Caiman Lizard Info

[chelvis]

Well if that blue needs a home I have some space here, lol.

Its a hard choice, I want to get another caiman lizard but I also want to expand my tegu collection. Oh I hate budgets. We shall see what comes this christmas.

 

[tupinambisfamiliaris]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully someone can write a useful text or construct a website detailing their requirements. This is the best info I've seen yet for this species.

I found an Asian supermarket with frozen snails just a few minutes from my house this afternoon. That pretty much cemented it for me. I'll feed a varied diet, but I still want to give some snails, being that they are specialized to eat them.
If these guys are available when the weather improves, I'm definitely getting one. It will likely be the last animal I buy for my collection. Can't wait, but waiting makes it so much better.

 

[chelvis]

Well finally got my camera back and got around to making a short clip on how easy it is to handle these guys.

http://youtu.be/1T2wWFYN5TE

Here are also some new pictures of him. He just got done sheding the front half so his colors really show well.

 

[Thumper]

Got 10 yeah I'm down for a blue too

Chelvis your Caiman looks Awesome! Good job. I've been reading about stomach contents of wild tegus and When mine wakes up I'm going to start feeding him/her snails and see how it goes.

Here a pic I snapped at the San Diego Zoo a little while ago.

I think the color on yours looks better.

 

[chelvis]

Seeing the ones at the zoo makes me realize how big he is going to get. Luckly to me the growth has been slow, nothing compared to a tegu at least.

---

Here is a pic from when I got him just for size referance

 

[dragonmetalhead]

These pictures just make me want a caiman lizard more! The colors are so beautiful. They look like a chimera of a tegu, iguana, and alligator.

 

[chelvis]

Sp I have been expanding my caiman lizards diet, trying to just keep things as varied as possible without too much fat in the diet as snails seem to be low in fat. So far this is what my caiman lizard will take no problem:
Frozen Snails
Periwinkle meat
can-o-snail
chicken breast
salmon
talapia
crayfish meat
shrimp - a few different type
Mazuri croc food - believe it or not he loves this stuff
Almost any white fish filet

So he took all this even after he had a snail based diet. I am still going to stick with the snails being 50% or more of this diet, but he is getting bigger and the other foods seem to be more appetizing to him now. Funny he would not eat a pinkie or fuzzy mouse, I even sliced them and rolled them in snail juices and nope would not touch them, lol.

 

[Reptile_fever]

Oh boy i cant wait for my lil Chomper to get that big..looking great thanks for sharing & keep them pics coming!!

 

[chelvis]

If its warm again here than I will take him outside and get some more pictures.

Looks like Bacardi might get a female roommate soon... the ball is a rolling so. Can not wait!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

You should see if Barcardi will take silversides. Kodo LOVES them and they're a good source of calcium since they have all the bones.

 

[cheezy]

Hey Chelvis, how often did you feed your caiman lizards as juvies? Also, do frozen snails have the same nutritional value as non frozen snails?

 

[chelvis]

I fed my juvi every day, some days he would eat and other he would not but he always had a really plump belly.

The frozen and canned snails are all cooked so they are not as nutritious as fresh snails. However the snails at aquarium stores are loaded with all sorts of parasites and other things. They can be given as a treat but I wouldn't give them to a hatching. I just made sure to dist everything with the D3 free Calcium and Vitamin mix and supplementing with other foods. As a baby he really like periwinkles, snails, shrimp and fish. Now his diet has really expanded and he is almost willing to try everything he may not eat it but he will try it.

 

[laurarfl]

That is a really beautiful lizard!!

 

[cheezy]

Can juvi caiman lizards be sexed?

 

[chelvis]

Kind of like with tegus some people are able to sex them while others can not. There is a lot still unknown with the scale pattern, head size, head color, and some other traits to say with 100% accuracy how to sex a juvi. I always take a sexed juvi as a 50/50 unless its guaranteed.

 

[Maro1]

Who has Caiman Lizards available for sale now?

 

[cheezy]

Who has Caiman Lizards available for sale now?

A lot of online stores have them. Look on kingsnake.com theres some on there. I bought mine from underground reptiles. I asked them and they told me that males have a modified scale and females dont.

 

[chelvis]

I am always cautious with scale counts and modifications because most of the time that doesn't really show until the animal is a bit older. I know its possible to prob an animal to determine gender.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Do caiman lizards have the little cloacal buttons like tegus do?

 

[Grendel]

After following your thread, I finally took the plunge today and got a young caiman lizard at Repticon. I got it set up in a custom plexi glass (4x2x3) enclosure, with cypress mulch, branches, large shallow water container, power sun spotlight, and radiant heat panel. He/she ate for me already, so I'm happy, since they told me he ate only snails and crayfish.