Caiman Lizard Update

[chelvis]

So i have had Bacardi for going on two months on the first. Let me just say who ever said that a can of zoo meds can-o-snail would last a week for one of these guys did not have a good eatter. He pounds down about a half a pound of food a week, which isn't bad. What i found more impressive was the growth. I got him on Marck 1st he was just shy of 15 inches, now his 23 inches long. So that 8 inches in two months.

So heres a pic of right out of the box:

and here is a pic of just the other night (side note his going into shed so he does not look his best in this pic:

 

[WildlifeLover429]

he is beautiful <3

 

[toxxxickitten]

Magnificent!

 

[Moofins]

Ooooh! So pretty! I LIKE 'im!

 

[Rhetoric]

hes cool! how big do those guys get

 

[chelvis]

Thanks everyone.

From what i have seen and read they get about 4 feet long. They are heavy built lizards. They also have very powerful jaws, luckly mine has not shown me now bad a bite can be... yet. He is quite content with his snails, turkey and crayfish. I've tried someother caiman lizard favs but those three seem to be what he likes so i'll just stick with them. Have to up grade his cage soon though, he ripped open the screening on the 40 gallon breeder his currently in.

 

[Varanus K.Face]

I have a large group of them at work. They are awesome lizards, very similar to tegus as far as how they think. None of our are full grown yet...our biggest is probably 2.5 feet or so. As for their bite....well, try not to get bit! They have super powerful jaws and they death roll like gators! Ive only been bit by one about the size of yours...and it definitely sucked hahahahaha how much time does yours spend in the water?

 

[reptastic]

Awesome looking guy, i have admired them for a while but dont have the knowledge to keep one( for now lol maybe someday in the distant future)

 

[james.w]

I tossed around the idea of picking one up, but got a Rhino Iguana instead. Now I have picked up a couple monitors and don't have space for anything else. Very awesome animal!!

 

[chelvis]

Mine loves to sleep in his water tub at night (I keep his pool heated becuase of it now). He loves to bask on the branch i have over hanging the pool more so than soaking in his tub. Its funny when the hamock was still in his cage thats where i found him 80% of the day just lounging. The humidity is pretty high most of the time (around 70 to 80%) so i think thats why he doesnt get in his pool all that much anymore. When somthing scares him though he will jump into the water no questions asked.

 

[Varanus K.Face]

Thats so weird, ours are the same way!!! Everyone always says they are mostly aquatic but ours spend more time on the branches then in the water!! I dont get it!

 

[RobK.]

very cool !!

 

[herpgirl2510]

WOW that is a beautiful lizard.

 

[chelvis]

i would call them arborial and smi aquatic, but never terrestrial. I have a bank in my enclosure and it use to be 1/2 and 1/2 but than i noticed i never say him on the actual bank unless it was to get into the branches. So i changed to a 2/3 water and 1/3 land and the only time i see him on the land is when hes feeding out of his bowl.

I know some other people who keep them say they spend alot more time on land to bask especially if the humidity is up. I just don't feel like that is the right spot for the basking light. In the wild the ground area would be shaded by conopies, the basking area would be over water where there is a brake in the canopy and an easy drop escape to the water.

I've also noticed that even with a filter going he spends more time in the water after water changes. When i up grade his cage he will have a foot deep 30 gallon pool, not his adult cage mind you, i'm looking to get a fluval that can do 200 gallons. Think he'd like that better than the turtle filter i have now. The pool now is only 4 inches deep and about 6 gallons and the turlte filter is constantly getting cleaned. Messy little guys i tell ya.

 

[slideaboot]

Man, that is an AWESOME lizard. It's like a photoshopped tegu...

 

[chelvis]

Personality wise his is very much like a tegu. Its great to have him out and we just waches everything. He's into expolring which can be nerve racking with 2 dogs in the room. He does not like the larger lizards at the moment. He was out wondering and got up near Bosco's cage saw Bosco and started huffing and took off.

 

[nicklotz]

what an awesome animal, ive actually been looking at these amazing guys for a few days, i saw one at the expo a few weeks ago. can you post some pics of your set up?

 

[frost]

those things are awesome i wish i had the money for one.can we get a pic of your cage id like to see it.o and your tegus cages too.=] i wanna see what other peoples ideas on cages are.

 

[chelvis]

Well heres the set up for another month maybe. When i got him he fit in this cage and he looked so small, now its cutting it close to being too small.

So this is the set up with the small pool:

There was filter on this pool, it was easier to just dump and refill it. There is a 100wat Flukers MVB 13" from the basking log there. The bank is just repibark with a moss over the top to help keep the humidity.

Here it is now:

His cage is ontop of the vision cage that was housing Bosco. I was working on his 6x3 vision for the last month. I have split it half with a temp divider that will be removed later. Rio right now lives on the other side just to see how they get long. So far so good. No pictures of that yet.

and then some pics just because

I'm looking to turn a 4foot vision into his next home. That one will have better perches a hamock, a bigger pool (at this point not deeper max gallons allowed is only 15 according to be landlord who seems to change his mind all the time!!!) I'll post some pics of that, should be done mid or late this month.

 

[frost]

nice cage i take it he really likes water? i wish i could have one of those they look like great pets.