really evaluate the sitcuation you are going to be getting into.

Oh yea allmost forgot this one.
If and when you realise "Wow i can not handle this big Alligator any more"
Do you really think that it is that easy to just give it away?
Or donate to a zoo?
Zoos are most likely full with Alligators and Red Tails and Burmese Pythons.
Unless your Alligator can spit golden eggs than you are stuck with this reptile.