Caiman Lizard Help?

[JMORGAN]

I am new here but i saw that a couple of members have caimans lizards and was wondering if anybody could share some knowledge. Here is some ?'s I have.

So, I was wondering if anybody here has any experience or knowledge with caiman lizards. I just have a few things I need clarification with. If anyone can answer or point me in right direction that would be awesome.

1. Had a M/F pair for about a month. How do i tell difference between M/F? Both have grown about 1 inch and .5 gram in a month. Is this normal?
   
   
2. Everything has been going well behavior wise until about a week ago now one constantly seems stressed and hisses at me. I handle regularly and have been trying to tame them as best as my ability allows.
   
   
3. One caiman is bigger and greener while the small one is darker brown. At first I thought browner one is shedding but haven't seen the shedding process. Every caiman picture I have seen online is bright green with red head so IDK why mine is brown.
   
   
4. Was told to only feed apple snail meat from company I bought them from but I seen many other companies feed ground turkey, cat food, and fish. Should I try to see if they will try something else?
   

 

[TeguBuzz]

Hey there! I know of one of our members overseas that could help you out possibly. @Renske

As far as telling male from female, I've heard that as they grow - males tend to have much brighter colored orange heads in comparison to the females.

 

[JMORGAN]

Thank you for your reply. I would definitely try to message a couple of users who have owned them. Maybe one will take me under their wing. Everybody seems so nice here and can't wait to interact with everybody.

 

[TeguBuzz]

No problem man! I saw your photo of your caimans in the media part of the forum. I have a tip as far as bedding goes - I noticed you're housing them on some sort of bark (forgot the name). It would probably be best if you swapped the bedding out for a type that holds moisture better, to be able to maintain humidity with more ease. Possibly a coconut-husk or eco-earth bedding?

Don't know if you've seen this thread yet, but one of our old members @chelvis made a care sheet for caiman lizards a while back. Check it out!

http://www.tegutalk.com/threads/updated-caiman-lizard-caresheet.12687/

 

[JMORGAN]

Yes I saw both care sheets and there amazing. I'm going to print them out as soon as possible. The person I bought caimans from was helpful but should defiantly check different sources.